Day One: The Phone Call

Lewis was trying to enjoy watching television, but he couldn’t find anything to watch. Finally, after half an hour of failing to find something, his mind wandered to the videotape that his friend had given him. According to his friend, watching this video would lead swiftly to your death. Lewis thought this was a lame hook for a prank. His friend seemed to think this too, as he lamely added that he couldn’t bring himself to watch it.

Lewis still respected the effort that his friend had put into scaring him. The videotape looked well-used and beaten up, as though it had passed through a thousand homes before reaching Lewis. He felt beaten and scratched plastic in his hands, as though he could get some idea of what was on the tape just by touching it. He wanted to know what was on it, had his friend gone to the effort to record something on it?

Curiosity, and boredom, finally got to Lewis, and he popped the tape into his VCR. It took a while for the video to start playing, and Lewis wasn’t sure whether it would play at all. Then, finally, something started playing. At first, it was just static that filled his screen; this lasted long enough that Lewis wondered if that was all that his friend had recorded on there. But then the video changed.

Monochrome and distorted images started on the screen. A circle appeared in the middle of them, with clouds moving past it, peering down at a face that Lewis couldn’t quite make out. Then the scene changed. A beautiful woman was looking in a mirror. Her Asian face’s beauty was on full display as she adjusted her hijab. Suddenly she turned to face something behind her. Was it a person entering the room behind her? Lewis couldn’t see. Next, many words appeared on the screen, written in a Latin script but not a language Lewis could understand. Then an eye filled the screen, first closed and then open, peering through the TV as Lewis. The eye was big and black, with a word projecting onto it, presumably in the language he had seen earlier. He still couldn’t understand the words but could now make out each letter.

B E R U B A H

Finally, the video showed a still image of a well before suddenly dissolving back into static.

Lewis couldn’t deny that his friend had done it. He had creeped him out. Lewis just sat there momentarily, letting the dread wash over him.

RING RING

Lewis’s mobile phone began ringing, breaking his trance. He slowly picked up the phone and looked up the number. The phone displayed UNAVAILABLE.

His first temptation was to ignore it, but he decided against it and answered hesitantly: “H-Hello?”

“Anda akan berubah selama tujuh hari, Anda sudah seorang wanita Indonesia” replied a low, deep voice.

“Seven days… I’ll change?” Lewis didn’t understand the words he had just heard but somehow understood what they meant. He was dumbfounded as the phone call ended with his mobile beeping at him.

Day Two: The Changing Body

After the phone call, It took a while for Lewis to process what exactly had happened. But in the end, he convinced himself that it was all a joke from his friend. Actually, Lewis had tried calling his friend to ask about the prank, but his friend wouldn’t pick up. Nor would he reply to any text messages. At first, Lewis thought it was because it was so late when he called, but his friend persisted in not picking up when he called the following morning. So desperate was Lewis for an answer that he called his friend the moment he awoke without even getting out of bed. Maybe his friend had neglected to keep his phone on him or was simply busy. After staring at his phone for a while in bed, Lewis managed to push the whole thing to the back of his mind. It was Saturday, so he didn’t need to work, and Lewis had slept in a little, so it was past noon when he got out of bed to meet the rest of the day. As soon as his foot hit the ground, though, he knew something was wrong.

His body felt a little lighter and nimbler as he jumped to his feet. It was as though he had lost some mass. As he examined his leg to see if anything was wrong, he didn’t see the familiar foot he knew. The first thing he noticed was a change of colour, his skin was a few shades darker, and number two was the shape. No longer did Lewis see the big, somewhat ugly feet of a larger man but instead saw two dainty, shapely feet that he’d expect on a woman. His legs were smooth, and as he reached down to feel his now-smooth skin, he also saw that his hands had undergone the same transformation as his feet. The previously solid, manly hands now looked darker and slight. No one would mistake them for a man’s hands!

He found himself rushing to get in front of the bathroom mirror. There he found the most shocking sight. Lewis did not find his familiar face in front of him, but he was peering into the eyes of someone very different. He didn’t see a woman looking at him, at least not entirely a woman; instead, he saw someone who he could perhaps call a boy, a very girly-looking boy. His facial features had changed as much as his feet and hands, and he looked distinctly Asian now or perhaps Eurasian. Either way, no one would recognise him as Lewis now.

The effort of going to the mirror, although barely a few strides from his bed, had made him start to breathe heavily; even though he had just gotten up, Lewis felt exhausted. He thought about what the phone call had said, that he would change in seven days. Lewis knew he had to move fast to try and find a way to stop this, but he could barely stand up. His body’s transformation was clearly taking it out of him. He tried splashing water on his face to wake himself up a little. However, it did nothing but make his face wet; in the time between him looking at the sink and looking back up to the mirror, his face seemed different again. Was his hair now longer? He wanted to fight the exhaustion but felt his desire to collapse onto the bed only grow tenfold. Finally, he realised he had no choice but to reduce his time to stop this, as he barely made it back to his bed. Instantly he fell asleep as he slumped on top of his bed.

Day Three: Exploring a Body

Lewis woke up slowly and gradually, not remembering what he had seen the previous day at first. He looked at the clock and saw it was midday; for a moment, Lewis thought that maybe the last day had just been a nightmare. Indeed he hadn’t slept for a whole 24 hours? Moving his slender, brown hand into his view instantly shifted his point of view. He jumped out of bed, yesterday’s fatigue gone as he rushed to the bathroom mirror again. He could feel his light body, the feeling of smooth skin and slender legs rushing towards his goal. This time with no fatigue, he could see his new face. It was that of a woman, a gorgeous woman at that, with a cute nose and small mouth; this face was positively cute. The skin was a dark tone, complete with dark brown eyes. If he weren’t in shock, he would probably be transfixed by the beauty in front of him. Instead, he tore his eyes away from his new reflection to observe the rest of his body. He only now realised he was naked. His much-too-big clothes must have slipped off him while he was sleeping. He looked down at his new form for the first time, finding his fit and shapely. His hand seemed to move by itself as it rubbed down from his neck, feeling his new smooth skin; he felt his skin was now super sensitive, and he felt good as his hand travelled down his body. As his fingers brushed his new nipples, he felt a new sensation below. Like an electric shock, he felt his new pussy shift. He hadn’t fully recognized that he had a pussy before this point, but now he was utterly aware of its presence.

His hand continued its path down, reaching his new vagina. He was breathing hard now as he gently felt the warmth of his pussy. It was a little wet and felt wetter still as his finger pushed against his clit. Without thinking about it, his finger started rubbing his pussy, and he felt a feminine moan push its way from his mouth. He knew his voice was unmistakably that of a woman. For the second time since the phone call, he found himself rushing to his bed, but he didn’t need to sleep this time. He had to keep this sensation going, the feeling was filling his mind, and the red-hot desires of his pussy took over.

Jumping onto his bed, he immediately set to work. His hand went straight to his pussy, one finger rubbing in a circular motion over his clit and another finger gently playing with the wet lips of his vagina. The feeling got stronger, his breathing getting heavier with more moans escaping his lips. His clit seemed more prominent against his finger while his other hand grabbed his right boob, tugging and pulling. Everything felt so good now, the feeling getting stronger and the need to explode filling his head. He needed to explode. That was all he knew. He needed to cum. He was going to cum. His hands pushed harder, and his fingers moved faster as he began to orgasm. His voice tore at his throat as his moans turned to shouts. His first female orgasm made his whole life’s sexual experiences seem pointless. Nothing he had before compared to the orgasm he just had. He fell back asleep on her bed. His seven days were now five, and he hadn’t even managed to leave his bedroom.

Day Four: Difficulty Focusing

Lewis woke up at midday the next day. This time, he had no illusion of it all being a dream as he immediately ripped himself from his bed. He looked at the clock and wondered whether it was really possible that it had been two days since the phone call. If so, he only had five days left to stop this. Lewis thought to himself, did he really have that long? It was eleven in the evening on Friday when he got the first call. He looked at his phone to confirm this. And now it was one in the afternoon, Monday. Lewis did the math quickly; about sixty-two hours had passed, which left him with 106 hours or just about that much. A little over four days! Lewis felt dirty and disgusting, not least because of what he had done the last time he was on his bed. He could almost still feel that fantastic orgasm reverberating about his body. Lewis found a desire to feel that again tug at his mind but pushed it away. He had to focus on fixing his predicament. He decided to have a quick shower, find clothes that didn’t look too ridiculous on his new body and try finding some help.

As Lewis washed himself in the shower, he tried not to focus too much on the smooth feeling of his body. But his pussy let itself known to him as he thought about what he would do to a girl like this. His mind moved to his cock filling this pussy, how it would feel as he forced his way into her wet folds, but his perspective shifted. She wasn’t the man. She was the woman, holding her legs back, feeling the big cock push into her pussy, moaning loudly and begging the man to push faster and harder. Lewis’s hand went to his pussy, playing with his clit again, his hand pinching his nipple. In her mind, she could see the strong body, so powerful over her small feminine form; the man could do anything he wanted with her, but he chose to fuck her.

“NO STOP!”

Lewis had to call out to stop the fantasy and himself rubbing down there. It felt so good, his pussy ached for more, but he knew he had to stop. He had to fight. He finished the shower and chose the least ridiculous clothes, putting them on with difficulty. He then made his way to the library to see if anyone else had had similar problems; the library had some new computers and should have access to the internet. Lewis wished he hadn’t hesitated to get his home connected up, even if it cost so much. After a while of playing with different outfits, Lewis finally managed to leave his house. He was wearing some stretchy underwear which sat on his crotch with an empty part where his balls would normally go, and some baggy jeans that were pulled up high and secured by a tight belt that chaffed his smooth feminine skin. Lewis also wore a t-shirt that was so baggy that he looked like he was someone who had lost 100 pounds. Even with the bagginess, his bra-less boobs still pushed out slightly, showing their shape. To hide these somewhat, he put on a thick hoodie. Finally, he wore multiple pairs of socks to help his little brown feet to fit his sneakers.

He felt a little shy, walking around looking the way he did. The clothes did not fit him well, and he knew it. And although it was impossible to recognize him, he couldn’t kill the feeling of embarrassment and shyness as he walked from his home. Luckily, the library wasn’t far, and it didn’t take more than a ten minutes walk to get there. As he got there, he saw a couple of his friends and had to resist the urge to say hello. First, he quickly walked around the small library, trying to find a book that might help, but he found nothing. This wasn’t a surprise as his problem was so strange that even a much more extensive library probably would have nothing. So instead, he opted to ignore the books and get onto the internet. The library was careful with its new computers, and you had to get a key for a booth from the front desk. He walked up to the librarian, with whom he had formally been on good terms, and smiled at her.

“How can I help you?” asked the librarian.

“Yes, I want use computer,” answered Lewis. However, Lewis couldn’t help but feel that his answer sounded slightly strange. Was his English different? Or was that just his new voice? The librarian seemed to strain her ears as though she had to process a particularly strong accent.

“Very well, miss, please sign this form, and I’ll get a key for you,” Lewis noticed that she mimed these actions as she said this like she was trying extra hard to ensure that Lewis understood her. She turned to retrieve the key while Lewis bent down to sign his name. He was about to sign Lewis before hesitating. It would surely be suspicious to write Lewis with his new body. Lewis paused and thought for a moment, and that’s where her name came to him. Rifki. Lewis signed the name Rifki. He didn’t know where this name came from, but it felt right.

The librarian returned, checked the signature, and said, “thank you, please give me the key back when you are finished.” Once again, she seemed to be working extra hard to make sure that Lewis understood her. Lewis took the key and found the computer booth.

The computer booths were like little offices, each one a small room with a heavy wooden door and no windows. Lewis could also lock the door with the key the library provided. Lewis was happy to be secluded. While he wasn’t one hundred percent sure, Lewis felt as though he could feel the gaze of men following him as he went. He sat down at the computer and began his search. Quickly. Lewis felt much too hot with all his clothes on, and so his seclusion led to him slowly discarding some of these clothes. First, he took off his shoes and peeled off the layers of socks. Lewis had often noticed that girls took off their shoes and socks in public places, so he felt this was fine. Doing this didn’t help much with the heat, though. So he then decided to discard his hoodie, leaving him with his much-too-large t-shirt, which was now covered in sweat and so clung to his skin, revealing his tits. After this, came off with the tight belt that chaffed his skin. Taking this off meant his pants were now much too loose, and they slipped down his smooth feminine legs. Now, as he searched, he was only wearing an empty pair of male underwear and a t-shirt which revealed too much.

It didn’t take long for Lewis to get tired. As he searched, the words seemed to blend into each other, and he often found himself having to search for the meanings of words. Was it just that he was looking for such a strange problem, or should he know the meaning of words such as “desperate” and “amazing?” His frustration seemed to grow as he found it harder and harder to read. Was something happening to his mind? He couldn’t seem to understand anything anymore. He needed to look up more and more words in the dictionary, and worse still, he needed to look up words within the definitions too. He began to sweat from the effort, his tiny brown feet rubbing against each other, feeling sweaty. He lost focus for a moment as the frustration seemed to make his pussy ache for attention. The sweat was in his crotch, too, and he found himself freeing himself from the male underwear as he searched.

Lewis blinked and looked at the screen. He seemed to understand everything now.

Why was everything so clear? Did taking off his underwear help that much? He then realised why he understood when looking at what he had typed:

pria masih berubah menjadi wanita.

He wasn’t reading English anymore; he was reading a different language. A language he now knew was Indonesian. And he realized he wasn’t just reading it; he was thinking with it too. He panicked, and the panic just added to his frustration, which only added to the ache in his pussy. As he tried to force himself to think in English, his hand found itself down to his crotch, and he began playing with his pussy. Finally, the frustration got so strong that he couldn’t help shouting to himself: “Demi apaan!”

However, it was Indonesian that left his mouth. Perfect, fluent Indonesian as the last of his English vanished. Suddenly, her perspective forced itself into his mind again. She held her legs back as a cock pushed itself into her. He started moaning loudly again, her hand grabbing at her tits as the urge to cum filled his mind. She was confident. She was going to dominate him. Lewis was getting closer to cumming, while she was getting closer to total control. The feeling in Rifki’s pussy growing and growing. The urge for Lewis to let go growing and growing. Growing so strong that surely he would explode when…

KNOCK KNOCK                                                                                  

The noise of someone knocking on the door stopped Lewis dead. Was he so loud that people could hear him? Someone was saying something through the door, but he couldn’t understand a word of the English directed at him; Lewis got dressed quickly and rushed from the booth embarrassedly. He practically threw the key to the librarian as he ran from the library, feeling the wetness of his pussy against his legs as he rushed home. Was he rushing because he was embarrassed? Or was it the clawing ache in his pussy? It was about 7 pm and dark when Lewis arrived home. His first instinct was to kick off his clothes once more and slump onto the bed.

He couldn’t even begin to resist the desire inside of him. So, he got to work again straight away. One hand on his clit, the other on his tits. Her perspective filling his mind again. She saw herself pulling her legs back as the man forced his way into her. Lewis felt pleasure from every part of his body as Rifki began to take control. She wasn’t a different person; she was simply the new Lewis, and so just needed to correct some things in his mind. For instance, Lewis loved putting his cock into a tight pussy. Rifki focused on this fact and fixed it. Now they loved big cocks inside their pussy.

Next was the fact that he was a white man called Lewis; she focused on this and corrected it. They were a gorgeous Indonesian woman named Rifki. As she fixed these things, the feeling in their pussy became stronger. Rifki needed to cum. While the sense of need grew inside of them, Rifki was correcting aspects of their old-self. And as they got closer and closer to orgasm, it became easier and easier for her to fix things. Soon the feeling got too much to bear. Rifki had to cum right now. It was no longer possible to hold back the orgasm. The repairs to their mind were so close to being done, but it could not continue for a while after an orgasm. Rifki reflected happily that her control was almost absolute as she allowed herself to get louder. Her breathing became harder as she stretched her calves and curled her toes…

“Aaaahhhh!” she screamed as she cummed. The feeling of pleasure radiating through her body as she fell asleep.

Day Five: Buying a New Life

Rifki woke up, her mind in a state of some serious confusion. She had two things on her mind. On the one hand was the need to fix her immediate problems. She needed to buy some clothes and other necessities for life. But, on the other hand, was the problem. What precisely that problem was, she wasn’t too sure. She just had some feeling deep within her that there was something wrong that she needed to fix. Was it something to do with changing or maybe something to do with a phone call? In any case, she couldn’t help but feel that buying life’s necessities was a little more critical than some problem she couldn’t even remember.

Rifki didn’t dwell much on why she lived in an apartment suited for a single man, with essentially nothing that could help a woman. Instead, she put on the same, almost-acceptable outfit that she wore yesterday and left the house in search of something better to wear. She decided to go to a mall nearby, and while she couldn’t understand the English around her, she relied on her eyes to buy what she needed.

The mall had many different clothes shops to choose from. Typically, needing a whole new outfit could have overwhelmed a woman. Rifki, however, was quick to select outfits that she liked. It wasn’t the kind of stuff she remembered liking before, but she couldn’t help herself from gravitating towards certain clothes. The old-self had often found clothes shopping daunting, as he usually could not commit to buying any clothes even after hours of browsing. She, however, found no problem in finding clothes that looked good and committing to buying them. After she picked out her first complete outfit, she paid and asked the shop to remove the labels so that she could change into it. She did so in the changing rooms, discarding the male clothes for good. She bought as many clothes as she could find that suited her and then went on to purchase other things she needed, like makeup and tampons.

While exiting the mall with bags of new stuff, Rifki managed to drop one of the bags, causing things to scatter across the floor.

“Demi apa!” She cried out in frustration as she reached down to pick up everything that fell. What happened seemed to catch the attention of a man who was nearby. He came over and helped Rifki pick up the stuff on the floor. He was a handsome man with tanned skin and an Asian face like Rifki’s.

“Hello, are you new here?” Asked the man in Indonesian.

“Emmm…” Rifki found herself caught off guard by the handsome man talking to her. “Something like that; how did you know?”

“I know all the Indonesian people here in this town, as few of us are here.”

“Oh really? I wasn’t sure there were any at all.” Replied Rifki with a smile. She drank in the details of his face, which was rugged and masculine but also kind in expression. She felt a slight stir below as she imagined how it would feel to kiss his lips.

“Well, why not come meet them? My name is Ahmad. We all usually meet after prayers at the Mosque. So why don’t you come by tomorrow?”

Rifki was a proud Muslim, but the lingering old-self resisted this fact. She must correct that later. For now, she relied on her sexual attraction to push the following answer.

“My name is Rifki, and of course, I’ll meet you all, is the mosque near here?” She was sure the old-self had walked past the Mosque before, though he had never paid much attention.

“You don’t know where it is? You must be very new here, huh?” Said Ahmad with a chuckle. He then explained how to get there, and they parted.

Rifki’s pussy ached the whole way home for the man and his cock. She imagined what his body must look like under those clothes. She imagined the smell of him as his cock approached her. She imagined his cock pushing the lips of her pussy apart as he entered her. The feeling below grew as she walked, becoming so strong that she wasn’t sure she could even make it home. She was tempted to just fall to the asphalt and fuck herself in public. She did manage to get home, however. As soon as she got home, she threw her new possessions to the ground and fell back against the wall. Her hand dug through her pants and underwear to find her sopping wet pussy, and she began to finger herself violently.

Day Six: The Mosque

Rifki’s orgasm the night before was still felt in her body as she woke up. She knew she needed to stop doing that because, as good as it felt, it was haram. Such pleasure is for a man to bring after marriage. She understood this now. She also understood that the big problem she desperately needed to solve wasn’t such a big deal after all. As how could she have forgotten about it if it was so important? Today was the day she was to go to the Mosque for the first time and was the day to start winning that man’s heart. Ahmad was handsome, and Rifki longed for his cock, to feel his muscular body in her arms and to feel his powerful form force his way into her. She longed for him to fill her.

For this, she had to wear a new piece of clothing she had bought the previous day. She reached into one of the bags and gently pulled out a head scarf. She lifted it and carefully inspected it. As she did so, she felt a feeling of reverence. Rifki had actually bought several hijabs to go with her new outfits, so she had plenty to choose from. Finally, she picked out an outfit which she thought would show her to be a good woman, nothing sexy at all but instead something that looked devout. This was technically the first time that Rifki had ever put on a hijab, but it didn’t look that way as she effortlessly put it. She was simply doing what was natural for her.

It didn’t take her long to walk to the Mosque, as it was not far away. Of course, it helped that she now had shoes that fit her and was no longer wearing far-too-large sneakers with multiple layers of socks to compensate. However, when she got to Mosque, she found it hard to go in. Her body seemed to freeze, unwilling to take a single step further. She knew immediately that it must be the last vestiges of the old-self. He was not a Muslim; He didn’t like Islam. He didn’t want to enter the Mosque.

Of course, it didn’t matter anymore. The old-self’s power was tiny now. Rifki had taken everything the old-self was and fixed it. She had saturated every inch of his body and left the old-self with no foothold to fight back. In fact, she no longer needed the power of sex or an orgasm to fix things. Instead, she focused on the Mosque. She focused on the fact that this was her community to build, her kinship and solidarity to be found, and the home of her God to be worshipped. Finally, she thought loudly:

‘I am a Muslim! I am a Muslim Woman! This is my home!’

And like that, the old-self’s will was gone, and she could happily walk into the Mosque.

There she saw Ahmad. He was beyond handsome today; he must have been wearing his best clothes, clearly going to some effort to improve his appearance. He appeared to be waiting for Rifki, who was happy to see that he had made such an effort. When he saw her, he smiled widely and rushed up to her.

“You here! Thank Allah, you made it!”

“It’s good to see you again too.”

“Let me introduce you to everyone today…”

Rifki spent the day at Ahmad’s arm, him introducing her to everyone in their community. Soon, she began to imagine herself being introduced as his wife. This experience lasted for hours, and the two spent hours talking to each other and the others in their little Indonesian community. Finally, it came time for Ahmad to say goodbye when he said:

“Right now, we live in the West, so how about a date? I know it’s different from what you are used to back home, but I promise it will be under Allah’s will.”

“I’d love to!” Rifki’s pussy ached for his cock as she thought about this.

“Great, tomorrow at 7 pm, we’ll meet outside this mosque again.”

Day Seven: The Date

Rifki prepared carefully for her date. She needed to present herself as beautiful and sexy but also pure and Godly. She had to use her clothing and makeup carefully for this effect, and she had to strike a delicate balance as she decided precisely how to present herself on the date. A loose skirt showed modestly, but heels underneath that skirt showed sexy without revealing too much. A loose shirt and hijab were also modest, but makeup and nail polish revealed beauty. But, of course, everything had to be perfect.

They met outside the Mosque. Ahmad had been waiting for her once again. The date went terrific from the first minute, with Ahmad showing himself to be a gentleman and Rifki carefully letting him do this without giving too much away. Sitting at dinner, she dangled her shoes and imagined him on top of her. He was visibly strong and would definitely find it easy to hold her down and do what he wanted with her. When she imagined this, she felt instantly wet.

She observed him diligently. She even carefully checked his pants. He could see his cock straining to get free, and she imagined herself on her knees, sucking and licking his shaft. The pleasure overtook him as he came inside of her. Then she felt it.

She felt a final tinge of resistance from the old-self.

It was pitifully weak now. It took nearly no effort at all to brush it away. She was a woman and would feel no resistance to doing wifely duty.

The date ended with plans for another date, and Rifki knew it was Allah’s will for them to be together.

Day Eight: The Figure in the TV

Rifki got home late and was so excited that she couldn’t sleep. She instead spent her time thinking of her future with Ahmad… slowly time passed until it was exactly seven days since Lewis had first watched the video. The room was silent until a roar ripped through the silence.

From the TV came the sound of static, filling the room. She ran to turn off the TV. Smashing the power button to silence it. She immediately went back to thinking of Ahmad.

And then abruptly, the TV exploded into life again. The static, louder than ever, filled the room once more. She ran to the TV again and frantically pulled the plug out of the socket. Then, panting, she waited in the new silence. Then the TV turned on once more.

This time it sat silent. Rifki first looked away from the TV screen, too scared to look. Soon she felt herself reluctantly turning to look at the screen. There, projected clearly from the television set, was the well that the old self had seen a week earlier. She stood there, staring at the TV screen: terror freezing herself where she stood. Now, she could only do one thing: stare at the ghostly image of the well. Stare as something began climbing out of it…

Slowly the thing climbed out of the well. Slowly it began moving towards Rifki. She wanted to scream but couldn’t. She wanted to run but couldn’t. She could only watch as it got closer, as the features of the thing became clearer. First, she saw it was a man. Next, she could tell it was a white man. Then, as it got closer still, she realised it was a man she was familiar with,  it was a man that she had vanished from her mind. It was the old-self that climbed towards her.

Soon the old-self reached the edge of the TV. But this didn’t stop it. Instead, it began climbing out of the TV. At this point, some feeling came back to Rifki. She didn’t know why but she knew running wouldn’t work and that she had to stand her ground and fight. So she began shouting at it as it left the TV and crawled towards her on all fours.

‘I am not you! I am not you! I am not you!’ It continued towards her.

‘I reject you! I reject you! I am not you!’ It continued to crawl, getting very close now. So close that she could put her foot on old-self’s head to prevent it from getting closer.

‘Didn’t you hear? I am not you! I reject you! I am Rifki, a beautiful Indonesian woman.’ The form struggled against her foot.

‘Please. Just. DIE!’ She screamed. With these words, the form finally vanished.

So too, did all sense that Rifki had ever been anything but.

Day One Thousand: Happy Family

Rifki sat waiting for her husband Ahmad, who was bringing their two kids from visiting their grandmother in Indonesia. Instead of traveling home with Ahmad, she had returned a couple of days early to help relieve her sister, who had been watching the house for them while they were gone but suddenly needed to leave on some urgent task she had refused to reveal. Rifki thought it was about a marriage Ahmad’s parents had been trying to arrange for her. She hoped he was a good man, and soon she would have many nieces and nephews.

Rifki’s sister, Dewi, hadn’t been in her life for many years but suddenly returned to her last year. In fact, while the years with Ahmad were incredible, they only became perfect when Dewi appeared. Now that Rifki thought of it, it was a bit of a strange story.

First came a man investigating the disappearance of his brother called Lewis. Lewis had lived in Rifki’s apartment before her: or at least she guessed this was the case because she had some of Lewis’s stuff in her apartment. So Rifki gave the brother all of the things of Lewis’s that she could find. The things she found were everyday things like t-shirts or photos. However, there was one strange object. It was a beaten-up old videotape that seemed to have a strange aura to it. Honestly, Rifki was pleased to be rid of it. The man seemed glad, too, as after he accepted the videotape, he stopped bothering her. It was a week after she gave the tape that Dewi finally returned to her. Rifki didn’t feel that these things were related, but it was definitely a strange coincidence that a man looking for his lost brother came knocking and then just a week later, Rifki’s missing sister was found.

As she heard the key turn in the lock and the sound of her two children from beyond the door, Rifki felt pure happiness. She was happy to be a proud Indonesian mother and couldn’t imagine living any other way.