The Desert Experiment

Rick, an experienced and no-nonsense truck driver, is cruising through the desert when a blinding light appears in the sky. Before he can react, he’s sucked up into an alien ship hovering above the nearby mountains. When he wakes up, Rick finds himself in a cold, metallic room filled with technology he can’t even begin to comprehend.

He feels different. His hands, now small and delicate, run over a body that’s unfamiliar. When he looks at his reflection in a metallic surface, shock floods through him. Staring back is a young, slender woman with long, flowing hair. “What the hell is going on?!” he exclaims, startled by the soft, unfamiliar voice that escapes his lips.

The aliens enter the room—tall, slender beings with large heads and dark, unreadable eyes. They don’t offer any real explanation. In nearby rooms, Rick sees other humans, some transformed into bizarre animal-human hybrids, while others bear alien features. All of them are subjects in experiments on Earth’s DNA, and Rick—now transformed into a woman—is just another test subject.

He overhears the aliens mention that after the experiments, all of them would be returned to their original bodies and lives. But Rick isn’t willing to stick around to find out if that’s true. In a moment of distraction, he makes a break for it, running through metallic corridors until he stumbles upon what looks like a storage area filled with human belongings.

Desperately, he grabs some abandoned women’s clothes, likely left by other abductees, and quickly dresses. It’s strange, wearing a woman's body and clothes, but he has no other choice. After a frantic escape down the mountains, struggling to get used to his new body, he finds his truck parked where he left it.

Still reeling from the shock and confusion, Rick—or Ricki now—drives home, trying to figure out how he’s going to explain all of this to his wife, Karen. How does one even begin to talk about something this crazy?

Ricki pulls up to the house in the dead of night, quietly slipping inside, but Karen is awake, sitting on the couch, clearly worried.

"Rick?" she calls without looking up, her arms crossed. "Do you know what time it is?"

Ricki takes a deep breath, adjusting the women's clothes she grabbed from the alien storage. "Karen... you're not going to believe what happened. But you need to listen."

Karen finally looks up—and freezes. Instead of her husband, there’s a slender, beautiful young woman standing in the doorway. Her eyes widen in shock. "Who... who are you? Where's Rick?"

Ricki, nervous, tries to explain. "It's me. Rick. I was abducted by aliens... and they, uh... they turned me into this."

Karen stands slowly, circling Ricki with wide eyes, inspecting her from head to toe. "You’re telling me you got abducted... and now you’re a woman?"

Ricki nods, not knowing what else to say. Karen lets out a bewildered laugh. "And where did you get these clothes? They're a little too... nice for the desert."

"I, uh... found them at the alien base. While I was escaping," Ricki explains, looking down at herself, still not fully adjusted to her new body.

Karen shakes her head, laughing nervously. “Oh my God... I can’t believe this. I’ve been working out, dieting, doing everything I can, and you come back looking like... like a supermodel! Look at you! I’m 45, fighting gravity, and here you are with this perfect body and flowing hair…”

Ricki stifles a laugh despite the tension. "Hey, this wasn’t my idea. And, uh, I still don’t know how to walk in these heels."

Karen rolls her eyes but can’t help the tinge of envy creeping into her voice as she looks Ricki up and down. "Now you're telling me we have to share the closet? And it looks like you're already wearing some of my stuff."

Ricki gives a sheepish smile. "I just… I couldn’t exactly come back naked. But hey, I promise I won’t steal your clothes. Well, maybe just that leather jacket."

Karen, unable to hold back anymore, bursts into laughter. "So now you’re a woman and you’re trying to steal my style? This is unbelievable!"

Both of them laugh, relieved, realizing that no matter how insane the situation is, they’re still the same people. Now, with aliens and a brand-new body in the mix, they have a lot to talk about—and maybe some rearranging to do in the closet.