[Mark Newman]

To:Everyone

From: Marilyn

For obvious reasons, there is nothing for me to say to Anthony about this. I had a bad feeling as I read through Anthony’s letter and I immediately tried to trace it. There were only 7 Anthonys in the junior class and 4 Jills. I did find the right one and alerted the police, but as many of you know they found Anthony murdered in his garage, battered and crushed under weights far too heavy for him, and even most girls, to lift.

Boys, girls, I’m struggling here to maintain my professional composure. We have all gone through Changes in our bodies. But that does not mean our fundamental obligations to each other have changed. They haven’t. Not one bit. And sadly, our instincts have not yet changed yet either. Anthony knew he was in danger, but he still thought, as a male, that it was wrong of him to ask for help. Boys, there ARE girls out there who, for whatever reason, may use their strength violently. They are far, far stronger than you. They can run faster and longer than you. You can hit them as hard as you can and they’ll just laugh and then hit you back four times as hard. Sure they’re vulnerable to guns and knives, but how many of you want to use them, or even know how to do so. Boys, you must get help if you need it. You must avoid situations where a girl can threaten or take advantage of you. I cannot stress this strongly enough.

It’s frightening to think how strong this Jill became in such a short time. It would seem that the Changes have not meant only that males and females have changed relative positions, but that females now build muscle at a much faster rate than males used to. I don’t have the answers here. I’m not even sure I know what questions to ask. But it is vital that all of us keep asking questions and keep trying to answer them. The world we live in now is very different from what it was just a week ago. We don’t know why. We just know that it is.

Please, boys and girls, treat the Changes seriously. We have a lot of adjustments to make. Be careful.

[Mark Newman]

NEVER MIND EVERYTHIN FINE

Anthony

[Mark Newman]

To: Marilyn Knewsome

From: Anthony

Dear Ms. Knewsome,

My name is Tony. I’m writing because I’m really scared about what has happened because of the change. Actually, that is not totally right…I am scared about how my ex-girlfriend has changed. Let me explain.

Jill and I dated for a few months at the start of the year. We were really into each other, ya know? Way more than that high-school-sweethearts holding-hands stuff. We were really hitting it off well.

I guess I should tell you a little more about us before I go on. Jill and I are both Juniors in high school. I’m no brain at school, but I get by in my classes. I live in a small house with my Dad since my folks divorced three years ago. Dad’s off on business trips every week or so, which means Jill and I usually had the house to ourselves. All last year I was sort of a gym rat – you know, hung out at the gym after school. Not cause I’m on a sports team or anything, but just like hitting the weights. My Dad even got me a weight set at the start of the year so I’d be at home more when he was there. I convinced Jill to try the weights out a few times earlier this year, but she didn’t seem to like it as much as I did.

I guess that’s where the trouble with us started. Earlier this year I really started to make progress with the weights, and I wanted Jill to workout with me too. She didn’t want to workout, but she was real supportive. She would come over all the time and watch me hit the weights, spot me on some sets, always have food or water ready…and of course always be up for an after exercise make-out session. It was cool at first, but started to seem weird that she was around all the time, just watching me train (with a kind of dreamy look on her face).

About this time, I noticed she was always nearby…not just when I was working out after school, but she showed up to walk to school with me; she was always waiting for me between classes or go to lunch; and wanted to spend every minute of the weekend with me. I couldn’t get a minute to myself. She would even call my cell phone four times a night to say she missed me (even after spending all day together).

Hey, I may not be some fancy doctor like you, but it definitely looked like Jill was starting to get all Fatal Attraction on me. So, three weeks ago, I decided to break it off with her (great timing, huh?). When I told her, she started crying at first, then started arguing with me, telling me I couldn’t break up with her. She kept demanding I give her one good reason why we should break up. Well, I couldn’t tell her “It’s cause you’re crazy!” I wasn’t sure what to tell her, so I just told her it was because she wasn’t buff enough, ya know, like Serena Williams or something. I don’t know why I said it…I guess because I’ve got working out on my mind all the time. Actually, I felt she was gorgeous just the way it was – nice and curvy; lush, kissable lips; a flat tummy; sandy blond hair; lean, long legs; and big, beautiful…eyes.

OK, so as soon as I said this, I figured she would say that’s a dumb reason or something. But instead, she got this real intense look on her face, and I could see her jaw muscle kind of twitch. In a quivering voice, she just said “fine,” and walked away.

I tried to put Jill out of my mind after that. What’s weird is that after that, I never saw her at school. I asked around a little, and she was still going to class, but it was weird that I never ran into her. My friends told me she had started hanging out with a new group of girls – Beth, Mel, and a couple of other girls who have a reputation for getting into trouble. I wasn’t too concerned about it…until about a week ago, that is.

I guess the first time I noticed the Change was when I started using the weighs less often than usual. I just didn’t feel like working out, which was weird. Now, I’m not some sports star all into his body, but working out was fun for me. I liked seeing the results of exercise, too, but seeing my body shrink away soon became the least of my troubles.

In the last week, I started getting messages from Jill on my cell phone. They always are left about an hour after I go to sleep, so I don’t get a chance to pick up. I have listened to them over and over, so now I have them memorized. In her messages, Jill says she has been working out non stop since I broke up with her. She talks about how much she has grown since then…how she is way bigger than Serena now, way bigger than I ever was. Each time she’s called, her voice has been deeper, and sounding more and more aggressive.

Needless to say, now that the Change is in full swing, I am really getting scared. This morning (Wednesday) was the worst yet. I had another message from Jill this morning, but it just sounded like someone grunting and straining, along with a weird, low groaning sound. I could also make out the voices of a few other girls saying things like “Come on Jill-girl”, “You can do it”, “Damn, look at her arms”, and “She gets bigger every hour.”

I wasn’t sure what this message meant until I went down to clean the weight setup in the garage before school (yeah, I said clean the weights…it helps me unwind). When I got down there, I discovered one of the barbells was right in front of the door – or at least it used to be a barbell. Sometime during the night, it had been bent. Bent into a heart-shape. My own heart was pounding inside my chest now. It had to be Jill. How strong was she now? I also found a small, yellow post-it note stuck to the mirror I had mounted on one wall the garage. On it, in Jill’s handwriting, it said “See you soon, loverboy.”

I had forgotten Jill saw me get the emergency house key out of the planter in front of the house one day. It’s missing now, so she must have it. I’m not sure what to do! I don’t want to call my Dad, or the police, because I feel dumb being frightened of my ex. I also have the feeling she is watching me somehow. All day at school today I felt like I was being followed. I’m just really scared what

[Mark Newman]

This "Girl-cott" is just the absolute funniest thing yet. I heard that some Greek women went on "strike" once to stop a war. Maybe girls would have the ability to stay away from boys for awhile, but there’s just no way high school boys could ever manage it.

I know what I’ll do if I hear they’re starting. I’ll dress up in one of my absolute tightest t-shirts — and since I’ve grown I have some that are incredibly tight — and waltz around the school getting a lot closer than 15 feet to these girl-cotting guys. I can make all my body parts move and see just how many seconds they manage to ignore me. Hey, with my new muscles, wait until they see how I make my boobs dance. Just about any girl can do it now, sure, but mine really shake.

This just gets to be more and more fun every minute.

[Mark Newman]

Dear Kate:

Yours was an interesting question, and I had to do some research before I could answer it. I am happy to reassure you that this is one of those "urban myths" that go around the Internet but are not true. While all babies are fragile, male babies are no weaker than female babies used to be, and you would be surprised at how well mothers and fathers do in learning just how to hold their new infants.

And yes, there are always some babies who have trouble breastfeeding. When it happens now, new mothers may think it’s because of the Changes, but I have not read any reports from scientists that confirm that this is really happening more often than before. Usually, patience, persistence and a few old tricks like using sugar water and mixing bottle feeding of breast milk gets babies on the right track.

So don’t worry. I’m sure you will be a great help to your parents when the new baby comes.

On your last point, yes, I saw that report too. It is an interesting case that did apply to one set of boy-girl twins. It is something worth further study. Girls do have enough of an advantage already without taking their brothers’ much needed nourishment! Thankfully this won’t be a problem for your brother, as it sounds like he is not a twin.

Thanks for writing.

Marilyn

[Mark Newman]

To: Marilyn Knewsome

From: Kate Briscole

Dear Ms Knewsome

My name is Kate and I’m 8 years old. I heard at my older sister talking to her friend about you when she arrived from school today and I couldn’t avoid send you a mail.

I have an important question to you. It’s about the pregnancy in women. Let me tell you why I want to ask you about this.

My mother is 7 months pregnant. One month ago she told us that she was carrying a boy. You can’t imagine the happiness I felt to know that I will have a baby brother.

The Change hasn’t affect in a radical way at all at my family. I have the lucky to born in a family were the females tend to be very tall.

My father was always smaller than my mother. Now that he is at her chest level, neither of my parents seems to mind.

My sister says that her boyfriend still loves her and of course she loves him. They used to be the same size, but not anymore

My mother seems healthier than before. Her new muscles are helping her to carry without problem the weight of the baby. But are the developed of those muscles what scares me. I’m afraid for my baby brother.

I have done some searches in the Internet and I have found rumors about male babies whom born with broken bones. Female babies don’t have that kind of problems. Like I said, there is nothing official, but I think that the Change turned at the male babies much weaker than they use to be and since women are stronger those rumors could be true.

I also heard rumors about that the first male babies are having other problems. Some new mothers are afraid to crush at their delicate babies in their arms without meaning. Others are frustrated that their babies can’t be breastfed. It seems that the male baby mouth is to fragile and when a woman nipple get hard the baby can apply the necessary strength and they can’t suck any milk at all.

What I did found in an official medical page is that the metabolism of a woman carrying two babies (a female and the other a male) has changed so, that now the female baby is receiving more nutrients than her brother.

Analysis has proven than even a week ago the two babies were developing normally, now, the female baby has gotten bigger and demands more nutrients, while the male baby has shrunk and it’s getting nurtured with the minimum nutrients.

This means that the Change affects even at the non-born humans.

The new babies don’t know about the older order of the society. So, they won’t be afraid of what is happening now. They are very lucky.

I haven’t told at my mother about this and I’m afraid of what will happen when the birth day comes. I don’t want that my brother suffer any pain, and if this Change is permanent, I promise that I will be at his side at all time to protect him.

Thanks for listening me Ms. Knewsome and I will like to hear your opinion.

Kate

[Mark Newman]

Dear Patrick:

"If You Don’t Have Respect, You Have Nothing At All. "

You know, I couldn’t agree more, Patrick. And if there was one thing I would want all of the young people I talk to to understand, that would be it.

I won’t tell you whether I think your girl-cott is a good or bad idea. I think that is something you and your friends must decide. But let me leave you with a few thoughts.

What you are doing is to remind girls, and everyone else at your school, that you boys continue to make important contributions. Math homework and computer help are two good examples. There are many more. And it is your right to make it clear that you need to be respected.

But what will it take to end the boycott? How will you get ALL girls to behave the right way? Girls are individuals. Each girl is responsible for her own behavior and wants to be recognized for her own good and bad points.

I think it’s great that you are organizing your friends to reclaim your respect and your rights. Your girl-cott is one way to start. But think of it as a demonstration of your importance, not as an end in itself. Think about your next step. Talk to your friends. Keep them involved. And find positive ways to show your value, and all boys’ value to the community. We will all thank you for it.

Stay in touch.

Marilyn

[Mark Newman]

Dear Tony:

I enjoyed your enthusiastic letter. It sounds like you’re coping pretty well with the changes, since you haven’t mentioned any problems with your sister. It’s natural for you to feel envious of your sister’s sudden growth in height and her increase in muscle. You probably always expected to end up taller and stronger than she is, as most brothers do, and to have her surpass you like this without even any effort on her part must seem unfair. (The fact that, before the changes, it had also taken no effort on your part to be stronger than her, I’ve observed, is rarely a consolation to males, but that’s not unique to you!) You do need to keep telling yourself that THIS is normal now, which is something that I do think you recognize.

As for Mrs. Darling, I hardly need to tell you that sex with older adults, especially married ones, is unlikely to bring you happiness in the end. While her experience may seem attractive to you right now, the kind of adult that would use a young man for her own sexual gratifiication is someone who is unlikely to care very much about your own needs. But on the other hand, I find it very healthy in a way that you find her attractive. It means you are adapting well to the Changes. Just keep in mind that in the long run you will be happier with girls your own age.

Marilyn

[Mark Newman]

Marilyn

My Name is Tony and I need to talk to somebody, I mean hey my life’s been f*cked! Sh*t, like I’m a twin and you know I my twin sister A couple of years ago had a growth spurt and like she was freakin’ taller than me. Sh*t, I hated it my family making freakin’ fun of me cause she was like two inches taller than me. Then this past year I starting growing and caught up and was taller again by an inch.

Well now you know what happened I freakin’ shorter again. Only now I ‘m 10 inches shorter! Man got only did she get muscles but she not freakin’ taller than most girls. Sh*t!

But hey, Mrs. Darling next door, wow! I mean like she would catch some rays in her back yard. F*ck she was put together . I ‘d sneak a peek at her every chance I got. But now, sh*t you should see her in her bikini working out!

I wonder whether I’ll ever be normal again.

Tony

[Mark Newman]

Dear Andrew:

Thanks for your comments. They are a valuable perspective for our readers. I do wonder how much longer men will be able to moonlight on jobs like your convenience store graveyard shift. Yes your gun may make you feel safer, but it’s a lot of risk to take on for a few extra dollars. Hopefully women will not prove to be as violent as men, but there are always a few bad eggs around. Please remember that giving up your employer’s cash box is a better policy than relying on that shotgun.

If you care to write back some time, I will be interested to learn about how the Changes is affecting your work as a policeman. Stay in touch.

Marilyn

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