Failed TC or ???

[BRS]

OK, I've put about a thousand miles on this truck since buying it used (115k total now). It's an early '99 with an automatic - pretty much stock. Everything has worked great, except yesterday afternoon I started it up 5 minutes after parking, and went to pull out of a parking spot and the truck just wouldn't move until I got it to 2k rpms or more. I had only driven it like 30 miles yesterday unloaded, and a mixture of city/hwy driving. After it moved, it wouldn't really have power under 2000 rpms. It then shifted fine and made it the 5 miles home. Fluid level is fine, not burnt, no codes thrown. It's what a slipping clutch on a manual feels like, except it doesn't flare when you throttle it in the upper gears.

Is it just a burned TC, or is there something else at work? If so, from what I've read here I could likely replace the TC and have it work fine immediately, but then it's a craps shoot whether I get another 1,000 or another 50,000 before the trans dies. I'm really not in a position to drop $4k on a new trans, but if I'm screwed, I'm screwed.

Thanks,

Ben