Jennifer, Jenny as her sisters and friends called her, had been Jerry. She was six foot four and sixteen stone [224 pounds, 102Kg] and had been bullied into a life heavily involved in sport by her school. Though extremely talented at all sport she’d always hated it and had always wanted to dance. After a break down her supportive family had helped her to rebuild her life as a girl. Her new life replaced sport with Scottish Country dancing. This work includes Big Girls do Cry and then the second part picks up her life immediately following her breakdown with I'm Not Crying Now

Kilts always have been expensive, and many a man couldn’t afford one, most of the men I knew when I was a child had inherited theirs. But all the men and the boys too had to be wearing one if they expected to be fed at Granny’s house on a Sunday, even the toddlers too. I mind my youngest brother Graeme wearing one when he was still in nappies [US diapers] and so young my Mum was still nursing him.

Now there was a distinct down side to folk saying ‘She’s Harriet, Gladys and Pete’s lass. Gladys as has the Dragon at Bearthwaite.

I considered babies to be creatures that would vomit on me from one end and extrude even more unmentionable material on me from the other.

“And?” Asked Sasha in a tone of voice that demanded the truth and all of it. “And what do you mean by he changed after leaving home?”

“He says he’s trans and goes by the name of Harriet. I suspect that’s why Bert treated him so badly. He never was much of a lad and as a boy he was a natural victim just waiting to be picked on. When he telt me he was trans it all kind of made sense. He seems to be doing all right. He says he doesn’t get bullied now he’s living as a girl and he is much happier. He’s waiting on doing silver service in a big hotel in Didsbury as a waitress.”

“Bollocks! You need to start understanding how these sorts of things work, Pete. Her name is Harriet, and your niece is a waitress. Start thinking Harriet, female, she, her, hers and all that goes with that, and just forget everything before that. There is no Alex. Get her up here. Is that going to cause any problems between you and Gladys? Or do I have to have a word with her, Pete?”

“No. Gladys knows about Alex and is sympathetic.” Pete paused and after a few seconds, during which Sasha could see Pete was making efforts to change his thinking, he continued “I think she’d have asked Harriet to come up here a while back, but she was bothered about how I would cope.”

“You’re supposed to be a man, so you’ll stiffen your spine, and behave, act and cope like a man. Which means if necessary you’ll tell those who cause Harriet problems to fuck off and drink somewhere else. Write to her, Pete. Get her up here to speak to me and we’ll go from there. Send her enough to cover the train fare and be generous.”

Jame’s changes included improved health and longevity for all, a greater sense of responsibility regarding managing population and ecological responsibility. Greenhouse gas emissions plummeted, re-afforestation occurred at an ever increasing pace and global warming had been reversed. Within a hundred and fifty years, with the exception of St. Helena, Terra had taken over all of Earth because the scum had all died. Most had been killed by each other, some had died from cold or starvation and a few had been eaten by other predators who had been increasing in numbers as the pressure from humans on their environment had disappeared.

That was the beginning of the Bearthwaite covid rebellion.

“He is White Ghost” she said, “and we shall sing.”

The child nodded and removed the shift to stand naked other than the sandals in front of the women. There it was, the immature prod and sack of masculinity possibly giving the statement the lie.

The child completely unbothered by what the women could see but seemingly worried by her previous statement being possibly refuted reiterated. “I am a girl and I seek admission to this House. My name is Rebecca and I have said the required words. You can not turn me away without breaking the oath of this House to accept all girls.”

‘You don’t mind if I call you Mike do you?’ When forced to reply they usually replied by saying something like, ‘I didn’t realise you were talking me, Cinderella, because my name is Michael.’ That was of course if the questioner were male. They substituted a name like Arnold if the questioner were female.

James Fearon was a celebrated interviewer and political commentator. He was, unlike many of his peers, a suave, polished and polite man whose Friday evening videocast had an audience of tens of millions all over the globe. His style was unique, and though never confrontational nor combative it was brutal.

Professor Claire McBride was a startlingly beautiful woman. Her face was arresting because the combination of deep blue eyes that shone seemed to be at odds with her vibrantly natural copper red hair. She looked to be in her late thirties, but was fifty-one. She was married to a farrier and they’d been together since their late teens.

This is essentially a retelling of Ch 2, but it always was my original intention that this material should be in what is now the Ch 128 position. I only included it as Ch 2 so as to provide some explanation at the beginning without giving too much away.

Chapters 125 and 126 are different in that they contain a lot of material in note form. I plan to write that material in its full form at some time in the future, but it is not essential to the work. The reason I have done it this way is that I wish to post the last three chapters, 127, 128 and 129 which provide the explanations of why it all occurs. Ch 128 is essentially the same as Ch 2, but it was my original intention that the material should be in the Ch 128 position. I only included it as Ch 2 so as to provide some explanation at the beginning without giving too much away.
Regards,
Eolwaen

WARNING CONTAINS DESCRIPTIONS OF MURDER AND EXECUTIONS BY BEHEADING

I started to cringe because I recognised the signs, Melissa was about to deliver the coup de grace.

Are you old enough to be a fan of and to believe in ‘The Twilight Zone’ the subject of the 1959-1964 TV series shot entirely in black and white with that weird music? I hesitated to ask in the body of the text because such a reference is anachronistic with regard to my protagonist, but I had to ask, hence this note.

“Hm! Samantha Patricia Shaw. Just trying it on for size, Gee, but it feels like it fits. Yes. I thought you’d never ask. I was beginning to wonder if me being trans was getting to you. No?”