PLEASE READ CHPTER 66 BEFORE 67

Graphic created by Patricia Marie Allen from photos on Pixabay.com

Authors note: This story first appeared in the “One Dozen Roses” anthology and has been edited to be read as a standalone.
You can read it in the anthology here.

I’ve been asked just how I came to choose the name Rose. The story of my name goes back to my childhood. I was eight at the time. It was in just after the second gulf war. I blame the whole thing on Susan. Susan was the girl who lived in our basement apartment. Her father had been called up in the National Guard and was in Iraq for a year. They decided to give up living in their house and rent it out to cover the mortgage payment. The rent on the apartment we had in the basement fit the budget imposed by his Guard pay which didn’t even come close to his regular pay. The apartment had been grandma’s before she died. It’s just two bedrooms, a bathroom and a sitting room with an efficiency kitchen and the rent helps us with the mortgage, since dad left. As part of the deal, Susan’s mom watched me while my mom was at work.

“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.”

Bethan now a pretty girl of fifteen had been looked after by Doc Vitlow who’d prescribed the necessary medications, and they were talking about her surgeries which were planned for the medium term future at the city hospital under the care of Mistress Gardener her gender consultant. More importantly to Bethan she’d recently become on kissing terms with Joey Fairbarnes who was eighteen and the son of a nearby farming neighbour who was understanding of her situation.

Dan Murphy was larger than life. His presence filled up the room more than Brian Blessed’s booming voice. People were naturally drawn to him. Dan being the center of attention wherever he was at was just the natural outcome of Dan being there. Some people think it was his striking blue eyes, or his physical frame also being larger than life. The truth was that Dan was an extrovert who took great interest in others. The personal stake he put into who he met, made him a man of action. Dan not only would say the right thing to make people like him, but also do the right thing.

Tessa Greenhart had entered the world biologically male, an insignificant Y-chromosome carelessly tacked onto the end of her DNA. But recent events had proven that biology did not equal destiny; at least not for her. Tessa's body had been a template, a blank page on which sex and gender could be written...

Fifteen minutes remained in my shift. Cerridwen had already changed and was standing by the booth. The petite raven haired girl had changed into a cute two piece bikini that really showed her curves of her body. Right now she was modeling the swimsuit for the gathered crowd. Her mother Pandora was standing by her side, looking as proud as a peacock Pandora was the newest member of that small business owners that formed the bedrock of Benton. And right now she was chatting up the locals, I guess having your daughter volunteer for the town's dunking booth was good for the public image.

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.

The parents of a troublesome teenage son finally had enough and sends him for special training. He gets more than she bargains for.

This is the story of two gender non-conforming teens back in the benighted 1980s. Two kids trying to find their places in the world and finding a kindred spirit.

Thanks to Lizzy Bennet, editor and friend extraordinaire.

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Fall 1983. Spencer’s Gifts in the Nanuet Mall.

Lyle and Josh were flicking through the racks of posters, the clicking sound getting faster and slower.

Sitting Pretty
Lynda Shermer

I was earning a little extra pocket money by babysitting. These particular fraternal twins responded best, it seems, to the supposed extra authority of a male.

Beth and Sam were fraternal, but still quite similar.

The second time I sat, they had been messing about in the kitchen, and had two glasses. One held grape juice, the other pink lemonade.

Beth drank the grape juice, and Sam the pink lemonade, and for the rest of the evening, they pretended to be each other.

Bruce Finds His Rainbow. Part 7

Peter took her home and gave her a kiss before he left for work. Her mother said that she would now have to sit down to pee and was told that the penis had been so small she had been sitting down for years. Before she went back to work she went to see Joy to tell her that she would be working days for a few weeks so couldn’t help.

The penultimate posting of GPR 3 webversion.

When I first arrived at the habitat, I’d looked up at the sky and noticed the faint webbing running through it.

I hadn’t thought much of it since then.

I had other things on my mind such attempting to save my former sister while surviving one gun battle after another.