The Gowns
Prologue

 
If you give, you will receive, dear one.
If you let go, you will lay hold of my heart.
If you change, you’ll be exactly what you are!
If you love you’ll be loved. In fact, you’re loved already!

Jennifer looked down the hall; the paintings seem to come alive even as she also felt more alive than at any other time in her life. Bella lingered half-way down the hall with her hand still clasped in Jennifer’s, feeling a wonder and an excitement.

You’re mine, you know? No other one may lay claim to you, and none other than yourself can ever have me!

The dream seemed real, but when she opened her eyes, Jennifer lay in the same darkened bedroom; the crimson brocade drapes had become dull, bluish-gray curtains. The walls lost their velvet and gained a dull old beige coat of paint.

White gowns merged sadly into dark green sweat pants and tee shirts, and Jennifer looked around at the décor of the room, which had been transformed from romantic to common and mundane; a boy’s room for sure.

“It’s okay, Jay…Some day, huh?”

Billy held his girlfriend Jay in his arms; the light in their eyes had dimmed even as the sun broke lazily through the gap in the curtains.

“Are you boys going to stay in bed all day, or can I count on you to help me with the garage sale this afternoon?” Jay hopped out of bed at his mother’s call and pulled on a pair of sneakers. Billy looked up at his best friend and smiled.

“Someday, hon.” He shook his head, hoping that his estimation included the days in between now and just before forever would kick in.

“Someday...”*

She leaned back, almost immobilized by the yards of luxurious fabric that swathed her body like a glamorous cocoon.

“Nor I; my sweet girl. I can’t imagine another hour, much less a fortnight in this form.” Bella looked down at herself. She literally sat on the floor, her legs curled underneath her Indian-style. The soft caress of nylon that whispered ever so gently on her lover’s legs was missing on her own as she felt the rough cotton literally scrape across her hairy….

“Billy? Did you hear me? I really need you guys ASAP, honey. Your father had to leave earlier than he wanted this morning to make his plane, and I haven’t gotten everything out of the garage.

“Okay, Mom.” Billy looked up and saw the disappointed expression on Jay’s face.

“I know you think this is crazy, but it’s all we have. Mom doesn’t understand, and Dad’s gone most of the time. I know your Mom might understand, but I wouldn’t say a word to your Dad if you expect us both to still be breathing after you tell him.

“It really feels like we’re lying, Bill….like we’re cheating them by not telling them.” Jay put his head down and looked at his body. Slight and almost girlish in form, it really wasn’t at all bad if he was able to take it further, but he was stuck as a geeky boy with a nerdy friend and both of them were stuck between a rock and a soft place, so to speak.

“You know we can’t until we talk to Mrs. Calveccia at school. Monday….she’s set aside a whole hour for us, hon, and I know that she’ll be able to help us come up with a way of telling them.” Billy shook his head. He stood up and nearly lost his balance as his legs had gone a bit numb. He leaned closer to the bed and pulled Jay into a quick kiss. His mouth lingered a bit as he chewed Jay’s lower lip playfully.

“Do you know how much I love you?” The voice was tenor, but the heart was all soprano as Bella’s breath tickled Jennifer’s ear. She kissed Jen on the cheek, paying particular attention to her lover’s ear until a voice came from somewhere in the distance.

“Billy?” The boy’s mother wasn’t so much impatient as in need, as she followed with,

“Don’t forget to change into your sweats; it’s awfully dusty in the garage, hon. See if Jay needs something to change into.”

The mood had been interrupted, not so much rudely as necessarily abrupt, but still undeniably disappointing. Jay pulled Billy closer and kissed him quickly before hopping up and out of bed.

“And yes!” Jay said as he rummaged through a pile of laundry on top of the other bed.

“Yes, what?” Billy said as Jay pulled on a pair of cut-off sweatpants.

“Yes, I know how much you love me.” He tossed a tee-shirt to Billy before grabbing a tee-shirt for himself.

“And I love you, too, babe!” He smiled, and the face that really wasn’t a boy’s face sort of emerged from behind the mask the girl was forced to wear. A corresponding smile appeared on the other boy’s face, and the same emergence of another, prettier being happened. Both smiles dimmed a bit and the girls retreated once again as Billy and Jay headed downstairs to tackle the task of the day…a day that held much more for them than they could ever have imagined. Real life magic, they would come to call it; just another way that life in its truest form seems to surprise us with ordinary people doing extraordinary and remarkable things.

*Who Says What Now?
Idea: Write a scene from the middle of a story without providing either the buildup to the scene or the culmination of the plot. All text following * is new and part of the prologue for the series "The Gowns"