Once upon a time there was a little boy called Bobby. He was a nice little boy and everybody liked him. But he had this big secret that he was frightened about. He was really and truly a girl.

He had always been a girl for as long as he could remember, but everyone always said that he was a big, strong boy.

He had to hide his girly nature all the time that he was growing up and at the age of ten, he knew that there was no point in telling his parents about it.

His mama and daddy were good people, although Daddy could be a little rough sometimes. daddy wanted Bobby to be the best boy he could be just like his big brother and mama was just glad that there were two boys to help their father.

So Bobby did what everyone else wanted, he pretended to be a boy.

He would never forget that he was a girl inside though. He wished with all his heart that he would some day be the girl he always wanted to be and be able to wear pretty dresses and have his hair made pretty. Every night he prayed to be turned into a girl and every day he woke up to the same disappointment.

One day, he was helping his daddy and brother on the farm and he got very dirty when he fell into a muddy puddle. His daddy laughed and his brother laughed too and Bobby felt terrible.

‘Go and get cleaned up son,’

Bobby ran back to the house almost crying and then went up the stairs.

‘Don’t run Bobby,’ shouted his Mama.

‘Sorry!’ he said breathlessly.

He just hated to be dirty. Girls didn’t get dirty like that and they weren’t expected to do boys chores and play rough and tumble. Girls could be nice and sweet and wear lovely clothes and have their hair in ribbons and be Mama’s little helper if they wanted and not Daddy’s little worker, expected to get hot, sweaty and dirty all the time.

Pulling of his clothes in the bathroom, he jumped into the shower and turned on the tap. Soon, the hot steamy water was cascading down his little body, washing off the caked mud from him and leaving him nice and clean.

He turned off the water and stepped out of the shower. Then he distractedly dried himself with a big towel. Once he was dry enough, he went out into the bedroom and there was his mother, standing there, looking at him with a cross look on her face.

‘Bobbie-Sue Ewing, how many times have I told you not to come out of the shower like that. Your brother J.R. will laugh at you, if he sees you naked. You know what a tease that boy is and as for your daddy, he likes his little girl to be good and proper and a credit to us all.’

‘Mama, am I a boy?’

‘You haven’t been having that silly nightmare again. No honey, you are all girl and you will break hearts one day, you’re so pretty.’

She looked down at herself and saw with delight that she was a girl; how had she not notice in the shower or when she was drying herself? Her room didn’t look like a boys room any more, it was all pink and pastels and she had a pretty canopy bed and in the corner stood a large dolls house and it was lovely.

She ran over and into her Mama’s arms.

‘Oh Mama, I’m so glad that I’m not a boy and it was all just a bad dream.’

Bobbie-Sue was deliriously happy now, but she had one nagging fear; a fear that no happy little girl should have.

Was she dreaming now and why couldn’t she remember her girly past?

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