In ancient times, when the box owned by the beautiful Pandora, the first mortal woman, was opened all the troubles of the world flew out and could never be put back. So what will happen when a trunk with the name 'Pandora Wilkins' is discovered in a house in North London in 2009? Pandora’s Trunk Chapter 14 by Louise Anne Smithson Copyright © 2013 Louise Anne Smithson All Rights Reserved.

It was good fun examining all of my new purchases over the next three or four days, working out how I might combine different styles, textures and colours with one another and deciding which ones I really liked to wear or suited me best. I was enjoying learning about clothes and fashions and found myself reading the magazines that Carol regularly bought for herself to read on the train. It was also nice to be able to go into work wearing something different every day, and a couple of my colleagues noticed and expressed their admiration of my new wardrobe. I now had a far greater range of cosmetics at my disposal and wondered whether I would ever get to learn how use them all.

Since I was due to have my hair done on the Thursday morning, I decided that I would make a particular effort with our dinner in the evening, both in terms of the meal to be served and the way I that looked. I therefore did most of the shopping and preparation for the meal on the Wednesday morning and devoted the afternoon to deciding what I was going to wear the following day.

At one point I was looking for a particular lipstick in my handbag and my hand touched the pair of keys given me by Carol the previous Saturday. As I did so an odd thought came in to my head. I turned round and faced the wooden trunk and looked carefully at the padlock. One of the keys on the ring appeared to be the right size and shape for that lock. I tried it and the padlock sprung open. I then turned to the second key and tried it in the hasp lock — that too sprung open. I quickly released two clips at either end of the trunk and opened the lid.

There was no dead body inside the trunk, as the two lads had jokingly suggested might be the case, when they brought it up to my room. There was just a layer of tissue paper covering a beautiful lilac coloured long satin evening dress, carefully folded. I held it up and gasped at the sheer loveliness of the garment. It was a backless dress with spaghetti beaded straps, ruched on the top with a band under the bust. Underneath there was another long evening dress, again carefully folded in tissue paper. This one was in lime green chiffon, with a V neck, beaded cup sleeves and a nicely ruched bodice. I took them both out and carefully lay them on my bed. A third long dress was strapless in dark blue silk, with a matching embroidered shawl. Then came a long black beaded dress made of taffeta, fully lined and with a padded bra. A net underneath of the outer skirt gave this one a puffy ‘Cinderella’ look. Underneath these four long dresses were three equally beautiful and expensive looking knee-length cocktail dresses, all in different styles, materials and colours. Then there were seven sets of expensive looking lingerie, each one carefully chosen to co-ordinate with one of the dresses, and various matching accessories such as shawls, wraps or clutch bags. There were also seven shoe boxes, each containing a dainty pair of high heels, again carefully matching one of the dresses. Finally, each outfit had its own necklace and earring set, again with the stones carefully chosen to set off the clothes to best advantage. Whoever had packed that trunk clearly had great taste, plenty of money at their disposal and a love of beautiful things.

I carefully placed each dress on to a hanger and hung them around my room, at first unable to take in how lovely all the clothes were. Once again I was transported back to that day in 1994 when I watched Carol get ready for her Prom, but now it would be my turn to wear the beautiful clothes. These were the dresses that I was born to wear.

A strange thing started to happen to me as I examined the contents of the trunk. I felt as if the haze that had enveloped my life for the last fifteen years was beginning to clear. I began to see exactly who I was and what I wanted in life. I had wasted the last fifteen years vainly trying to be a man - something that I now knew I wasn’t and never could be. In my soul and in my mind I was a woman and I now realised that it had always been so. Whilst I enjoyed working at the club and flirting with the clientele I had no wish to spend my life as a female impersonator like Randi. I wanted to be a woman and would take every possible step to become one, as far as was physically possible and as quickly as I could. I truly hoped that I’d be able to take my family and those that I loved along with me on my journey, but ultimately I knew that I had to fulfill my destiny and wasn’t going to let anyone stand in my way. Nick was now dead and that my future lay with Becky, and that was all that could be said. It took me several minutes to come to terms with this insight.

I was tempted to try on one of the lovely dresses straight away, but decided that I would rather wait until the following day, especially as I was due to have my hair done in the morning. Instead, I emptied the trunk of its contents, and began to fill it with everything that I could find that had any connection with Nick. I put in all of his clothes from my wardrobe and the box under my bed, I collected the books and magazines that he had read, and various other belongings — in fact anything that could be associated with myself and the male gender. They all went in the trunk. The only things I reluctantly kept were a few essential documents that I might later need to help me establish a new female identity. Now that there was room in my wardrobe and chest of drawers I began to fill them with the beautiful clothes that I’d just discovered in the trunk. By the end of the afternoon my bedroom furniture was entirely female in contents, as it ought to be.

When I finished packing Nick’s belongings into the trunk I picked up the pair of keys and threw them inside, closed the lid and pushed the hasp lock and the padlock home. Nobody would now be able to get in to that trunk without first smashing it to pieces. There was no way that I was ever going to go back to wearing those dreary old clothes now that I had so many nice things to choose from. The remains of Nick were safely locked away and Becky was at last free to enjoy her life. It was amazing how liberating that simple action of locking away the keys made me feel.

Carol stayed out late once again, which suited me as I wanted to stay in and make plans about my new life. Now that I knew what I wanted I was anxious to begin making progress as quickly as possible. I began by deleting Nick’s Facebook page. The few friends he had from his childhood would probably never even notice. I also cancelled his email account and started new Facebook and email accounts in Becky’s name. I deleted any photographs of Nick that I could find on my computer. No doubt my mother would keep copies, but at that moment I wanted to have nothing to do with my previous life, which I now found distasteful. I wanted to move on as Becky, as quickly as possible. Finally I spent several hours surfing the net to look for medical and legal information about changing my gender and began to download it into files which would be my essential reading matter in the days to come.

Carol came in soon after midnight and noticed the light under my bedroom door and so knocked.

‘Hi Becky, you’re looking very pleased with yourself.’

‘I’ve just made an important discovery,’ I said yawning, ‘but if it is alright with you I’ll tell you about it over dinner tomorrow evening.’

‘That’s fine, I’ll see you then.’

I went to bed feeling that the following day was going to be the beginning of a new life, and for once I did not need to fantasize about life as a beautiful young woman, because now I knew that I was going to become one.

‘I do like that dress, Becky, it really suits you,’ said Sarah when I turned up at the salon the next morning.

That was the third dress from my recent purchase to have elicited a favourable comment, either at work or from Carol at home. I was naturally feeling quite pleased with my investment.

‘Thank you,’ I replied smiling and smoothing out the skirt as I took my seat, this time in the main salon rather than a back room.

‘So how has the job been going so far?’ she asked as she began to inspect my hair.

‘Fine thanks, I’ve been having a really great time and the club has just extended my contract for six months.’

‘So I’ve heard. That’s really good news, we hope you’ll be our regular customer for some time to come.’

She began to examine my hair.

‘I’ll just need to touch up your roots and tighten those braids and then perhaps we can look at a more ambitious style for your hair.’

‘Thanks, I’d like that. I’m going to be holding a dinner party this evening, so I want to look my best.’

‘We’ll have to see what we can do for you, and perhaps tidy up those eyebrows a little?’

‘Ok but I’ll pass on the eyelash extensions this time. The last ones got me in to trouble with my sister.’

‘Would you like me to show you how to use stick on ones instead.’

‘Alright then, as tonight is going to be a special occasion.’

‘Is there anything else that you would like to have done whilst you are here?’ she asked.

‘I’ve always quite fancied having a pedicure and my toe nails painted, but that isn’t something the club will expect to pay for. Could I pay you for it separately?

‘Don’t worry — you have been taking good care of your finger nails by the looks of things, so I’ll just renew your nail varnish, do your feet and then put them both down on the bill as a manicure.’

‘Thanks, Sarah. I’m going to be wearing a lilac dress and these amethyst drop earrings and necklace tonight,’ I said showing the jewelry. ‘Do you have any nail varnish to match.’

‘Yes, of course we do. I’m glad to see you are beginning to experiment with your look, Becky.’

‘I’m finding that it’s good fun being a girl.’

‘So it would seem,’ she said making a start on my hair. ‘So is there anyone really special coming to your dinner party tonight?'

‘It’s just my sister and my cousin Lucy on this occasion.’

‘So better luck next time?’

‘I hope so,’ I said smiling.

Two and a half hours later I came away from the salon both looking and feeling like a million dollars, but had to hurry back to Willesden to continue the preparations for our dinner party. Fortunately I was well-organised and everything was in hand. I’d put the main meal in the slow cooker before I left, and prepared the sweet and left it in the fridge overnight. It was just a question of preparing the starter and the vegetables, laying the table and getting myself ready. Lucy arrived at the promised time, dressed in jeans and an old sweater as she had been expecting to help me with removals.

‘Your hair looks nice Becky, have you had it done?’ she asked as I opened the door.

‘Thanks, I’m glad you noticed.’

‘I could hardly fail to do so, but having your hair in that style does suit you.’

I smiled, knowing that she was right.

‘Come through to my bedroom, Lucy, I’ve something to show you.’

I’d arranged the various evening dresses and cocktail dresses on hangers round the room.

‘What do you think?’

‘They’re all beautiful, but where did they all come from?’

‘They were in that trunk that was thrown in as an afterthought to my purchase, together with matching accessories. I’ve only just managed to get it open.’

‘But that is incredible. What are you going to do with them all?’

‘Wear them, of course, whenever there is a suitable opportunity, and beginning with that lilac dress this evening,’ I replied. ‘I was hoping that you’d be willing to keep me company by wearing one of the others tonight.’

‘But I had no idea that you wanted us to dress up tonight. I haven’t prepared or brought anything with me.’

‘Believe me, Lucy, I now possess everything you might conceivably need, and will be more than happy to loan them to you.

‘But what about the other clothes that you wanted to me help you sort out?’

‘They are all sorted and stowed away. We now have three hours to help one another to get ready before Carol gets home. Then I hope you will help me to persuade her to change in to one of the other dresses.’

‘Since you put it like that, the blue silk strapless number looks very nice.’

‘I’m sure it will look great on you, so why not try it on?’

By six o’clock we were both immaculately dressed, made up and be-jewelled in our beautiful new outfits. I was just in the kitchen checking on the progress of the meal, when I heard Carol let herself in to the flat.

‘My goodness, Lucy, you do look nice in that frock,’ she said.

‘If you think I look good, you should see your sister,’ she replied, ‘even her toe nails co-ordinate.’

I emerged from the kitchen and watched as Carol’s face dropped in utter astonishment. For a moment I thought there might even be a repeat of her reaction to me on the first occasion she saw me dressed as a woman.

‘Becky, you look so lovely, but whatever have you done to your hair and where did you get that dress?

‘Carol, I promise to answer all of your questions and tell you everything you want to know, during the course of the evening, but first of all there are two more outfits for you to choose from. The meal will be ready in an hour, so I hope you will be willing to change into one of them to keep us company.’

‘I’ll tell you the story of the dresses whilst I help you to get ready, Carol,’ said Lucy. ‘We’ll let Becky finish preparing the meal.’

Carol chose the black taffeta dress and after a very quick shower Lucy, did her best to help her get changed and made up as quickly as possible. By the time I started serving up there were three very elegant and beautifully attired young women sitting at the table.

‘Alright Becky we’ve gone along with your scheme so far this evening but now I think it is time you told us what this meal is in aid of,’ said Carol.

‘In fact it is several celebrations all in one. Firstly, I have heard that my contract is being extended, for at least six months and possibly longer. The club therefore paid for my hair extensions to be re-affixed and my hair done this morning.’

Carol appeared as if she wanted to say something, but I pressed on.

‘Secondly it is to celebrate my acquisition of a wardrobe full of wonderful clothes, so I’ll never have to borrow from either of you again. And thirdly ….’

I hesitated for a moment. The two others looked at me expectantly.

‘I also wanted to announce that Nick won’t be coming back and that Becky is here to stay.’

‘Won’t be coming back, ever?’ said Carol.

‘Never!’ I re-iterated.

‘Are you sure …. Becky?’ asked Lucy.

‘Absolutely certain.’

‘But what about when your contract comes to an end?’

‘I will just have to find myself another job, but this time it will be as Becky rather than Nick. I have never been so sure of anything in my life. Thanks to the two of you I have recently discovered who I really am and who I want to be. I’m an adult now and am certain that there will be no going back.’

Both Carol and Lucy looked surprised by my announcement but neither of them appeared horrified. I therefore spent the next hour explaining to them how I’d always felt for as long as I could remember, how I’d tried to pretend to be a boy to myself and to other people, but had failed. I also explained how good I now felt about myself. I was happy to continue working at the club for the time being whilst I embarked on my permanent transition to become a woman but my long term object was to resume my education and find an ordinary job and live an ordinary life in my new gender.

‘So you are determined to spend the rest of your life as Becky, to start taking female hormones and one day to have surgery?’ asked Carol.

‘Yes I have been reading up all about it. It can be done, quite successfully, but I mustn’t leave it too late before I start to act.’

Carol looked across at Lucy and then towards me.

‘I can’t say that I’m entirely surprised, in fact I don’t think anyone who has spent time with you over the last few weeks, would be. Lucy and I have been comparing notes about you by phone over the last fortnight and we’d both come to the same conclusion, but we’d decided to say nothing until you raised the subject.’

Lucy nodded in agreement, but Carol continued talking.

‘However, there is one person, who has no idea what has been happening to you and to whom this will undoubtedly come as a devastating shock — that is Mum. You always were her favourite.’

‘I was never aware of that; I always thought of myself as the family disappointment. I’ve really no wish to hurt her or to disappoint her now, but I really cannot go back to being someone that I’m not.’

‘So what are you planning to do?’

‘I suppose I will have to go home and explain to her.’

‘Dressed as you are?’ she asked.

‘Well not exactly in my lilac evening dress and strappy high heels, but I would certainly want to go as Becky rather than as Nick. There would be no point otherwise.

‘What do you think she’ll do when she finds out?’ asked Lucy.

‘Freak out of course! Carol’s initial reaction to seeing me dressed as a girl will be as nothing compared to Mum’s,’ I said.

Carol coloured slightly at the memory of how she had reacted to meeting me as Becky for the first time, and knew that I was probably right about mum’s reaction.

‘She’ll have to be told though, she’d be even more upset if she were to find out in any other way,’ she said.

‘I know, but I can’t say that I am looking forward to doing so,’ I said.