I am Worried about my Brother

October 2024 All Hallow Eve's Story Contest

Dear diary: I am so excited to finally have a diary of my very own!

Whoops, I guess since we just met, I should introduce myself.

My name is Ashley Duke, and I just turned 12 years old today.

When Mom said I was getting a diary, I was worried I might be a bit old for one, but my teacher told me lots of people throughout history have made diaries and journals, and some of those have become tools to help us to understand that person and the times they lived in.

I am not expecting my diary to become famous, but I feel better about
sharing my thoughts with you, dear diary.

Anyway, to continue introducing myself, I live in a small town in Alberta, Canada, not far from the border with the United States. I have a mom, a dad, and an older brother named Tommy, who shares a birthday with me, but was born two years earlier.

Today was a special day, not only was it our birthday, but Tommy was finally home again from the hospital.

See, he got really sick, and they had to replace his heart with one from someone who had died.

He seems much stronger than when I visited him in the hospital. The one weird thing was he now has a wig - with longer hair, and a kind of feminine style to it.

I knew he had been upset about losing most of his own hair, so a wig was expected, just not a feminine one. I thought about asking about it, but I focused on how glad I was that he was home.

****

Dear Diary, Tommy has been home 2 weeks, and it's getting harder and harder to ignore how much he has changed.

It isn't just that he is quieter now. I expected that after what he has gone through. But now, when I spend time with him, he seems more like a girl, like my sister instead of my brother.

****

Dear Diary, I caught Tommy looking at a website that had stories about boys turning into girls. Well, caught might be the right word, because he didn't seem upset at all that I saw him looking at it. He just gave me a smile and said that the site had some amazing writers on it, despite the fact they gave away their stories for free. He even printed off a story for me to read.

****

Dear Diary, I read the story Tommy gave me. It is about a boy who gets a heart transplant, and finds himself possessed by the spirit of the girl who gave up her heart, becoming more and more feminine. Is Tommy trying to tell me this is happening to him? What could I do if it was?

****

Dear Diary, I am pretty sure Tommy has been wearing girl clothes. Not dresses or skirts, but his tops and pants definitely look like they came from the girl side of the stores.

****
Dear Diary, my mom sat me down and told me Tommy wants to be called Talia, and confirmed he will be wearing girl clothes from now on.
I want to be a good sister, I want to support my sibling no matter what they wear or what name they go by, but I can't help wondering if this is really what they want or are they being controlled, possessed?

****

Dear Diary, it's almost Halloween, and it is gonna be different than any year before. Talia is going in a dress for the first time, as she will be dressed as a fairy. What is more, she talked mom into getting me a matching costume, so I am her mini fairy in training. She has been super nice to me, making me feel guilty for not accepting her transition at first. But sometimes, I still worry that Tommy is stuck inside somehow, watching a stranger take his body and shaping it into that of a girl, helpless to do anything to stop her. Maybe I am just being silly, maybe ghosts don’t exist in real life, and what happened to Tommy was that he was always a girl, who almost died while pretending to be a boy, and decided she couldn't pretend any longer. I hope that is the case, cause otherwise, I can’t imagine a worse thing for him . . .

End?