By Tanya Allan
Take two young people: - John in England and Amy in California. Take a common factor: - both recognised that they had been born into the wrong gender. As they grow up, they realise that their bodies are in imminent danger of changing into something neither wants.
Result: - Two very unhappy souls.
Their dreams are the only place they can find solace. Then they start to dream of each other, and to get a little glimpse of the other’s life. Over time they learn how to crossover at will and not just when asleep. They start to leave childhood behind as puberty beckons. The lines become blurred, who is where?
Solution: - One of them takes the bold step and suggests they try to live each other’s lives. Will it work?
Find out……………………….
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Originally written in 2006 - never posted, Reworked & Revised in 2009.
The Legal Stuff:The Other Side Of Dreams ©2006, 2009 Tanya Allan
This work is the property of the author, and the author retains full copyright in relation to printed material, whether on paper or electronically. Any adaptation of the whole or part of the material for broadcast by radio, TV, or for stage plays or film, is the right of the author unless negotiated through legal contract. Any commercial use by anyone other than the author is strictly prohibited.
This work is fictitious, and any similarities to any persons, alive or dead, are purely coincidental. Mention is made of persons in public life only for the purposes of realism, and for that reason alone. Certain licence is taken in respect of medical procedures, terms and conditions, and the author does not claim to be the fount of all knowledge.
The author accepts the right of the individual to hold his/her (or whatever) own political, religious and social views, and there is no intention to deliberately offend anyone. If you wish to take offence, that is your problem.
This is only a story, and it contains adult material, which includes sex and intimate descriptive details pertaining to genitalia. If this is likely to offend, then don’t read it.
Chapter 10
James Brightwell stood on the crest of a hill, looking into the wilderness of the valley beyond. The sun was hot, so being the summer, the land had a dry feel to it, although there was much greenery to be seen.
These mountains were almost as beautiful as the Western Highlands where James had spent many a summer as a boy. He smiled, as it was a heck of a lot warmer and dryer here, in California. The normally pale and serious surgeon was tanned and looking healthier than he had in ages.
Turning, he looked down into the valley from which he’d just ascended. There were five large tents pitched on a grassy spit that jutted out into the lake. The water was dark blue and sparkled in the sunshine. The shouts and laughter of the young people rang out across the intervening distance. He watched Kathleen and Helen as they sat on the grass and watched the four kids in the water. Kids! They weren’t kids any more. The girls were both stunning young women and the two boys were growing at least an inch a week these days. At sixteen, they’d all come along way since that first summer, just after Amy had her accident.
Neil was by the barbeque, ably assisted by Kyle, or was it Steve? James still got the brothers’ names mixed up.
He saw Amy swimming with Jacquie. He smiled, for cavorting off the rocks were Paul and John, both trying to show off to the girls in the water. Miles was fishing a little further away with Jeff’s assistance. The older lad was on leave from the Marines and he was an excellent role model for Miles, who, as this was his first visit, was feeling a little excluded, particularly as he was that much older than the two pairs in the water. Becky was sitting under a tree, laughing at something Martin said. James smiled, as Becky had just finished her first serious relationship with a rather unpleasant young man back in England, so seemed to be coping with it very well, with Martin’s assistance, of course. James was so pleased that both families got along so well.
It was 1994, and this was the third year they’d come over the pond to spend a summer with the Standen family. He remembered that first holiday so well, as if it had been just yesterday.
He recalled standing on this very spot back in 1991, amazed to see Amy swimming in the lake, for only a few weeks previously she’d been at death’s door in hospital. He still wasn’t sure what has happened between John and her, but hopefully, one day, the lad would tell him.
It had been their last day in the mountains, but James had relaxed more during that holiday than at any other he could recall. He was also surprised with the ease that he and Neil had formed a close friendship, despite not really having a great deal in common.
The camping trip was intended to have been low key, mainly because of Amy’s delicate condition. But in the end, it turned into a major expedition involving Neil, Amy, Helen, two of Amy’s brothers; James, Kathleen and John Brightwell, and finally Jacquie and Paul.
Kathleen and Jacquie flew out once the school term was over, to be met at the airport by her husband, who introduced her to Neil. Kathleen was surprised at how close the two men appeared to be, as James was normally reserved and slow at making friends.
“Hullo dear, how was your trip?” James asked, kissing her.
“It was okay. Is John not with you, and how’s Amy?” she asked.
“John’s with Amy, they’re almost inseparable, but she’s fine, she’s made a remarkable recovery, thanks to your son and his father,” said Neil with a smile.
“Och, I didna do anything. Yon hospital has some very fine doctors. Hullo, Jacquie, how are ye doin’?” he asked the young girl who was feeling slightly excluded.
“Fine. Is Amy okay, and John?” she asked.
“Aye, they’re both grand, but I’m glad ye’re here, as John’s no been doin’ his school work, and that Amy is distracting him too much, if ye ask me,” James said, causing Neil to smile.
Jacquie felt that familiar burning jealousy sensation, so tried to quell it as soon as she recognised it. Instead of saying anything she might regret, she simply smiled.
The journey to Glendale didn’t take long, as so soon the newcomers were being introduced to the rest of the family. Amy waited for the initial introductions to be over before taking Jacquie to her room.
“Wow! What a room, this is fantastic, not like your old room at home,” Jacquie said.
Amy simply grinned, hugging Jacquie.
“It’s great to see you at last!” she said to her old friend.
“You’re so, so, I don’t know, so American, I suppose,” Jacquie said, which caused Amy to burst out laughing.
“How has John got on, really?” she asked.
“John? Amazingly well, considering. Once he learned to speak properly, he was fine. Oh, and you heard about Kenneth, didn’t you?”
“Yeah, and Miles.”
“He and Miles get on okay these days. They’re at different schools.”
“I know,” Amy said, smiling.
“Of course, you know just about everything,” Jacquie said, feeling a little foolish.
“Not everything, only what he tells me. How are you, Jacquie?” she asked, looking serious for a change.
“Me? I’m fine.”
Amy smiled sadly. “Yeah, right. Look, if it helps, poor Paul feels the same way.”
Jacquie frowned, so Amy continued, “I do understand, and so does John, I think. You two are just so special, it’s almost that you’re too special for us to, you know.”
“I do?” Jacquie asked, completely confused.
“Yeah. Like, I know you’d like to be John’s girlfriend, and I know Paul wants me to be his girlfriend, but it just can’t happen, not yet anyway. It’s like your friendships are too important to be ruined by relationships involving, you know what?” Amy said, being deliberately vague.
“You mean, you know what?”
“Yeah,” Amy said, relieved not to have had to use the word sex.
They weren’t alone for long; as the others found them and dragged them back down to join everyone else. A little later, Paul found himself sitting next to Jacquie. He regarded the girl surreptitiously for a moment, liking what he saw. She wasn’t as striking as Amy, but she was still very pretty and a bit more solid.
Jacquie was still confused, as she recognised that something had happened between Amy and John, but also recognised that their bond was very different to what most people experienced. She’d met Paul and had initially been slightly annoyed that John and Amy had manipulated events as if to pair Paul off with her. However, after a while she’d been drawn to the darker haired boy, who was more serious than she’d been led to believe and also quieter.
“Cool trick, isn’t it?” Paul said, quietly.
“I suppose so,” she replied, assuming he meant the swap.
“I wish I’d known John before he swapped. I’d get an idea as to how different they are,” Paul said.
The pair watched Amy and John interact with Martin.
“John should have been born a girl,” Jacquie said.
“Amy wished she never had been, every day and in every way,” Paul said laughing at the memories.
“John says he’d have gone mad without you to help,” she said.
“I heard the same about you.”
“Do you get pissed off when they just phase out to have their chats?” she asked.
“Completely. It’s as if we don’t exist. I mean, one minute they’re chatting away, and the next, they’re off on a different planet.”
Jacquie agreed, adding a couple of examples of her experience. Within moments, both were chatting away as if they were old friends.
James smiled at the memories. It had been such a successful holiday that it seemed natural to ask the Standens to England for the following year.
James asked them at the airport as they prepared to check in for their return flight. It had been hard enough to leave the Standens’ home, but as Helen, Paul and Amy had come to say goodbye as well, he knew it was going to very tough to separate the young.
Neil had thanked him for the offer, but with the complications of some of the older brothers’ schooling and college, it was likely to be difficult to arrange.
“Say, why don’t you guys come back here? We’d love to have you, and once the boys get independent, we’ll come over with just Amy. Oh, and Paul, of course,” Neil had said.
Helen had looked at James and nodded imperceptibly, so they agreed.
The farewell was strange, for it was Paul and Jacquie who appeared the most upset at the parting of the ways. James was so pleased that these two had got on so well. So well, in fact, James was wondering whether he’d have a problem with John when they got home, as clearly the girl was more than taken with Paul.
He needn’t have worried, for so strong was their friendship that once they’d returned to the cooler and damper England, it was as if they’d never gone anywhere, except perhaps they were less tactile with each other.
So it had happened like that. James and Helen returned to California with John and Jacquie the following year, 1993, and then again this year. However, this time they’d brought Miles and Becky who felt they were missing out and expressed a desire to come too. James and Helen, recognising this as an unusual request by two young people who were bucking the trend of kids that would never go with their parents unless they could avoid it, agreed happily.
It had been a real education to watch all these young people grow up. He found it quite amazing as to how mature and seamless John and Amy’s relationship appeared to be. For two people who only saw each other once a year, they were amazingly well informed about each others’ lives and seemed simply to carry on from where they left off the previous year. James had seen profound changes in both their physiology and outlook, yet they seemed to hardly notice the changes, like Amy’s increased bust and John’s sudden broadening across the shoulders and deeper voice.
Down below in the beautiful lake, Jacquie was swimming close to the edge, so she splashed Paul. In retaliation, he bombed her from the rock on which he’d been sun-bathing. She screamed and tried to remove his shorts.
This initiated the girls versus boys splashing match, in which Amy lost her bikini top and Paul was forced to head for deep water as Jacquie ran laughing onto the small beach holding his shorts. James frowned slightly, but saw Neil shout something at them. Paul got his shorts back and Amy managed to reattach the poor excuse for a bikini top without revealing everything to the entire world.
John looked up at his father and waved. Smiling, James waved back and then disappeared out of sight as he began to climb the next rise.
“What’s your Dad doing?” Jacquie asked John, as they all left the water, suitably clad.
James. “Dunno, I think he just likes it up there,” he said.
“He loves it here, doesn’t he?”
“Yeah, heck, we all do, don’t we?”
“Mmmhuh,” she replied, smiling.
“You have no idea how great this is. I never thought I’d get to come back here again. It’s like I have the best of both worlds now.”
Jacquie said nothing, as she knew why her friend was so content. Amy reflected similar feelings, for during this short time, both teens were able to be close to both sets of parents, siblings and, for John at least, a return to his old world. Amy came over to them, with a towel wrapped round her waist.
John couldn’t avoid looking at her substantial chest, restrained, just, by a couple of triangles of damp material and some string. She sat down close to him, drying her hair with another towel. Although Jacquie was built on similar lines, if anything in slightly more generous proportions, John only had eyes for Amy. It didn’t take Paul long to realise he was the only one still in the water, so he too left the lake and joined his friends.
“So, are we doing this again next year, or what?” Paul asked, as he sat next to Jacquie. She smiled at him and took his hand.
“I think it must be your turn to come over to us,” John said. “I know my Dad wants to act as host and show you guys London.”
Paul smiled. “So, aren’t we gonna be dragged up to the Highlands and go hunt haggises?”
They all laughed.
“I heard him talking to Amy’s dad last evening. I think they believe we’ve outgrown camping and feel that a more cultural trip might be in order. I did hear mention of the Edinburgh festival, but that may be too close to school time in September,” John said.
“That’d be so cool!” Amy said.
Jacquie knew that Amy ached to go back to Britain and would love to go up to Scotland to see where her first father came from. Her one frustration was that she had yet to go back, in person, to visit her old home and visit the old familiar places.
John got up, looking up at where he’d seem James a few minutes ago.
“I’m going to find my dad, anyone else coming?”
I will,” said Amy standing and wrapping a skirt-wrap around her waist.
“You two?” John asked.
Paul ginned at Jacquie.
“No, we’ll stay here. You guys go,” she said.
John took Amy’s hand and they set off up the hill.
A short distance away, Helen and Kathleen watched the young interact.
“It’s so weird seeing them like this,” Helen admitted.
“In what way?” her English friend asked, frowning.
“Well, there was a time I was convinced that Amy was going down a very different road. She was such a little tomboy that we anticipated real problems at this age.”
“She’s delightful; I can’t imagine her as a tomboy.”
They watched the girl for a moment.
Her long hair was drying in the sunshine, so streamed down across her shoulders and back as she walked with John. Gently tanned and wearing that ridiculous bikini, she looked the epitome of health and femininity. Her face radiated sheer contentment as she laughed at something John said. She was quite simply beautiful.
“They make a lovely couple, don’t they?” Helen said.
“They certainly do, but, I’m sorry, I don’t see tomboy,” Kathleen said.
“No, thank God, I don’t anymore, but there was a time.”
Kathleen watched her son as he leaned across and stroked Amy’s shoulder. The girl turned towards him smiled and then they kissed.
“It’s strange, but now you come to mention it, John was a bit of a pansy when he was little,” she said.
“Your John? Never?” Helen asked, surprised.
“Yes. Miles was the sporty one, oh, I suppose right up until they were nine or so. I don’t really think I was aware of it at the time, but John did have a girl as a best friend and never was that interested in sports or mixing with the other boys.”
“What happened?”
“Well, it was literally overnight. I think it started with a fight. Miles used to pick on John, simply because John never fought back and was a soft touch, I think. One night, I suppose Miles was doing his usual and John just flipped. He actually fought back and shocked all of us, particularly Miles. Really from that moment he changed. He suddenly took an interest in sport and was actually very proficient. His school work suffered, as his personality changed. From always doing his homework and what he was told, he became stubborn and procrastinated at every opportunity.”
Helen laughed.
“Amy used to be just like that. Never did her homework until the last moment at bedtime, so then had to stay up for another half an hour to do it. She’d never get up until the bus was almost at the stop, and I could never get her to dress pretty.”
She frowned.
“Come to think of it, she changed almost over night as well. I remembered her waking up with a bad dream. That in itself was unusual, as she rarely woke up. But I’m not sure if it was the next day or a few days later, but she suddenly started washing things up and actually helping around the house. Her father teased her because she spoke like you guys for a few days.”
“Like us?” Kathleen asked.
“Yeah, you know, with an English accent.”
Kathleen’s blood ran cold. No, it couldn’t be! Then she remembered John using words like asshole and calling his trousers pants.
No, it couldn’t be!
“Kath, what’s the matter?” Helen asked, concerned that her friend had gone very pale all of a sudden.
“Can you remember exactly when Amy changed?” she asked.
Helen frowned as she tried to remember.
“Not exactly, but, let me see, it must have been in the early fall of 1987; either September or early October. Why?”
Kathleen had a far-away look on her face. When she turned towards Helen, her eyes looked troubled.
“That’s the same time as when John changed.”
“Really? Wow! How creepy,” Helen said, but didn’t appear to make anything more from it.
“This is going to sound really mad, but you don’t think….?” Kathleen’s voice trailed off, as she was unable to ask the question, as it was so daft to be completely unthinkable.
“What?”
“Nothing, I was being foolish for a moment.”
“No, what were you going to say?” Helen persisted.
“You’re going to think me completely off the wall, but it just occurred to me that we both had children that seemed out of place in the lives they were born to, but suddenly both seemed to find their place. Yet, both exhibited unusual characteristics, like the behaviour and accent of the other just after the change. And, that time when Amy was hit by a truck, how did John know? He said it was a dream, but was it? And then, despite the best surgeons available, how come it’s a thirteen year-old boy who seemed to get her back - one who had never seen her before? We were all so pleased that Amy recovered that I don’t think it occurred to any of us just how weird it was. Stranger things have happened. But have they?”
Helen’s immediate reaction was to laugh, but for some reason the laugh died in her throat.
Over the next few minutes the two mothers shared all the characteristics of their children, both before and after they’d been through the change. It came as a great shock that the lists were almost identical, which meant only one thing. Both women knew that what they were discussing just couldn’t have happened.
Amy and John reached the top of the hill to find James sitting under a tree staring into the beautiful wilderness that stretched as far as the eye could see beyond.
“Hey, Dad, what a view, eh?” John said.
“It certainly is,” James replied, strangely pleased that the two kids had come to join him. “What brings ye two up here?”
John shrugged, breathing the freedom of such a wilderness.
James looked at his son and then at Amy, who was equally smitten by the breathtaking wonder that lay before them.
“Dad, you know you asked me how I managed to get Amy back, you know, after the accident?”
“Aye, what about it?”
John looked at Amy who nodded.
“Well, we think it’s time we told someone.”
Comments
Wow!
I simply can't think of anything else to say. Wow!
Hugs!
grover
Yeah, wow!
Kind of expecte a jump forward at some point but didn't quite expect it yet. The mothers are finally figuring something out?
Great chapter and happy to see the story continuing.
Well, they do say that truth
Well, they do say that truth is stranger than fiction, and in this case that is for real. Even as the two kids start to tell "their" dad, both mothers have figured it out or at least until confirmed by the kids. Tanya, this is another great story of yours to read. Thank you for it. J-Lynn
Amy and John's seek revealed in more ways than one.
RAMI
Well with two good kids like Amy and John, and 4 great and interested parents the truth was about to come out some time. That the mother's have come upon this discovery at the same time John and Amy are going to tell their Scotts father is more then conincidental.
Did dad already figure this out or had an idea and was just waiting for the kids to tell him?
So the only people who will have to be told is one dad and I guess 5 siblings. What will the siblings reaction be? I'm sure Miles, who we know the most about will not be totally shocked.
Thanks for this continuation, I had some thought that the story might have ended after the previous chapter.
RAMI
RAMI
Oh Yeah - Double Wow
This is a great read so far. Keep up the good work.
Time and again
The romantic ideas in this story have really kept me going. Time and again when I have gone to bed, I have asked God to kill me but I keep waking up. It is pleasant to think about this working out for at least one person. I wonder if I wished harder if things would work out, or maybe I just wouldn't wake up in the morning.
I wonder why no one seems to have commented on the idea that the Women already have this figured out? I admit that they would both be really poor excuses for Mother's if they didn't, so as it goes, dad is the last to get the news.
Why is that not a surprise.
The reason why
I believe the reason why the two mothers are only now, three years after Amy's coma, figuring out what happened is that, from the way Tanya has told the story, this was the first time the two of them had actually talked together about what their children had been like before the switch. As each described the seeminly abrupt change in personality of their own child as well as how, for the first few days or weeks, the children had not yet slipped into the proper character of the other person, the curtain began being peeled away from the mothers' eyes. Yet, it would seem, the two women are still a bit hesitant to admit what the evidence they have indicates to be the truth.
This continues to be a great story; and I look forward to the next chapters!
Jenny
Jenny
Truth Be Told
Finally! I was hoping to see this, and you did it ... or at least you started it. The mothers talking it out was a nice surprise, and it makes total sense. There was some pretty strange behavior and a large number of coincidences.
I'm still not sure if I like this story better than Gruesome Tuesday. I'll have to wait until the very end to decide. I'll let you know! :)
Thanks very much for this story. I think you have the last part figured out so I'll try to wait patiently for it.
- Terry
Thanks...
...for another great chapter, and for letting the kids expose the secret before adulthood.
Eric
LOL
Predictable - not really. Showing that moms/mums can be smart - not a bad idea. You do know they're supposed to be able to read their kids minds (when they've been naughty) and such... Then, there's the "eyes in the back of the head" thing.
So, only one parent is "in the dark" now... (or soon anyway).
Interesting continuation.
Annette
I thought this was coming,
I thought this was coming, but now we have to wait for the next part to see what happens! Meanie! ;)
This is a great story. I'm really looking forward to the next part.
Saless
"But it is also tradition that times *must* and always do change, my friend." - Eddie Murphy, Coming To America
"But it is also tradition that times *must* and always do change, my friend." - Eddie Murphy, Coming To America
What is the Status of "The Other Side Of Dreams"
I was under the impression that it would be only days or even a couple of weeks until an update happened. I LOVE this story. Is it going to be soon? PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
A Dream...
You know, it's not easy, typing between tears. Instaed of the space bar, another tissue. Kleenex is going to love this... I was crying from the first word to the last. I have missed your writing for the last couple of months, and now I remember why. I would like to wish the (I'm sure) happy couple the best... Please catch us up, when they start building their family. I'm sure that will be a great time to look in on them. Love, Mary.