Pool Area:
Kassie paces herself as she counts mentally how many strokes it takes her to reach the other end of the pool. When she reaches the other end, she turns around pushes off the wall, and starts swimming towards the other end. She makes sure to take into account how far she glides before counting her strokes again. She knew the wall of the pool was on her right-hand side this time and that the rope that separated her from the other lane in the pool was on her left-hand side.

She could hear the other people in the pool area diving off the diving boards further away from her. The other swimmers in the pool were several lanes down from the one she was in. She feels her fingertips touch the wall, as she turns around and swims back again.

Jesse took in how big the pool was and couldn’t believe it. She’s never seen anything as big, nor the amount of people in the pool. There was a line for the three high diving boards over in the deep end.

There were several girls swimming laps or playing volleyball in the water. She notices a beautiful collie sitting by the pool watching one girl that was swimming up and down the lane she was in. She wonders if the dog belonged to the teenage girl in the water doing laps.

Yurei had given her a tour of the Vineyard yesterday after they had lunch. Her first appointment with her counselor wasn’t until later in the day. So, she had the morning to herself. Yurei managed to find her a swimsuit to wear. It was a blue one-piece and had built-in support for her breasts. Not, that she needed the support. She wasn’t as big as some of the women and girls her age she had seen so far around the Vineyard.

The strangest thing she saw on her tour around the vineyard were four women who had green and blue skin. Two of the women had three breasts, while the other women had seminormal-sized breasts. Yurei informed her that those women had used some suntan lotion that had been tampered with. Whatever chemical had been added to the suntan lotion had turned their skin blue. The other women had used a different suntan lotion and it turned her green. The two green women with three breasts, developed them after the lotion was applied.

Jesse spotted at least three lifeguards watching the pool and the people. She walks over and finds an empty lounge chair. The lounge chair next to hers, had a beach bag with a Disney towel spread out on it. The Disney character on the towel was Stitch from the Lilo & Stitch cartoon. A smile appears on Jesse’s face as she lays her towel on the lounger. She brought her iPad with her, hoping to send some emails to her family, letting them know she was alright.

Afterward, Jesse takes a shower and dives into the pool. She saw that sections of the pool were roped off so that people could swim or play without bumping into each other. Jesse starts doing a few laps.

Kassie was a little startled when she heard another person dive into the water not far from her. She finishes doing her laps and stands near the pool wall. She takes her swim cap off and dunks her head underwater. Her hair was finally growing back after being completely shaved off. It was still short, but she was hoping it would grow longer.

Kassie turns around and grips the pool wall to lift herself out of the pool. Water dripped off her as she reached out for Lassie. She feels Lassie’s collar and is led over to her lounger, where her towel is lying. She grabs it and dries it off. She lays it back down on the lounger and lays down on the lounger. She needed to rest after doing two hundred laps.

Her counselor/aunt said it would help her. After all the trauma she experienced, she needed physical exercise to rebuild her muscles. Since she loved swimming before everything happened to her. She chose swimming to help rebuild her body.

Kassie reaches into her beach bag and pulls out a few treats for Lassie. She rubs Lassie’s head as she feels Lassie eat the treats. She grabs her glasses from her bag and puts them on. People she has encountered in the past got unnerved when they saw the scars around her eyes.

Kassie keeps petting Lassie as she relaxes on the lounger. She hated being blind and unable to speak to people. The people who took out her eyes and removed her tongue did it on purpose so she wouldn’t be able to testify against them in court.

Jesse does a few laps and joins the volleyball game going on. For the first time in her life, she was enjoying herself. She couldn’t believe how much fun she was having and how she had missed this. She continues playing for a while before she starts feeling tired.

Jesse gets out of the water and walks over to the lounger where her towel is lying. She notices the teenage girl she saw earlier when she came in lying on the lounger next to her. The girl had short dark hair and her eyes were covered by a pair of dark shades. She was curious why the girl was wearing the dark glasses inside the gym.

“Did you enjoy your laps?” Jesse sits on her lounger and faces the teenager.

Kassie turns her head and sits up to face the direction the voice came from. She starts signing with Jesse.

Jesse watches as the teenage girl sits up and faces her. She wonders why the girl did that, as the girl starts moving her hands. She now knew why the girl was wearing the shades inside. However, she didn’t know sign language.

“I’m sorry, but I don’t know what you are trying to say to me.” Jesse wishes she knew how to sign back.

Kassie stops and turns around to reach inside her beach bag. She pulls out a small laptop and turns it on. She starts typing a message out.

“I can hear you, but I can’t respond or see you.”

Jesse listens to the computerized voice as she watches the girl type. Now she understood why the girl was wearing the dark shades and had the dog.

“So, you can hear me, but can’t speak or see me?”

Kassie nods her head yes to Jesse’s question.

“Well, my name is Jesse Knight. What is yours?”

“My name is Kassie Nolan.” Kassie looks directly towards Jesse.

“Well, it’s nice meeting you, Kassie. If you don’t mind me asking. Were you born mute and blind?” Jesse was curious if the poor girl grew up like that.

“No, they were taken away from me.” Kassie didn’t mind sharing what happened to her. Her adoptive parents said if she feels like she should, then to trust her gut.

“Why?” Jesse was curious now.

Kassie takes a deep breath and releases it. She starts typing “because I saw something I shouldn’t have seen. The people who did this to me wanted to make sure I never spoke about it or pointed them out. So, they burned my eyes out with a butane torch and cut my tongue out with a bloody fish knife.”

“What did you see, that requires that type of punishment?” Jesse couldn’t imagine why anyone would do something like that to a person.

“I would rather not talk about it.” Kassie wishes she could cry, but her tear ducts were affected by what they did to her.

“I’m sorry to hear about what was done to you.” Jesse wonders how a person recovers from that.

“It’s in the past. I guess since you are here, that you have your own story to tell?” Kassie knew only people who had suffered trauma or worked for her grandmother worked at the Vineyard.

“You could say that. I was tricked by a friendly gusto of free food and drink. I was living on the streets because I lost my job and couldn’t pay my bills.”

“So, they baited you and I guess drugged the food?”

“Yes and used some sort of feminization drug to turn me into a girl. Except, whatever drug they used, didn’t give me the reproductive organs of a woman. So, they used a doctor who owed them money to give me an opening for men to use.”

“It must have been painful for you to be treated that way.” Kassie has heard about men being kidnapped off the streets and shelters to be turned into women to be used as sex slaves.

“You have no idea. Not only was it indignant, but also degrading. Don’t get me wrong, I respect women a lot and I don’t like what is done to them. But, I’ve never wanted to be one. I enjoyed my life as a male, even as messed up as it was.”

“I’m sorry to hear what happened to you. Have you spoken to your assigned counselor yet?” Kassie knew all new arrivals were assigned a counselor to help them adjust and overcome what had happened to them.

“Not yet, I have an appointment this afternoon with my counselor.” Jesse wonders what her counselor looks like.

“Well, when you talk with your counselor, just be honest to them about how you feel. The more honest you are, the better they can help you.”

“You sound like you’re talking from experience.” Jesse wonders if Kassie has seen a counselor for what was done to her.

“Yes, I wanted to end my life after I woke up and found out I would never be able to talk or see again. Plus, with all the physical trauma that had been done to my body, I wanted to give up. I was lucky that the place I had been taken to didn’t give up on me. The woman who helped me ended up with her husband adopting me.” Kassie was lucky that the counselor she was seeing at the time took an interest in her.

“That was nice of them.”

“I think so. They helped me overcome how I felt and gave me a new purpose in life.” Kassie pets Lassie as she comes around to sit by Kassie.

“I see you have a collie for a seeing-eye dog. Is she a purebred?”

“Yes, she is. My adoptive parents got her for me. I’ve always loved animals.” Kassie pets Lassie.

“Well, it’s been nice talking with you. I need to get back to my quarters and get ready for my appointment.” Jesse stands up and grabs her towel.

“It’s been nice talking to you as well. Hope to see you around.” A smile appears on Kassie’s face.

Jesse shakes her head back and forth and heads towards her quarters to get ready for her first counseling session.