A Second Chance

Author's note: This little story is a tribute to one of the first authors of trans fiction I ever read. I hope you like it. There is some darkness at the start, but its worth it, I hope.

I thought I was finished, that my life was over. Little did I know that I would get a second chance on the day I died .....

On the day of my death, I was having a solo picnic in a secluded park on the outskirts of town, trying to pretend like life was wonderful. I was in what would have been a pretty and fashionable dress a couple of decades ago, but that wasnt what would have made a passerby do a doubletake.

It was the fact that the person wearing said dress was a guy.

I had crossdressed on and off since I was a teen, and finally reached a point where I realized that however bizarrely it worked, it did serve a function in my life in helping me de-stress.

It was a pity that my wife Alison didnt agree, which is why I had been forced to find places like this - isolated, secret, and lonely, to let the girl side out. Things were getting steadily worse between us since she became pregnant, with her accusing me of using her as a beard while sleeping with men on the side.

Like most cross-dressers, I was hetro, and loyal to my wife besides, but her fears about my hobby which had been strong enough before had grown as her pregnancy progressed.

I had just about finished eating a tuna sandwich when my phone rang, and I sighed, and picked the device up.

“Alan Parks? This is the downtown general hospital. Your wife has been in an accident, can you get here right away?”

I got up, and gathered my picnic stuff quickly, and wondered if I had the time to change back into my guy clothes. But I knew from experience that this particular outfit would take me ten to twenty minutes to get out of, so I gritted my teeth, and decided to just go. After struggling to stay within the speed limit for ten minutes, I got to the hospital, but it turned out, I might as well have taken the time to change into my male clothes.

My wife and my unborn son were ... no more.

I staggered out of the hospital. I had tears in my eyes, and didnt watch where I was going ....

I woke in the back of what looked like a police car.

My head hurt a little, but otherwise I was in pretty good shape considering the last thing I remember was a truck about to hit me ....

I tried to engage the cop in the front seat, but he was a brick wall in terms of conversation.

Without his input, I tried to figure out what was going on. Had I broken the law in going out in a dress? I didn’t think so, my town was pretty progressive, and even had a gay pride parade every summer. Of course there could still be some less enlightened cops, and one may have decided to arrest me on “disturbing the peace” also known as “I dont like you, so I’m taking you in on general principles.”

Then I remembered what had happened at the hospital, and wept. I couldnt take in my loss, and a wave of grief left me numb to what would happen to me at the jail or wherever this officer was taking me.

I was still struggling with that feeling when I looked up and saw a sign by the side of the road that made my blood turn cold.

It said, “Welcome to Ovid, Oklahoma.”

There were two problems with that. One was I had been in Washington state when I had woken up that morning, but even more serious than that was the fact that Ovid didnt exist.

It was a fictional town in a series of stories I had read on a transgender fiction site I had found once I realized my need to crossdress wasnt going to just up and go away. What that meant for me right now, I had no idea. I was dreaming, or dead, or mad or ....

Eventually, the policeman brought me to a what looked like an old fashioned courthouse, and put me in the jail cell.

A short while later the lawyer showed up.

She’s a pretty woman in her mid-forties, and from the stories I had read, she had been a guy until she arrived in Ovid.

“You’re in a lot of trouble.”

“No kidding. My wife and unborn son died, I think I was hit by a truck, and I’m stuck in a fictional town I used to read about. While wearing a dress.”

“Yes, well, some things are difficult to explain, or even understand. But if you ...know about this place, you know who the Judge is, and what he can do.”

I nodded, and said, “And in my case, what will he do?”

“I... I dont know for sure. I’ve never seen him this angry. Anything could happen.”

I shrugged. If he turned me into a tree or cow or something, maybe it would be mercy ....

I shuffled into the courtroom, and took the appropriate place, and moments later the Judge walked in.

The stories dont do him justice. This amazing aura of power sits on him, but knowing who he was supposed to be, I guess that’s not shocking.

My lawyer looked worried and opened her mouth to speak, and then closed it again.

“You are charged with reckless endangerment causing death. How do you plead?”

“Who... whose death did I cause?”

“Your wife and unborn child.”

“I .... I didnt kill them!”

“So you plead innocent. Well, let me give you the facts. While you were out indulging your need to cross-dress, your wife went to a business meeting in your place. On her way home she was mugged, and she died. You should have been there.”

I hung my head, but then I said, “But how could I have known something like that was going to happen. I couldn’t be with her every hour of every day. She could have gotten mugged while I was in the bathroom or something. How is it my fault she died?”

“You misunderstand. You were Fated to be there. She was not Fated to die then, nor your son. In fact your son was Fated to live to adulthood and be a major player in .... events to come.”

“Then how could I have missed my fate?”

“We suspect it was the work of ... enemies of ours. What we need to know is, did you work for them?”

“I would never have traded their lives for mine. If I had known, I would have died in their place gladly.”

A man I had not noticed stepped forward.

“He speaks truth. At least as far as he knows.”

The Judge nodded, and said, “Then let my sentence be handed down.”

And the world went black.

******

Next thing I knew, I was in what looked like a doctor’s office, and a pretty middle-aged lady in a white coat was checking my pulse.

She finished, and then said, “It was just a fainting spell, but I’m not taking any chances, You’re on bedrest until the baby comes.”

“Ba... baby?”

I looked down at my belly, and there was no doubt.

I was a woman, and pregnant. Very, very pregnant.

“Yes, the baby is fine, And you will be too, if you just relax.”

“I think I can help with that. As of now, I’m staying home to look after my beautiful wife.”

I looked at the man who had come into the room and spoke, and tried to place him. He looked very familiar to me, but in my foggy state I was having trouble figuring out what was going on. Then the doctor left, and my “husband” sat beside me on the examining room cot, and said, “I imagine you have a lot of questions. I cant answer all of them right now, but please believe me things are going to be okay.”

“I was in the courtroom, and then I was here, I’m having trouble catching up to myself here. If I have figured it out right, I’m a woman, I’m pregnant, and I’m married to you. What the heck happened?”

“I’ll give you a lowdown on your new identity when we get home. But for now, I just wanted to tell you .... I’m sorry I didnt understand why you wanted to wear dresses.”

“Al.. Alison?”

“Alan, now.” She grinned at me.

“But ... you were dead....”

“So were you. We got better. It meant we had to switch places, but I think you’ll find that easier to cope with than most guys would.”

I looked down at my belly, and said, “And ... the baby?”

“Our son. Just like he would have been if we hadn’t come to Ovid.”

I couldnt hold it in any longer. I bawled, wept, and cried until I had no more tears left in me. I dont know if I was crying out of sorrow for what I had put her through, or happiness for finding her again, or both, but maybe that didnt matter.

When I finally stopped, my husband took me home, and showed me my new life, and then showed me that even pregnant a girl can have a lot of fun with her guy .....

So while my husband is sleeping I’m writing this down, for my little boy to read when he’s old enough, even if he thinks its a fairy tale.

I dont know much yet about the enemies of the Judge, but whoever they are, I will do anything I can to stand in their way.

And I’ll never stop being grateful for this second chance.

I plan to make the most of it.