Micah's summer vacation was supposed to fun and relaxing. What he didn't expect, was for it to turn out to be...   Eccentric Chapter 3 By Torey Copyright © 2013 Torey All Rights Reserved.

123rf.com (Photo 7113389). The model in this image is in no way connected with this story nor supports nor conveys the issues and situations brought up within the story. The model's use is solely used for the representation of looks of the main character of this particular story. ~Sephrena

Divider licensed free for use in publishing from Photoshopgraphics.com ~Sephrena.

 
 
Chapter 3
 

Poetry in the park wasn't quite what Micah expected. There were a few bongo drums. But Heidi also brought a guitar.

"That's really cool," Micah told her as they walked. "Wished I could play."

"Well, I can teach you," she replied.

"That would be really cool," he said.

Micah felt a little self-conscious at first at what he was wearing. He had a colorful sundress with beads supplied by Aunt Lillian. And a crown of flowers made by Heidi. She made one for all three of them.

"How do you feel about your look?" Aunt Lil asked when they were walking.

"After seeing myself in the mirror, I feel sort of like a fairy or a wood nymph," Micah said. "Or Mother Nature's messed up daughter."

"Nah, our dresses are too long to be a wood nymphs," Heidi said with a laugh. "But if you're a little uncomfortable, you can go back and change into shorts and a T-shirt if you like."

"That's OK," Micah said. "This is actually more comfortable than I thought it would be."

He was a little nervous when he saw the gathering. It was a gathering of women and girls, ranging from around 10 to about 80 in age.

"I'm the only boy, and I'm wearing a dress," Micah muttered as they approached the group.

"You don't know that for certain," Aunt Lillian said as they laid the blanket and picnic basket on the ground. "I still don't think you are sure of your gender."

"Yeah, you might find you're just as much a sister as the rest of the group," Heidi said.

Aunt Lillian introduced Micah to the group. He blushed as she told the group he was "a little nervous about not being a natural born female."

"All of the daughters of the Goddess are welcome here," said an older woman Heidi called a priestess named Wanda.

"You are not the only one here who was not born a natural female," said a woman who appeared to be in her 40's named Artemis.

"She couldn't be," Micah whispered to Aunt Lil. "She doesn't look to be ..."

"Yeah, she is, or was transgendered," Aunt Lillian replied. "We try not to use that label here. She had surgery last summer and has done quite."

"She's lived as a woman most of her life," Heidi sad.

The gathering, the group was quite different than what Micah's Uncle Todd would have imagined.

Although most were artists of some kind, there were a couple of attorneys, an engineer and even a financial advisor.

Yes, there were more than a few lesbians in the crowd. But there were wives in the group who loved their husbands deeply. And mothers.

The poetry and songs were a bit mixed. Yes, there were poems and songs about abuse and about women being degraded. But there were even more about being empowered, and in tune with nature.

Some of the women at the gathering were Wiccans. Some were Pagans. There were even a few who were Christian. Some seemed to be out of a time warp hippies. Micah couldn't quite figure out what group to put Aunt Lil and Heidi in.

"They were more Paganish," he thought.

"You don't put all feminists in the same basket, Micah," Aunt Lillian said. "The same with women, or men, for that matter. You won't find men haters here. We're here to get in touch with the Divine Feminine. And for many of us, this is a chance to come and de-stress."

Micah was surprised when Heidi dedicated a poem-song to him based on Robert Frost's "Road Less Traveled."

He was almost in tears as she sang.
 

 
 
"He really is a special gift to Lil and I this summer from Liz, whom I know you remember," Heidi said. "I know he calls himself Lil's nephew, but I sort of think of her as our special niece. You may be a boy who doesn't like to stay inside his box. Or you are a girl trapped inside a boy's cage. Whichever you are, we love you very much."

Micah tried not to be noticed as he wiped away the tears.

He felt very confused. But he also felt special. He thought he should have been embarrassed to be addressed in terms of a girl: Her and niece.

"Are you OK?," Aunt Lillian asked, knowing their seemed to be something going on in Micah's head.

"I must be weird," he whispered back. "I love being dressed as a girl. I love acting as if I'm a girl. Is it weird that it actually feels natural?"

"No," Aunt Lillian said. "Not if you're a girl. Not if you're a boy who doesn't think there is anything wrong with embracing traits that are more natural for a girl."

"Thanks for the reassurance," Micah said. "It means a lot."

Micah enjoyed soaking in the "Divine Feminine," as Aunt Lillian called it.

The gathering ended with a series of dances. Micah seemed content to sit and watched as different groups got up.

Then the priestess, Wanda called for the girls of the group, the teenagers and the children of the group to join in a circle and dance.

A hand touched Micah on the shoulder.

He looked up to see a beautiful, black-haired girl about his age.

"The priestess wants all of the girls to dance," she said. "Care to join us?"

Micah shook his head yes. She reached out her hand and pulled him up.

They were in a circle dancing to drums, and flutes and other instruments. The dance was as Heidi would say, "primal." It also seemed "spiritual."

And for some reason, Micah felt like he belonged.

"I'm Misty, by the way," the girl said. "Almost didn't recognize you. We were in dance class this morning. I love the way you move."

"I knew you looked familiar," Micah said. "But I didn't know where. But I love the way you move, too."

"We both look different dressed up," Misty laughed. "But I have to say, you look beautiful."

Micah smiled.

"I was thinking the same about you," Micah said.

Come to find out, Misty was Wanda's granddaughter. She lived with the priestess. And they only lived a couple of blocks away.
 

 
 
It was the first real conversation Micah had with his mother since they both boarded planes and headed in opposite directions.

"That's a different look for you," his mom said as they talked on Skype.

Micah had changed out of the dress, but hadn't had a chance to take off the lipstick, or take out the earrings, or take off the nail polish. He was dressed in a tie-dye shirt and shorts.

"It is OK with you?" he asked.

She laughed, but in a good way, laughed.

"There are times when I wished I'd let you be you more than I've had," she said. "But I don't know if I've ever thought there'd be a time when I'd catch you before you took the lipstick off, and the polish. But the lipstick color does look good on you."

"Heidi thought so," Micah said. "She's sort of my fashion consultant."

"Tell her she's not supposed to venture into my territory," his mother laughed. "You stretching your horizons might give me a few ideas when I get back."

"You don't have a problem with that, do you? I mean expanding the horizons part," Micah asked.

"Why do you think I wanted you to stay with Aunt Lil instead of Grandma or Uncle Todd?," his mother replied.

She knew the summer apart from one another would be hard.

"My time with Aunt Lil helped me explore who I really was," his mother said. "That is what I know your time with her will do. And to be honest, I've wrestled with how you really felt about yourself when you dressed up as a girl. But I didn't know if taking you to a therapist or something was the right thing to do."

They decided to change the subject, and the conversation veered into places his mother had seen in Paris: Notre Dame, the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre.

"One of these days, I'm going to bring you here to see it all," his mother said.

Suddenly, Micah began to tear up.

"I miss you, Mom," Micah said.

"I miss you, too," she said. "We both had better stop the tears. Our mascara is smearing."
 
End Chapter 3
 

 
To Be Continued...