When I got up that morning things were different. My room, once decorated in brilliant colors, was now drab and dirty. I kept my room spotless. I smiled; someone was playing a trick on me. I sat up and found I was wearing boys’ flannel pajamas. OK, where’s my nighty? I got up to go take care of business in the bathroom. I pulled down my pajama bottom to find not only that I was wearing boys’ underwear, but as I looked down, I saw clearly that I had a penis!

Regardless of how it got out, I had to empty my bladder. So I sat and relieved myself, finding that my new appendage was functional.

I needed to find out what was going on, so I ran to the dining room to find my mom and dad eating breakfast. They glanced up as though everything was normal. “Mom … Dad, look at me!”

“Yes,” my mom said, “you need to eat breakfast and get ready for school.”

“I’m wearing boys’ pajamas!”

They both looked at me blankly. Finally, my mom said, “So?” My dad looked back down at his newspaper.

“So, where’s my nighty? I’m a girl!”

My dad looked up at me sarcastically. After quite a long pause, my mom said, “Honey, this is really strange. Do you mean you feel like a girl even though you were born in a boy’s body? You know you can talk to us about anything. How long have you felt this way?”

”I’ve been a girl my whole life! Both of you know that!”

My dad spoke up, “Look, Alex ….”

”Alex? My name is Allie! Where did these pajamas come from? Where are the clothes I wore yesterday?”

“The jeans you wore yesterday were filthy and I put them in the wash.”

“I wore my blue dress yesterday!”

My mom’s eyes got big. My dad chuckled, “I’m sorry I missed that.”

“Dad, you didn’t miss it! You were here! Both of you saw my dress. Mom, you said it looked nice! I’ll show you my other dresses.” I ran back to my room and opened the closet. There, in my closet that had contained all my beautiful dresses and other colorful clothing, was an assortment of dull-colored boys’ clothing. Most of it was jeans and drab-colored shirts and much of it was wrinkled and dirty. What was happening? Is this a nightmare? No, this was real! I can’t be a boy! I reached to check and found the penis was still there! God, don’t do this to me!

I went back to the dining room in a daze. My mom told me, “Honey if you feel like you want to be a girl, we should get you an appointment with a counselor.”

“I don’t need a counselor! I’ve always been a girl and I had a girl’s body until today. What the hell is happening?”

My dad spoke up, “Right now you need to calm down and get ready for school, son.”

“Yes,” my mom added, pointing to the window, “your friends are here.”

“I looked out the window and saw 4 or 5 filthy, scruffy-looking boys about my age.”

“See?,” my mom continued, “Every day like clockwork, they’re waiting for you in the alley … alley … alley … alley … Allie … Allie … Allie, wake up! Wake up, Allie!”

Suddenly, I was back in my bed. The beautiful colors of my room were back and I was in my nighty. My mom was holding both of my upper arms. “Allie, are you OK? What in the world were you dreaming? It sounded like you were saying, ‘Oh my girl!’ Who were you talking about? Goodness, your face is red! Do you feel OK?”

It took me several seconds to realize that I had had a dream. No, not a dream; It was a
Nightmare! I hugged my mom and sobbed. “Oh, Mom, it was horrible! I dreamed I was a boy! I tried to tell you and dad I was a girl and you didn’t believe me. Oh, Mom, I’d rather be dead than be a boy!”

“Wow! Well, I’m glad you were born a girl, Honey. It was just a dream. It’s time to get ready for school, so put on something really cute to celebrate being a girl.”

“Mom, do you believe we dream things for a reason?”

“Yes, Honey, but most of the time we don’t know what the reason is.”

“I think I know the reason for this dream.”

“Oh, you do? I can’t imagine … tell me!”

“Well, lately a few things haven’t been going right. Nothing big, it’s just a lot of minor things, and everything I do seems to go wrong. I got to thinking, “This sucks! My life sucks! I think God sent me this dream to tell me, ‘You really don’t have it so bad. Things could have been a lot worse!”

“Being a boy would be a lot worse?”

“Oh yes, Mom. Being a boy is the worst thing I can imagine!”

“I’m not sure I can argue with you. I know I wouldn’t want to be a male either and I’ve always been glad I had a daughter. I probably would have loved a son, but I’m blessed and I’m thankful to have you. You know, a boy would object to all the clothes in your closet. He would probably refuse to wear them. Imagine that! But boys are stubborn, you know.” She smiled.

I had to smile about that, too. “Thanks, Mom. My life is perfect!”

She hugged me. “Honey, you are perfect, too.”

She left my room and I went to my closet to find something cute. Something on the floor caught my eye. It was a thick cloth material. I don’t put my clothes on the floor! I picked it up and found it was a pair of plaid boys’ flannel pajamas. I looked up. “That’s cool, God. Thank you for my life.” I vowed to thank God every day for my blessings.

I put the pajamas in the trash.