Gynecomastia -- A Drabble

Years of shame and backache. From fourteen on, hunching shoulders, hiding. "Not like other boys, they mustn't see, mustn't single me out."

The plastic surgeon said, "We'll do liposuction, and scoop out the rest," miming a melon baller. I walked away, quickly.

Decades later, disks bulging, nearly crippled, the physiotherapist fixes my posture. The relief is a revelation! Eyes finally raised, another: there are other men, larger.

Yet paradoxically, all along my other secret.

And when I do "dress," a pushup bra, silicone inserts and presto, a "real" bust.

The trick, it seems, is learning to hold your head up.