April, sitting next to her in the passenger seat asked her friend, "What was that?"
"A blowout," answered May calmly. "I guess we'll have to fix it in the rain."
It had started out as a calm but overcast evening, but by the time the annual Halloween Party of the Gender Identity Recognition Lobby, otherwise known as G.I.R.L., had ended, Halloween night had turned into a wicked witch of a tempest. They left the party in the back room of Bison Crap lounge where they often met in the privacy and seclusion often associated with crossdressing groups and hurried across the parking lot to their car in short, mincing steps. In the shelter of May's sedan, they looked forward to a safe ride through the hills back to their motel. May and April's wives were less than accepting of their husbands' peculiar predilections, so they always had to rent a room to change clothes before and after meetings.
They chatted gaily about the details of the party. It was all about who said what, who wore what, and how nicely the meeting room had been decorated. They laughed the most about the many humorous and colorful costumes worn by the imaginative G.I.R.L. members. The actual ride had been uneventful until now. Neither of them looked forward to ruining their costumes changing the tire.
"Wait," April cried as she peered up the hill into the misty woods occasionally lit by lightning flashes. "There's a house up there! Maybe we can use their phone to call the auto club?"
"That's funny. I don't remember a house on this part of the road. Well," May considered carefully, "we are dressed as women and that is what women in this situation would do. I'm game to try it."
May pulled out an umbrella and a flashlight that she always kept in her car. She handed the light to April and they got out of the warm dry car. May used her umbrella to protect their elaborate costumes from the weather as much as possible. May's costume was that of a French maid. It was a short black dress with a ruffly skirt. The bodice was rather low cut revealing the tops of May's pectorals, taped and stuffed into a sexy uplifting bustier designed to give her the look of having real breasts. She had a frilly white apron, fishnet stockings, stiletto heels, and a feather duster as accessories to complete the look.
As exposed to the elements as May was, April's costume was even more revealing. She was dressed as Playboy bunny, also with fishnet stockings and stiletto heels. She also had a pair of white bunny ears and a white puffy cottontail attached to her skintight white suit. A special sexy lace bra and tape helped her to achieve the look of real cleavage as well.
They left the car and headed up the dark hill. They were as careful as they could be so as to avoid getting their four inch heels stuck in the soft soil. The wind buffeted them and May had to be on guard that it would not blow her umbrella inside out. Before long they were on the creaky front porch. A lightning flash revealed a rickety old house that looked abandoned.
The crossdressers, out of the rain, but still exposed to the chilly wind, rapped urgently on the front door. They waited a few seconds for an answer that never came, so April knocked again. This time the door suddenly flew open with a bang that startled them.
They both recovered quickly from the surprise, looked at each other, and headed into the shelter. May closed the umbrella as April shut the front door against the damp gusts. With the door closed behind them they started to breathe a little easier. A grandfather clock ticked loudly in the parlor. April's light revealed that the house was furnished in a quaint antique style that looked like it was from the turn of the century. Dust and cobwebs were everywhere. For such a well furnished home, it was peculiar that it didn't look more lived in.
"Hello!" May called out in a deep voice. "Is anybody home?"
"Hello!" April repeated, her voice husky, but not as deep. "Our car broke down and we'd like to use your phone!"
They moved farther into the parlor and peered into some of the other rooms. Lightning lit up the place eerily, but nobody was to be seen. Theirs were the only footprints on the dusty floor.
"Sure is spooky in here," April remarked as the thunder boomed. She could feel the hairs on the back of her neck rising up underneath her honey blonde wig. Then she called out again. "Hello! Anybody home?"
They heard footsteps upstairs, but saw nobody. "Hello up there!" May shouted, remembering to try to make her voice sound a little more feminine this time. "There's no need for alarm. We're just stranded motorists who need to call the auto club." A clunking sound from up above was the only response.
"Are you okay up there?" April called in concerned alarm. "Are you hurt?" More clunking and now some banging. She turned to May. "We'd better go see if someone needs help."
May nodded and led the way up the creaking staircase to the second floor landing. Just then a dark flying object swooped right down toward their faces and veered off at the last second! "Ahhhh!" they both screamed.
"What was that?" April recovered first.
"I think it was a bat."
"Let's find the phone and get out of here."
"But what if that bat was rabid and the person upstairs needs medical attention?"
April gulped, then nodded. "Okay. Let's go check."
May and April ascended the few remaining steps to the landing. "Hello!" May bellowed. "We're coming to help you."
"Come to help have you?"
"What did you say?" May asked, turning to April.
"I didn't say anything."
"I don't need help from men."
"Who said that? Did you hear that?" May said nervously.
"Yes. It was a faint voice, like it was coming from far away, yet it was clear... like it was very close."
"Men came to help me before."
"There! There it is again." May said with a tremor in her voice.
"They murdered me!"
Then there appeared suddenly at the end of the landing the ghostly figure of an old spinster, arms up and her hands to each side of her head. May and April stood transfixed, their mouths agape in horror.
"I hate all men! They cut off my head!"
With that she grabbed her hair and lifted her head up off of her body and threw her screaming head directly at them! With horrified shrieks, the terrified transvestites leaped and stumbled down the stairs. The head hit the banister and bounced down the stairway after them, shrieking and laughing maniacally. The headless body ran to the top of the stairs and started down as well. The two crossdressers hit the floor running, leaving their size 12W's behind them. The head rolled across the floor at their heels bellowing as the clock struck midnight!
"Curse you! Curse you!" The voice called out behind them.
May slowed slightly to jerk open the door, but then was through it in a flash. April cast a quick look behind and saw the old hag's body closing in and getting ready to scoop up its dismembered head. She leapt ahead of May with renewed adrenaline and flew down the hill in a headlong rush. Howls of laughter floated through the trees as they fled. They reached the road and raced for the car. They clambered in quickly. May fumbled for the keys and started the engine while April hit the button to securely lock the doors. May roared off and drove at a surprising speed for having a car with one flat tire.
Neither of them spoke about what had happened, even after they came to the end of the hilly road and a gas station. While April waited silently in the car, May got out and spoke to the attendant. The attendant could tell May was shaken up about something. He assumed that May was upset about the flat tire and set to work on it. He soon had the flat fixed so they could be on their way again. He said nothing about their costumes.
When May and April got back to the motel where they always changed clothes, they were still shaking. Perhaps that was why they didn't notice that their clothes were now fitting rather loosely on them. They entered the room and locked the door behind them.
"I don't think I've ever been that scared in all my life," April confessed exhaustedly as she threw her purse down and collapsed on the bed.
"Let's agree never to say anything to anybody about this night," May proposed in a contralto voice.
"Why are you talking in that tone of voice?" April demanded pointedly.
"My voice? What happened to your voice?" May asked as she pulled off her wig. A full head of long auburn curls fell over her shoulders. May used to be bald.
April started to tear off her clothes in alarm. May quickly followed April's example. They both looked at each other, and then at themselves in the mirror. They used to be men underneath, but now they were both women!
However, a terrifying incident on a spooky Halloween night had suddenly changed that situation, possibly forever. She was a woman now, inside and out, with a woman's feelings and, as she was slowly beginning to suspect, a woman's desires.
How would her longtime friends in the group relate to her as a real woman now? And on the other side, how would she feel about them?
It had been a hectic four weeks for both her and May. First came dealing with the shock of the transformation. Then Summer, April's closest friend in the gender group was called and told. In her male mode, Summer was of great help and support to the new women. April and May had to tell their disbelieving wives, families, friends, and bosses.
The days after that had been filled with grueling medical tests by every kind of doctor imaginable. Questions by medical staff were unrelenting and then the authorities got involved. The police checked out their story, but there was no house in the woods. The only thing they had to back up their story was the fact that they were physiologically female now where they had been male before. Fingerprints and military records confirmed their identity. Doctors and police were baffled.
It wasn't long after that the media got wind of the story. First local reporters hounded them and their families, then the national press. They appeared on and in every newspaper, magazine, morning show, late show, talk show, and tabloid there was until another big story broke and the media lost all interest.
So now, with her life starting to settle down again, she approached the door of the rental hall with her potluck dish in hand. As she opened the door and entered, the smell of a turkey roasting in the oven was the first thing to greet her.
Summer spotted her and came forward. Dressed en femme now in a blue dress with white lace trim, she looked a lot different than April had been used to seeing her the past few weeks. She was slightly surprised at how much she missed seeing Summer in boy mode. Summer had been more of a comfort to her than she let on throughout that trying time. She had come to rely on Summer's strength and sensitivity. April's memory of an incident of Summer's strong arms holding her during an emotional outbreak resulted in a dream just two nights before. The dream involved her and a very masculine Summer and April blushed every time she thought about it.
"April!" Summer warmly greeted. "You came! I'm so glad! And you look very nice."
"You too!" April muttered softly. It wasn't exactly a lie, but April would have preferred seeing Summer in a suit and tie today. Summer did not pass real well due to a strong build and a decidedly masculine jawline, but she did the best she could and always dressed with the utmost taste.
"Let me take your coat and dish while you say hi to some of the others."
Already several members were following Summer's lead and were approaching the nervous girl. They all greeted April with warm hugs which quickly melted the awkwardness of the situation.
"April! Welcome back!" greeted Joan.
"Glad to have you back!" said Sunny.
"You'll always be welcome here!" assured Octavia.
"Now we have something to really be thankful for," added Elly.
Many others added their greetings as well. April was encouraged by their warm welcome. Soon she was talking with them about what had happened and answering their many questions. Some of the members had some pretty wild theories about what had happened, but then, April conceded that what had happened to her was pretty wild too. Several of the folks remarked on how nice she looked. Elly even commented that she never would have recognized April if Summer hadn't come up and said her name. April agreed that the transformation had been quite comprehensive and very complete.
More questions were asked and more wild theories were discussed. At this point Summer, who had been popping in on the conversation on short breaks from her kitchen duties where she was watching the turkey, reported on some research she had done at the library where she worked.
"According to my research on the history of our local area, a hundred years ago back in 1897, a spinster lady named Mary Whitherspoon was murdered by three drifters who cut off her head, then burned her house to the ground to hide their crime. They were caught however and hanged. The house was located in the Marquam Hills."
"I've never believed in ghosts before," Joan disclosed, "but now I think I do. It must have been so terrifying for you April."
"It was." April simply agreed. She didn't really want to revisit that horror emotionally so she changed the subject. "So how is the group doing?"
"Doing well," responded Sunny. "We've had a lot of interest and concern about you and May of course. The hotline has been ringing off of the hook."
"How is May?" asked Octavia.
"She's slowly adjusting, as I am. She's trying to get her life back in order. Her wife Emma and her are trying to work things out." answered April.
"What about your wife April?" asked Elly with deep concern.
"Hannah isn't doing so well with it." April confessed candidly. "She never approved of my crossdressing before; only tolerated it. Now it's gotten really strained between us, almost as if my transformation is somehow my fault. I'm staying in the back guest bedroom for now. I think I will have to look for a new place to live pretty soon."
"Why can't she understand that it was never your fault," Joan remarked almost bitterly, "even when you were a crossdresser?"
They all nodded.
Just then the door opened and May and Emma walked in. Of course, except for April and Summer nobody knew who they were since May looked so different and this was Emma's first time at a meeting.
Summer and April went over and greeted them and the others followed their lead. They all welcomed them warmly just as they had with April. Renee, Joan's wife, took particular interest in Emma and told her about the family support group she helped facilitate. Summer then excused herself and went into the kitchen to tend to the turkey.
As more people arrived, the group got more lively and supportive of May, Emma, and April. Many of the women, both genetic and transgendered shared in setting up the place and helping Summer in the kitchen. The turkey came out a nice golden brown. Then it had to be sliced, potatoes had to be whipped, gravy had to be made, and lastly the pies went into the oven for desert. Soon the turkey, trimmings, and potluck dishes were set out on the table. Then Summer was asked to say a blessing.
"Lord," she started, "we thank you for the food that is before us and the community of support that we have. We thank you for the many gifts that each of us brings to this group in our diversity. We thank you for helping May, her wife Emma, and April through the past few difficult weeks and ask your continued blessing on them in the trying times ahead of them. We are assured that with your help they will adjust and that all will work out according to your will. Be with this group and guide and direct it to provide whatever support is required of us in the year ahead. All these things we pray. . ."
"Amen!" the group spoke in unison.
Dinner was very tasty and the conversation was animated. April and May felt like they had finally returned home after a long voyage. Yes, some things had changed completely and irrevocably for them both, but other things, their good friends in the group for example, were still the same. They took great comfort in that.
After dinner there were several deserts to choose from as well as tea and coffee to sip. The inevitable cleanup was accomplished in record time with everyone pitching in to help. Then they all sat around some more to chat.
Renee, Emma and Lori, Elly's wife, sat off in a corner where they could talk a little more privately. Emma confessed to Renee that she was confused about what to do now that her husband was a woman. They talked for quite a while, but basically Renee advised Emma to show May as much support as possible right now without compromising her own needs and to bide her time, not making any rash decisions, but rather to be patient and just wait and see how the future was to unfold.
Many of the other girls gave April and May similar advice about patience as well as just being there to listen. Both of them described how different their lives were now. Even though they had tasted womanhood as crossdressers, it was still difficult making adjustments to their lives as women.
Eventually the evening came to a close. May and Emma left after receiving numerous hugs. April and Summer were among the last to go. Goodbye hugs went to her as well. April held Summer especially tight, almost afraid to let go, for who knew what the future would bring.
The doorbell rang. She looked out through the peephole and made sure it wasn 't a stranger before opening the door to let Summer in. Now that she was a woman and living alone she was much more security conscious.
"April! You look gorgeous!" complimented Summer, drinking in the vision that April presented. April was dressed in a beaded gown of ivory with subtle gold threading.
April beamed and flashed a beautiful smile. She was hoping for that result. She took in Summer's seasonal red ensemble in return and replied, "Thank you! And you look ravishing tonight too!"
"Shall we go?"
"Let's," replied April smugly.
May fastened her remaining earring and checked herself one last time in the mirror. A vivacious green eyed woman with long dark auburn hair arranged in an upsweep looked back at her. For a moment she paused, taken aback by the image she presented because it was so different from what she had been before, even on the occasions she crossdressed. She was categorically feminine now. Like April, she was becoming more accustomed to her new body and appearance, but occasionally it caught her off guard. The feeling quickly passed and she went downstairs.
She walked into the den and found her son Derek watching TV. "Do you know where your mother is?"
"She's was in the kitchen," Derek answered, engrossed in his show. Then a whiff of her perfume touched his nostrils and he turned. She was in a stunning green gown that brought out the color of her eyes and acutely accentuated her new feminine form. "Wow! May, you look hot!"
Derek was a typical teenage boy that could really appreciate an attractive woman, but he suddenly became uncomfortable when he remembered that this was his father.
"Uh, thanks Son," May replied, not quite sure what else to say. She had always had a good relationship with her son and had always taught him to be accepting of diversity. Derek hadn't necessarily liked the fact that his father was a crossdresser, but was tolerant of it, taking his cue from his mother. However, when things changed and his father had been transformed into a woman, it had become much more complex. Although he was trying to be supportive of May, the whole dynamic of their relationship had changed.
May went into the kitchen and told Emma that she was leaving for the Christmas Dinner. Emma looked up and said seriously, "We need to talk."
April felt warmly delicious riding along in the dark next to Summer. April found Summer to be very desirable as a man and, although Summer didn't pass well dressed as a woman, April still found Summer to be attractive. She admired Summer for her many good qualities and came to the realization recently that the outside packaging was not as important as what was on the inside. Still, she felt strange being attracted to someone who was a man underneath, since she herself had been a man so long until just recently. Yet she couldn't deny that she now had feelings for men, Summer in particular, now that she was female.
Derek climbed into Mike's car. Mike had already picked up Josh and Brad to go cruising, and so all three of Derek's closest friends were present when May walked out of the house and toward her car.
"Wowie! Hey Derek, who's the fox?"
"Yeah, what a nice babe! She a friend of yours?"
"She's hot for it! I can tell."
"Shut up!" Derek retorted angrily. "Just knock it off. That just happens to be my father!"
The Gender Identity Recognition Lobby's most elegant evening of the year was their Christmas Dinner. Held in the banquet room of one of the cities finest hotels, it was the gala event for crossdressers from around the area. G.I.R.L. members came from as far away as two hundred miles to stay in the hotel, dress up in all their finery, and attend the fancy dinner.
April and Summer arrived for cocktails. Each of them ordered wine. They mingled a bit and then sat at the same table with Sunny, Elly, and Lori. Conversation was fun and animated. April received a lot of compliments on her ensemble. Sunny told them about her work on the hotline and that they were about to sign up a new member.
Not too long after that May arrived. There was one seat left at their table and April offered it to her. May accepted cheerfully. April began to pick up vibes that all was not right, however. While the others had their attention on Octavia's gown, April leaned over and asked May if there was anything wrong.
May got the funniest look on her face and almost began to sob. All at the table stopped and focused their attention on May, which was exactly what April was trying to avoid.
"Oh April!" she moaned. "I don't know what to do. Before I came here tonight Emma told me that she didn't think things would work out between us. Why did this have to happen to us? I just can't go on living as a woman!"
"Oh, May! I'm so sorry," said April. The others looked sympathetic.
"April, would you please take May to the ladies' lounge?" asked Lori. "I think it would be good for us to talk about this, but it's a little too public out here. I'll go find Renee. Excuse us, ladies."
April led May out of the banquet room and through the lobby area to the ladies' lounge. April sat May down on the divan and sat down beside her and held her friend. Before too long Renee and Lori came in, pulled up some plush chairs, and they all sat together and had a good talk. It was as much for April as it was for May. Renee and Lori had both been concerned about the new women and how things had been going for them. Without betraying Emma 's confidence, Renee explained a lot of things to them about what being a woman was about, and why things had changed in April and May's relationships with their wives. Renee explained that they were going through a whole new experience, and were bound to have feelings of loneliness, conflicting emotions, pain, and even depression over it. They also told them that they were women now, and as frustrating as that change was for them at times, there was apparently no way to undo what had happened. They needed to find their inner courage in order to deal with it. She and Lori gave them some very candid advice, but also did a lot of compassionate listening.
April and May both got pretty emotional and Renee and Lori both expected that. These women had been through a lot. They needed to cry and would continue to need to cry as they dealt with their feelings. After a while they felt much better. They all fixed their makeup, including Renee and Lori, who had gotten teary eyed as well, and returned to their table.
Soon it was time for dinner to be served and the waiters brought a fine selection of holiday treats for them to enjoy. Afterward, there was Christmas music played and an award given out to Sunny for her work on the hotline. Then small gifts were exchanged. At the end they all sang Christmas Carols. It turned out to be a wonderful evening.
"Would you like some more eggnog?" Summer asked April.
"Yes, but it's so fattening! Save it for Santa. I just want to sit here and keep cuddling to you." she answered nuzzling into Summer's sweater.
It was Christmas Eve and they were cuddled together on the couch in Summer's living room. April had no family left to spend the holidays with and Summer' s older sister Ruth had flown cross country to spend Christmas with their mother.
So rather than be lonely, they decided to spend the holiday together. A fire burning in the fireplace, a holiday candle, and the Christmas tree were their only source of light that evening. Christmas music played on the stereo.
Summer was in boy mode, dressed in jeans and a sweater. April too was in jeans and a sweater, but her look was undeniably feminine.
They held each other for a long time, listening to the music, occasionally humming along. To Summer, it no longer mattered that April used to be a man, a fellow crossdresser from the group. For April, it was a matter of letting go of her past; of her love for women, and of her conditioning against loving men. April was beginning to realize that it was easier to go with her feelings than to fight against them. Summer was so strong, kind, and gentle. She felt warm and safe in his arms, like she did on the rare occasions when her father held her when she was just a little boy. But her longing was for more than just a father's love, and she knew that Summer would satisfy that longing some night, not tonight, but some night soon; of that she was sure. She decided to take things slowly and see where they led. Until then she was satisfied with just loving Summer and having Summer love her.
Slowly, with trepidation, she turned her mouth up to meet his, and they kissed. It was cautious at first; then, as they relaxed, the passion of the evening flooded through them.
She finished getting ready and took one last look at herself in the mirror. She had put her long honey blonde tresses up in a stylish do with a thin curl dangling down in front of her right ear, playing with the light of her sparkling diamond earrings. Her dress was a bright blue, snug, with a low d'colletage and a slit up her left leg, revealing just a bit of cleavage and a lot of thigh. With her remaining time she busied herself straightening up the apartment. It was already pretty clean, but April managed to find a few cushions out of place. She was a devout housekeeper.
Finally Summer arrived. They had agreed to drive there and walk with April the few remaining blocks to Joan and Renee's house, where G.I.R.L. was holding its New Year's Eve Party. Parking was limited at Joan and Renee's and this would help alleviate that problem.
The night was crisp, but they were both well covered in mock fur coats. They talked and laughed on their way. As they passed under a streetlight, a car passed slowly. Its driver spotted them and he craned his head to get a better look at the women. His free hand reached down and rubbed between his legs.
He found a parking space with difficulty. He double checked the address he had been given by Sunny over the hotline. Then he reached down between the seats for his flask of liquid courage, took a good swig, and put back the flask. He popped a mint into his mouth, took a deep breath, and went up to the door.
The door was answered by an attractive woman, rather matronly, but he decided that she would be a good lay anyway, with lots of passion hidden behind that sophisticated maturity.
"Hi, I'm June O'Shaughnessy. I'm a new member."
"Oh, come on in. I'm Renee, Joan's spouse. Don't be nervous, we won't bite!" Renee joked.
"Too bad!" thought June as he imagined what the experienced love bites of this wench might feel like. He thanked her and went on in. After his coat was taken, he was introduced to those already at the party.
"You'll have to excuse the way I look," he explained, acting uncomfortable with being there in dress slacks, shirt, tie, and sweater. "I'm not ready to come crossdressed yet."
"That's okay," Joan replied. "We understand."
"No, I don't think you do," thought June to himself, thankful that his trousers were loose enough to mask the incredible hard-on he was experiencing. He found that these crossdressers made very attractive women, and the fact their feminine clothes hid an extra special surprise between their legs was really turning him on.
Sunny took charge of making him feel welcome, since she had talked to him before on the hotline. Sunny was a very pleasing sight, June thought. Of all of the men there in women's clothes, Sunny was the one he would least mind kissing. But June had other plans, bigger fish to fry, and Sunny was not on his immediate agenda.
When April and Summer arrived a few minutes later, June took special notice. After introductions were made, they got their drinks and began to mingle. June managed to get April in a corner to talk with her.
"I saw you on TV a few times," June said. "That must have been very scary for you."
"Yes, it was," April replied, "but not nearly as scary as what happened on Halloween night. Anyway, the media has seemed to have forgotten all about it, and that's just fine with me."
"Say, maybe you would like to get together with me after the party. I think we could find a very special way to celebrate the New Year."
April hesitated. "Uh, well actually, I'm here with Summer, and I'm not really interested."
"Too bad," June remarked. "You wouldn't believe how big Junior is."
"Junior?" asked a confused April.
"Yeah. That's what I call him." June explained, making a passing gesturing toward his groin. "He could really help you find fulfillment as a woman and help you accept your change."
"Well, that won't be necessary," April responded curtly. "Now if you'll excuse me, there's someone over there I need to say hello to." With that she glided swiftly away from June.
When May arrived, June tried again. "You know, I decided to come to this group because of you. You and April were on TV and there was just something about you that was special. I think you are gorgeous and you handled yourself pretty well on the Renaldo show."
"Thank you," May replied. "I'm glad those talk shows and news people lost interest in us though."
"Well, they may have, but I sure didn't!" June confessed. "I think you're great. You've got beauty, brains, a lot of heart, and you're the most courageous and exciting person I know."
May smiled at the flattery. "Well thank you very much! That's very kind of you to say."
"Say, maybe later we could get together and I could show you personally just how exciting I think you really are."
"Maybe," said May noncommittally. This sudden attention from June had triggered confusing feelings for her. "Excuse me."
As the evening wore on, conversations picked up, especially as the drinks flowed. Eventually June cornered May and asked her to dance. As May had been dancing with several other people all evening, she didn't see any harm in it and accepted.
After the dance June leaned in and kissed May. To her surprise, May found herself responding with passionate fervor. June led her over into a secluded area of the house and they resumed. June's tongue probed deeply and May responded with a deep longing. She felt herself get suddenly warm as the alcohol and the passion mixed.
May felt June's rough strong masculine hand slide up her leg under her skirt. She reached down quickly and grabbed June's arm before the hand reached her private area. "No!" May protested. "I'm not comfortable with that!"
"What's wrong?" asked June, disappointed in the delay.
"You're moving too fast, and I think we should cool it," May answered decisively. She turned away and moved off to rejoin the party. As midnight approached people began to get the champagne and party favors ready. The television was turned on to a scene in Times Square. The last minute everybody watched and waited. Finally they counted down . . . "10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, Happy New Year!" They all began to hug and kiss and wish each other a good New Year.
April and Summer kissed each other long and affectionately. In the other room June was kissing Sunny. As Sunny felt June's tongue slide into her mouth, strange new feelings began to stir within her.
April's apartment was a little messier than usual the next morning. She awoke next to Summer, now looking very male in a flimsy nightie April had loaned to her. After returning from the party, they decided Summer was in no condition to drive. Besides, this was the excuse they needed to put their anxieties aside and take the plunge they had been contemplating.
April watched Summer breathe slowly in blissful slumber. April certainly had no regrets about their night of passion, and she didn't think Summer did either. Actually, April found sex quite enjoyable and fulfilling as a woman. It was certainly quite different than having sex when she was a man. Yes, April was definitely glad she had enjoyed Summer a bit early this year.
Summer opened her eyes slowly.
"Good morning, love," April said cheerfully.
"Good morning," Summer replied. She paused for a second to yawn. "How are you this morning?"
"Great! And you?"
"Very happy," Summer answered, "especially being here with you. Thanks for last night."
"You're welcome. And thank you too."
They got up and had breakfast, watched the parade on television, then went back to bed for a different kind of entertainment. They spent the whole day lounging around together.
"Whatever got into me last night?" Sunny asked herself. She couldn't stop thinking of her kiss with June the night before. She had always thought of herself as a straight crossdresser before, but now she was having doubts about her sexuality. Why in the world had she ever let a man kiss her like that? Why hadn't she stopped him? She knew that the answer, even though she was slow to accept it, was because she liked it and it made her feel womanlier.
Summer had a great day with April, but at home that night she felt restless. She tossed and turned from midnight on. Her fleeting dreams were strangely disturbing. Finally the alarm clock rang and Summer struggled out of bed. She had the peculiar feeling that something was wrong. And then she looked into the mirror and discovered that wrong was putting it too mildly!
Sex as a woman had been different, but also strangely familiar, making April feel complete in her new role. Summer seemed to be okay with everything on New Year's Day, but after that call after call had been unreturned.
"Hello?"
April recognized the voice of Summer's older sister Ruth. "Hello, may I speak with Summer, uh, Mark please? Tell him it's April."
"Mark doesn't want to talk to you. I thought I made that clear the last time you called."
"Well, it's been over a week since my last call, I thought maybe he would change his mind and at least give me some explanation."
"No. Good day," Ruth said curtly as she hung up the phone.
April just stared at the receiver and burst into tears.
June got off of the highway at the Mudd Valley turnoff. He was dressed in corduroy slacks, dress shirt, tie, and sport jacket. His fine red hair had been combed across his balding scalp in a feeble attempt at coverage. He consulted his directions and proceeded to his destination for the evening. He soon found the place and went to the door. It opened to his knock and he was invited into a warm home decorated with hearts and flowers in anticipation of Valentine's Day.
He met several new members and a few of the ones he had met back at the New Year's Eve Party, including Sunny. Sunny gleamed when she saw him. He gave her a roguish smile.
As the evening wore, on June realized that May would not be coming to this month's Mudd Valley Social, therefore he turned his attentions toward Sunny even more. They located a quiet corner and began to kiss.
May had decided against going to the social in order to have a long talk with Emma. So far it had gone well. They had talked about their life together, their son Derek whom they had raised together, their hopes and dreams, their past and also their future. They laughed together about the good times and cried together about the sad ones. Most of all they cried together about the way things had changed, mourning the life they used to have and the fears they faced now that things were so very different. In doing this, they bonded together that evening, and when it was done, they vowed to try and work things out and share their lives again.
The library was quiet and Derek could hear his heart pounding. The girl studying intently next to him didn't seem to notice, yet Derek felt as if the whole world could hear it.
"Chrissy?" he asked. The slim girl with the long blonde hair looked up at him with her pale blue eyes and he could feel himself melting. He plunged ahead before he lost his nerve. "I was wondering. . . well we've been working on this history project together now for two weeks and, well, I, well we've gotten to know each other pretty good. You like me and I like you, we get along okay. We make a pretty good study team and all, and, well I. . ."
"What?" she asked in a soft voice that oozed honey.
"Do you want, well, that is. . ." He felt his resolve starting to fade as his nervousness increased, so he took a deep breath and just blurted out, "I am asking you to go to the Valentine's Dance with me."
"Me?" she asked incredulously, brushing a lock of long blonde hair away from her delicate features.
"Sure, why not?"
"Well I haven't ever dated any boys before."
"Really? I find that hard to believe, you're so pretty and all."
"Thanks," she replied uncomfortably to the compliment.
There was a long pause.
"Well? What do you say?
"Derek, I really like you a lot. You're a good friend. But I. . ."
"You don't want to go to the dance with me," Derek finished her sentence glumly.
Another pause.
"I'm just not sure of my feelings," she explained. Another long moment passed, then she said, "but I guess I won't know how I really feel until I try it. Yes, I'll go to the dance with you."
"You will!"
She laughed at his surprised look and her chuckle sounded like sweet music to his ears.
Dinner was very elegant. May and Emma had chosen a four star restaurant where they had come on several anniversaries. Tonight it was packed with couples who had come to celebrate Valentine's Day together in a romantic setting. The restaurant was located high atop one of the city's tallest hotels. The layout of the dining room was round with the choicest tables positioned around the perimeter near the windows. The whole city with all of it's bright lights could be seen below. It was doubtful that a diner could grow tired of the beautiful view, and to insure that, the room was designed to revolve slowly so that in an hour you would have gone the complete circle. The center of the dining area was a dance floor, and a jazz band played slow, romantic music this evening.
May and Emma were both a bit nervous, since they were the only same- sex couple in the place. Emma was the more nervous of the two, but both had agreed that this had been one of their special places when they were a heterosexual couple, and there was no reason that it shouldn't still be one of their special places now that May was female.
They ate an excellent meal over low candlelight while talking, enjoying the view, and enjoying each other's company. They held hands across the table at one point. If they attracted any undue attention from the other patrons, they ignored it.
After dinner, May, partially emboldened from the wine, asked Emma to dance. As they moved out to the dance floor they could feel many eyes watching them. There was a mixed reaction from the other guests. Some faces of disapproval were clearly visible while others did not seem bothered in the least. May was encouraged by this, but Emma, though she said nothing, dwelled on the frowning stares.
Near the end of their dance, May moved in with her lips to Emma's, but Emma pulled away, glancing off nervously. "I don't think we should do that here."
"Do you love me?" May asked her simply.
"Yes."
"We're married and you're my wife. They can't stop us."
And with that May and Emma kissed tenderly.
Red, white, and pink balloons and streamers festooned the gymnasium. The rock band played a mixture of tunes, including a few slow dances for the Valentine's occasion. Chrissy, even though she hadn't dated before, turned out to be as good a dancer as Derek. When he complimented her on this she explained that she would often put on the stereo in her bedroom and practice moving to the rhythms. She seemed to have a natural instinct for it and Derek could not help thinking that how perfectly paired they were. He was falling for this gorgeous blonde, her long hair in an updo and her pink satin gown like the petals of a rose beneath his fingers when he held her.
Chrissy, on the other hand was at a loss to explain her feelings for him. Derek was a very good friend, but she was more attracted to the person he was rather than his boyish good looks. Most of the girls in her class had talked about Derek as one of the most handsome boys in school. She found it difficult to enter into these girlish chats since she tended to look at boys for their inner qualities. In Derek she saw a number of them. He was polite, a good worker, studious and serious when he needed to be, caring, sensitive, funny, and very loyal.
"Derek," she murmured.
"Yeah."
"You're a very good dancer too."
"Thanks."
There was an awkward moment when neither of them knew what to say next. They both just said nothing and let it pass, dancing in each other's arms.
That same evening Sunny sat alone in her dim apartment all dressed up with a bottle of wine and a romantic movie playing. As the story progressed she juxtaposed June and herself as the lead couple, and when they kissed at the end, Sunny's tummy did flip-flops. She sighed deeply at her memory of June's kisses upon her lips the week before.
April pulled up in front of the house and took a deep breath to help relieve her anxiety. She climbed out of the car and nervously made her way to the front door. She rang the doorbell after a brief hesitation.
It opened to reveal a stern looking woman with a face that bore a good family resemblance to Summer. April recognized Ruth from family photographs she had seen the last time she had been here at Summer's house.
"We aren't interested in your Watchtowers. Go away!" Ruth announced and began to close the door.
"I'm April!" The door paused, and then Ruth gave her a more detailed scrutiny.
"You must be Mark's sister Ruth. Can I talk to Mark please? It's important!"
"Oh, I recognize you now. I don't have my glasses on," Ruth explained a bit embarrassed by the mistake, then she went on to say, "but the answer is still the same. Go away! She doesn't want to see you."
And with that the door closed as firmly as a chapter in April's life.
"How are you doing?"
"I don't know May," she replied glumly. "Being a woman is so difficult."
May nodded. "Well come on in and we can talk about it."
May showed her in and they sat on the sofa. "What's wrong honey?" May asked.
"I've just been so depressed over Summer!" April started to sob. "I've been crying and crying over it. I can't seem to stop. I've been eating a lot, and now I'm gaining weight. What man will ever want me? I'm going to end up an old bag lady!"
May moved over and held her friend and let April bawl. "It's okay, baby. I know how hard it is. You just cry."
And April did.
Several tissues later April seemed consoled enough to talk some more. "It just hurts so much. Summer won't return any calls. I thought we had something special. We even...spent the night together on New Year's. It was so romantic. And now Summer's dropped me like a hot potato."
"Dear, I don't know what Summer's problem is, but you aren't to blame. Summer hasn't contacted anyone in G.I.R.L. since the first of the year. It's not just you. You are a beautiful woman, inside and outside. If you want a man in your life, you will find someone special who will love you."
"It's just so hard being a woman," April moaned.
"I know." May nodded in understanding. "We do it so well though!" She smiled.
April smiled back and then giggled.
"Actually," May said thoughtfully, "being a woman is not all that hard. If you think about it, what's hard are the changes."
April thought about that. "Yeah. You're right. Being a woman isn't so bad at all. I've become very used to it. It's all of the crap we've had to go through since then that's difficult."
May nodded. "That's right. You've lost your family, your friend, and your past among other things. It's difficult trying to deal with others who can't accept our change." May's lip quivered.
"May? What's wrong?" April asked, sensing something amiss.
"Well, it's Emma." May replied candidly. She's having difficulty with all of this and...I don't know. I'm afraid the end is near for us."
"Oh May, I'm so sorry."
And they both hugged each other for a long time.
"Chrissy! Wait up!" called Derek from down the hall as he hurried to catch up with the cute blonde teenager. Chrissy turned and waited until he caught up to her. "Well, we did it!"
They had presented their history report in front of the class during sixth period. It was well researched and their teacher had given them excellent marks.
"Yeah!" Chrissy smiled. "I'm glad it's over, but I'm almost sorry to see it end. It was one of the best assignments I've ever had."
"Me too!" agreed Derek. "Say, you want to go over to the Pizza Barn and celebrate?"
"Well, I really need to get home and study for my algebra test."
"Okay. What are you doing Saturday? I thought we could go see that new action flick with Steven Segal. Afterwards we could go to The Beat and do some dancing."
Chrissy turned and looked at him thoughtfully. "Derek, you're a nice guy, but I don't think we should date anymore."
"Oh," said Derek. He looked down at the floor. He looked up at her and asked, "Is there anything wrong? Did I do something?"
"No Derek, not at all. It's not you. It's me. I just don't feel that way about you. I wish I did. You're a really nice person, but I just...I just...don't feel that way about you. I hope we can still be friends."
"Uh, yeah. Sure." Derek sounded anything but sure right then. A long moment passed and there wasn't anything more to say. Chrissy walked on down the hall and out the door leaving Derek staring at the floor.
By the time the G.I.R.L. St. Patrick's party rolled around, April wasn't feeling well at all. She decided not to go. She had been feeling bloated and had mood swings. She was eating more and retaining water, which she could have lived with, but lately she had some strange abdominal cramps as well. She wanted to believe it was her depression over Summer, but she was finally beginning to think that there was something physically wrong with her. Cancer was her biggest concern, since her aunt had died of it. She knew she should call the doctor, but she wasn't quite ready to face the truth yet. She gave herself a few more days to see if the symptoms would go away before making an appointment.
May decided to make the best of the party. The past week had been very difficult for her with Emma withdrawn and moody. Derek was depressed too. His girlfriend Chrissy had broken up with him. With each of them in separate rooms, it was like living alone; May pretty much had the rest of the house to herself. She just wanted to be a family again. She remembered the talk she had with April. Being a woman was easy. Dealing with the aftermath of her sex change was what was so difficult. She worried that her family might not be able to hold together through the storm.
June O'Shaughnessy took another swig from his flask. Then he spritzed his mouth with breath spray. He checked his thinning red hair out in the rear view mirror and slicked down a tuft that was out of place. Dressed in a sports jacket that went well with his dark green shirt and shamrock tie, he climbed out of the car and went inside the banquet room.
The room was decorated with shamrocks and leprechauns. A rainbow arched along one wall, and where it ended sat a small pot of gold on the table. Of course it wasn't real gold; just chocolate wrapped in gold foil.
"June! It's good to see you again," greeted Sunny. She was gorgeous, but her voice was not softened enough to hide her husky masculine undertones. June could not help but wonder what he saw in her, since he knew she wasn't really a woman. Still, the illusion was very convincing. He smiled his sexiest smile at her while his eyes darted around the room in search of May.
May hadn't arrived yet, so he spent his time over in a corner talking to Sunny, where he could keep an eye on the door. When May came in, he excused himself to use the restroom, and when he came back out, moved over to where May was in a discussion with Octavia and Elly.
Biding his time, he waited for the right opportunity to get May alone. He came up with the excuse that he needed to ask her a question, but that it was too private to ask anyone else's advice other than her.
Now alone with May in the corner, he began to talk about his emotions. "I have so many feelings about the clothes. I don't want to wear them, but I just feel the need to put them on. Then I feel so ashamed. Can you understand that?"
"Yes." May nodded. "Everyone here in G.I.R.L. has gone through that, but most of us have come to terms with those feelings. We've found that there's nothing to be ashamed of."
"It's so good to have someone to confess this to. You don't know how much of a relief it is to talk to you about this."
"Believe me, I understand. We've all been there at one time. I had a similar talk with Octavia several years ago."
"Oh, you're so kind and so beautiful." June moved in for the kill. As his lips moved toward hers, May pulled back and then stood up quickly.
"If you'll excuse me, there's someone over there I who hasn't been here in a while. I really should go spend some time with the other members too." She quickly moved away, leaving June to look longingly at her ass.
He quickly recovered and saw Sunny over in another part of the room talking to another gal. Since May had given him an abrupt brush off, he didn't think that pursuing her any more tonight would prove fruitful. He got up and wandered over to Sunny.
The next morning June opened his eyes. The sleeping figure next to him was far from the beautiful woman who accompanied home last night. Sunny's delicate features were now very angular and pronounced without makeup and they were also covered with stubble. Sunny's body, in a sleek negligee, was far too masculine for June's tastes. He wondered how he could have settled for a man in a dress. Still there was something about transgendered people that aroused him.
Sunny's eyes opened slowly, and then widened as she saw that she was not alone. Then she remembered bringing June back to her apartment and relaxed.
"Good morning," she said softly.
"Morning," June mumbled.
"Thanks for last night," Sunny continued. "I really enjoyed it. I never thought I would enjoy the passive role so much. It made me feel more like a woman than I've ever felt."
"Well I think you were great, too," June lied. He got up and started to pull on his pants. "We'll have to do it again sometime. I've got to get to work now. I'll call you." With that he grabbed up the rest of his clothes and left.
Another week and still her symptoms persisted. April reluctantly picked up the phone and dialed.
"Hello, this is April Grant. I haven't been feeling well lately and I need to make an appointment with the doctor."
"Yes." replied April. She was seated on the exam table in a loose hospital gown.
"I'm Dr. Collins."
"How do you do, Dr. Collins? Thank you for agreeing to take me on as a patient. Lori Harper recommended you to me."
"Lori's a good patient. I'm glad to help. Now what brings you here on this beautiful spring day?"
"Well, I've been having some strange symptoms."
"Tell me about them and we'll see what we can do."
"Well, I've noticed a slight bloating in my abdomen, followed by cramps. I'm afraid of it being cancer."
Dr. Collins took a look at her and smiled. She examined April's limbs. "You're retaining water, too." She felt April's abdomen. "Have you noticed any nausea or vomiting?"
"Well, yes."
"Are you urinating more frequently."
"Yes."
"Sore or tingling breasts or nipples?"
"Yes, that, too."
"Have you been sexually active?"
April glanced over at the calendar on the wall. The date was the first. "Not lately. The last time was three months ago, exactly to the day."
"And when was your last period?"
April realized that she had only had a period twice since her change and the last one was several months ago. "Gosh, about the week before Christmas, I think. Do you think it's cancer?"
"No, I think you can relax about that. I want to run a test, of course, but I think you are pregnant."
"Pregnant!" April exclaimed. It had never occurred to her that she might be pregnant, but now that she thought about it and what little she knew about it, it all fit.
The G.I.R.L. Spring Fling was fully underway when May arrived. The group was a haven of support with life at home in such turmoil. Here she could talk to others; though not in her exact same situation, they at least had several things in common.
It didn't take long for June, still dressed in men's clothes, to approach her. A part of her began to feel flattered at his persistence.
It had been several weeks since Emma had grown reticent. Their relationship suffered as Emma became more and more withdrawn from May. May began to miss their intimate conversations, the warmth that they shared. She craved that close companionship that Emma withheld now. In June she began to see a glimmer of a possibility of sharing her life with someone close.
These feelings of hers were stronger for her now that she was a woman. As a sensitive man who crossdressed she had been in touch with them more than most men, but not with the intensity that she now felt them. So complete was her change that she ascribed this passion to her new feminine attitudes, body chemistry, and perspective.
She had spent more time with April lately, and that helped them both, especially with April trying to adjust to the sudden news of her pregnancy. When it was time to go home, however, all May felt was emptiness. Her small room seemed like an isolation cell in a prison rather than the warm cozy room in the happy home that she and Emma had raised their son in.
Derek and his friends walked into the dim, noisy room of The Night Scene dance bar. Josh, Brad, and Mike thought that bringing Derek here would help to get his mind off Chrissy. Derek was still "moping" about, as Josh put it, weeks after their breakup. Brad suspected there was more to it than that; Derek had confided in him that his parents were on the outs again.
"Didn't I tell you those fake IDs would work?" Josh bragged excitedly when no one else was within earshot. "The guy I got them from does a great job."
"Yeah," grumbled Mike, "but we spent so much on them, we don't have much left for drinks!"
"Well Mike," retorted Josh, "if you feel that way about it, there's a gay bar about two blocks down where I bet you would have guys lining up to buy you drinks!"
"Knock it off, guys!" Brad demanded. "We're here to have a little fun."
"And that's what we'll have..." complained Mike, "damn little fun."
Brad pierced Mike with a look. Mike gave it up and followed the guys to a table.
When Sunny came into the room she was a bit surprised to find June and May apart from the other partygoers and engaged in an animated conversation. A sudden rush of jealousy came over her, and she became furious with June for a moment. She had spent the entire afternoon at the salon getting prettied up for him. What was he doing with May over there in that corner? Wasn't she woman enough, feminine enough to hold his interest? Then she calmed herself and reasoned that they were just talking about gender issues, which is why June came to this group in the first place. Even so, there was still a part of her that was concerned that there was more to it than that.
As for June, he was having a great time. He was sure that tonight would be the night he would finally get to take May to bed. The conversation was going well, and he could almost smell May's vulnerability along with her heady perfume.
May, on the other hand, was feeling guilty talking to June, because she was starting to think about more than just talk. She began to feel like she was betraying Emma, even though Emma had been the one that turned her back on their relationship. Still, after years of marriage, May's fidelity to the woman she loved and married was a routine way of life. Thoughts of Emma gnawed at her conscience until she realized that it was time to end the conversation.
Sunny watched with relief as May got up, excused herself, and moved away from June. June's face showed nothing, letting Sunny believe that her worries were unfounded. The truth of the matter was that June was so stunned that May had left him that it didn't even register on his face. He couldn't quite bring himself yet to believe that his looks and charm had failed to bring sweet May to his bed.
Sunny approached him. June was attracted to her new look. June had missed one opportunity with May, but he saw Sunny as the consolation prize. He thought to himself, "Well, if you can't win the trip to Hawaii, settle for the case of macadamia nuts."
Soon they were out on the floor dancing amid the floral decorations. May looked over and watched them with emptiness in her heart and a feeling that she was missing an opportunity.
Derek entered the house slightly tipsy. They hadn't had much to drink because they didn't have that much money. Thoughts of Chrissy flooded back now that he was home alone. He went to the bathroom and gargled with mouthwash to hide the smell of alcohol on his breath. Then he made his way to May's room and knocked on the door.
"Come in!" he heard May respond.
"Hi," he said as he entered the room. "How was your party?"
"It was nice, but I wasn't quite in the mood for it," May replied. "How was your movie?"
"Okay, I guess," he lied. "I really wasn't in the mood for it either. The other guys had a good time though." He paused. "Well, g'night."
"Good night, sweetheart."
As Derek wandered toward his room he couldn't shake the strange feeling he had. Then he put his finger on it. May, the person he used to call Dad, had never called him "sweetheart" before. Even stranger yet, he kind of liked it.
April arrived at Renee's home and knocked on the door. Renee had called needing help with a project she was working on for the upcoming G.I.R.L. summer barbecue. Renee answered and invited her inside. They made their way into the den where a large group of G.I.R.L. members were assembled.
"SURPRISE!" they cried.
April was stunned. She had never expected a party. "What is this? What's going on?"
"May told us how down in the dumps you've been." replied Joan. "We decided to throw you a baby shower to cheer you up."
"For me?" April was still in shock.
"Of course for you dear," Renee responded. "Nobody else here is pregnant, at least I hope not." She patted her own tummy with a grin.
"Besides," said May, "you know how we always need to have an event around here to celebrate. This gave us a chance to get together and to go shopping."
With that, the party got underway. April soon found herself showered with nice gifts. Each person brought two; one for the baby and one for April. April wouldn't have to worry about maternity clothes now.
"Hi, Chrissy, this is Derek."
"Oh, hi Derek. How are you?"
"Been doin' okay, I guess. How 'bout you?"
"Fine. I've been thinking through some stuff."
"That's good." replied Derek. "Say, I miss working on that project with you. That sure was a blast, huh?"
"Yeah, it was really cool."
"Say, I know you wanted to break it off for a while, but I heard you didn't have a date for the prom and I don't have a date, so you want maybe to go together...as friends?"
"Well, that's kind of the same thing I've been thinking about." Chrissy paused.
"I guess we could give it one more try."
At first the news had left her somewhat distraught and distressed. Then she became accustomed to the idea and even began to bond with her baby. Her depression lifted as she accepted the new life that fate had arranged for her. The only regret she had was that Summer wouldn't be there to have a part in all of this, other than that one night, of course. This was Summer's child too, and April wanted her baby to know both parents.
She had stopped trying to get hold of Summer. Nobody had seen Summer in months, and there was no explanation for the strange absence for all this time. But the more April thought about it, the more she thought she should try again. She owed both her new child and her friendship to Summer at least that.
Sunny looked at her hair brush. Her pretty hair stuck to the bristles like it was some sort of magnet. Hair treatment medication had slowed her type of hair loss, but it was still happening. She looked in the mirror at her male features and her balding scalp. It seemed so unfair to her that she would always be a woman that would have to use lots of makeup and wear wigs for the rest of her life.
She was becoming more and more uncomfortable being a man. She realized that she always had been, but it was something she had been able to live with for a long time. Now things were changing for her and she realized that she was desperately unhappy looking at the rest of her life living as a man. The alternative, however, was equally scary.
May scanned the ads. It was going to be difficult to find a suitable place to live after she had gotten comfortable with life in a nice house and a happy home for many years. Emma had been increasingly insistent on her finding a different place to live. She didn't want to move and start over with a new spouse, but it looked like there wouldn't be any life for her with Emma anymore.
At the G.I.R.L. monthly meeting, Sunny was all over June. Of course June, dressed in male attire, was eating up all the fawning attention with a very smug smile. After June's repeated advances Sunny had fallen head over heals for the roguish redhead.
When June stepped outside for a cigarette, Sunny followed like a lovesick puppy. They were alone for a time, and Sunny used this as an opportunity to propose something she had been thinking about recently.
She started with a kiss. June's eyes darted about nervously, hopeful that nobody on the street would see him kissing another guy dressed as a woman. "I love you," she murmured. He didn't know how to respond to that, so he didn't. "You know, I've been thinking," Sunny went on. "It will be costly, but I think I can swing it. I want to transition. I want to be your woman full-time."
"Ohhhh!" moaned June. Sunny misinterpreted this as a positive response.
"And, honey, if we were to move in together, it would save us both a lot of money that we could use for my transition." Sunny went on. "Consolidating the bills would only be the start. I could also start taking care of you the way a good wife should."
"You want to get married!" cried June unbelievingly.
"Of course not!" Sunny replied. "Don't be silly. We can't get married until I get an operation, and that will be at least two years away. We'll have plenty of time to adjust to living with each other by then."
June disengaged Sunny's hands from his. "Sunny, you're really nice and a great fuck, but I don't really feel that strongly about you. Why can't we just keep things the way they are?"
Sunny drew back. She was stunned. An old phrase of her aunt's came back to haunt her. "Why buy the cow when you can get the milk for free?" Sunny realized that she had been used. She flushed with embarrassment and shame. Trembling, she turned and went back inside.
A minute later, May came walking up. A big smile lit up her countenance when she saw June. He returned her smile with his devilish grin and May felt something flutter inside her. "Hi beautiful!" he called. She blushed like a school girl. The feelings were strange to her as a woman, but she liked them.
They talked for quite a while. Then they went inside and joined the party. When Sunny saw the two of them together, she was furious with jealousy and hurt. By the time the meeting was over and May and June went off somewhere for drinks and dancing, Sunny began thinking thoughts of revenge.
The following week promised clear skies for a very special night. The prom was very beautiful. Dancing teens filled the gym floor. Chrissy and Derek were decked out in their most elegant formal clothes.
As they danced it seemed like they were made for each other. The bright young man in the tuxedo held his beautiful young lady in his arms most tenderly during all of the slow dances. There was a connection between them, Chrissy thought. Yet it seemed so strange to her, like it wasn't really supposed to be this way.
Chrissy liked Derek. He was a good friend, a special person deep down inside, but she felt no attraction for him physically. It presented quite a dilemma for the young girl. "What is love all about, anyhow?" she wondered as she danced in his arms. "There are no sparks, no fireworks, but can there be some sort of spiritual bond with the inner person? It's all so confusing!"
Later, when they had stopped dancing for refreshments, they chatted like long lost friends. Derek told her how things weren't going so well at home. He hated May's new boyfriend. "That bum is only after one thing. I could tell. He brought May home from a meeting last week and they had stopped somewhere for drinks. She was a bit tipsy. I think he was trying to get her drunk and get into her bed. If I hadn't been up late watching MTV I think he may have gotten his way. My being there put the kibosh on things."
"You're pretty protective of May, aren't you?" Chrissy said admiringly.
"Well, sure, of course," replied Derek. "After all, May is my... uh... father."
They both grinned at the way it sounded and then they giggled upon seeing each other's grin.
Emma cried Memorial Day Weekend. May and her new boyfriend had gone off for the weekend together. May was making a new life for herself, and Emma was losing a part of hers. And yet it was what Emma thought she wanted. She had been forcing May out of her life and now that May was leaving, she wasn't sure that was what would make any of them happy.
May thought of Emma and Derek a lot on the drive to the chateau. She had never been unfaithful to her family before, but now she was going off with June for a weekend trip, and she knew that most certainly sex would be a part of that. She felt regret that Emma didn't try and stop her from going. It was to May the final proof that Emma no longer cared about the family that they had together. It was true that things had changed so much it was now time to move on.
April went to Summer's house. She just knew it was something she had to do and her intuition told her that this was the right time to do it. Following her impulse she arrived at the house as the sun was slowly setting, turning the warm day into the beginnings of a cool evening. She rang the bell several times, but there was no answer. Apparently Ruth, Summer's unfriendly watchdog of a sister, was not home. Yet she had the feeling that Summer was there, even if Ruth wasn't.
She was persistent. She rang for a full five minutes. Finally she turned to go. She carefully stepped down from the porch; she didn't want to have an accident and hurt her baby. The snow from the cottonwoods danced about her feet in the cool breeze.
As she made her way to the car, a figure watched from the window. It was getting dark, but it wasn't too dark to see that April was pregnant. Summer made a quick decision and raced for the door!
April was just starting her car when a woman appeared tapping at her window.
"Yes, can I help you?" April asked as she rolled her window down.
"April! It's me, Summer! I changed, too!"
On Sunday morning May opened her eyes cautiously. She was just a bit hung over from the night before, but she had enjoyed it. It was her first sex as a woman and it was a bit scary at first because it was so different, but at the end she felt so emotionally fulfilled that she never wanted the warm feeling to stop.
She turned her head slowly to look at her bed partner, June. May gasped as she recognized the delicate features of the luscious naked woman sleeping next to her. Her voluminous long red hair spilled over her shoulders and curled all of the way down to her massive breasts. She was all woman, but May could tell that she was June!
"What do you mean?" Chrissy responded, a little startled by the question.
Derek sighed. "Well," he replied, "you just haven't been yourself lately. It's almost as if you were a million miles away. Here it is almost time for summer vacation and you should feel great! You've got a summer job, your grades are good, and we've got each other, but yet you seem distant."
Chrissy gave a weak smile. "It shows, huh? I thought maybe I could cover the fact that something is bother me."
"I guess I got to know you too well for you to hide it from me." Derek grinned.
"What's wrong?"
"It's just a problem I need to face." Chrissy hesitated. "It's one of the biggest things I've had to deal with in my whole life, and I've been preoccupied with that."
"Wanna talk 'bout it?" Derek offered.
"Thanks, Derek," Chrissy replied, "but this is something I can't talk to anyone about just yet. I wasn't even sure until lately. I'm still not sure... just mostly sure... well, I don't know. All I know is that you're a good friend and I hope you will be there for me when I am ready to talk about it."
"Sure! You know I will. Whatever it is, you can tell me when the time is right for you." Derek assured her. "Chrissy, I care a lot about you, in fact, I think I love you. I'll always be here for you when you need to talk."
"Derek," Chrissy hesitated, "you're a great friend, and I like you a lot, but I just don't feel as strongly toward you as you do toward me. I'm sorry, but I just don't love you, at least not that way."
"I know," Derek replied resolutely. "It has been becoming more and more obvious to me that we are good friends, but that anything beyond that is entirely a one-sided thing on my part. I tried to get you to feel differently about me, but no matter what I do, I'm just not attractive enough or romantic enough to make it any more serious."
"Oh Derek, I know you liked me, but I didn't realize... I mean, I like you just the way you are, as a friend. Don't ever change who you are. As for developing anything more serious, well, it's not you, it's me."
Somehow that wasn't any consolation for poor Derek.
"Emma! How good to see you here." Renee greeted as Emma entered the room. The family support meeting was just about to start.
"I'm glad you came," Lori chimed in. "Have a seat. We were just getting started."
After opening the meeting, Renee, acting as group facilitator turned to Emma and asked, "Is there anything you would particularly like to discuss, Emma?"
"Yes," Emma responded slowly. "I love my family and I need to find a way through this to keep us all together. I... I've been pushing May away more and more because I can't handle her sex change, but it isn't what any of us want, in fact, it's... oh, I don't know." Emma began to ramble. "It's all so confusing, but I've come to realize that even if she's a woman now, I want May, and I know she wants me, and all of this is upsetting Derek, too, even though he tries not to show it. But because I couldn't deal with it all, it may be too late!"
"How so?" asked Lori.
"Well, May spent the Memorial Day weekend with someone else. She's been seeing June the past few weeks, you know, the new member. June and May went up to a resort in the mountains. June has never crossdressed yet at any of the G.I.R.L. meetings, but after they spent the night together June had a sex change just like May's. I mean, she is totally female!"
"I know," said Renee. "The news is out all over in the group. There's speculation that it has to do with the curse that was placed on May and April last Halloween. Now it appears to have affected June."
Lori inquired, "Emma, how do you feel about all of this?"
"I'm sorry I let things grow so cold between May and me. I don't blame her for turning to June, in fact, I kind of thought I wanted her to find someone else. I felt that if she did, then I would be off the hook and I wouldn't have to deal with how I really felt about her. The truth is that even though May is now a woman, I still love her very much. She's the person I want to continue spending my life with just as we have done for twenty years. Some things will be different, but in many respects it will be just the same. I just don't know how to tell her that and that I want her back."
"Maybe you should just tell her what you just told us," Renee suggested. "It's honest and heartfelt. If May feels that there is something there in your relationship that's salvageable I'm sure she would be willing to work at it to make things work."
"True," Emma readily agreed. "May has been wanting me to come here and deal with all of this for a long time. I'm just sorry I didn't see it sooner!"
"Don't beat yourself up, Emma," Lori told her. "You had a lot to deal with and this kind of a change can't be easy. The important thing is that you're here now."
They all nodded in agreement.
June sat in the chair nervously. She was certain that the manager was paying more attention to her large breasts than he was her resume. She needed this job so badly. She had been immediately terminated when she showed up at her old job as a well-endowed woman. She was so embarrassed by all of this that she didn't think she had the guts to sue them, and even if she did, the case would take months. How would she eat and pay the rent in the meantime?
"Very very nice, Miss O'Shaughnessy," Mr. Oglevie commented.
'Is he referring to my resume or my tits?' June asked herself.
He got up and came around the table to be closer to the gorgeous redhead. By sitting on the edge of the table he had a very scenic view of June's ample breasts. He reached over and patted her knee. "I am sure I can find a position for you. We would be working very closely together. In fact, you'll be right under me."
'What's that supposed to mean?' June wondered to herself again.
She found out quickly. Within five minutes she was being chased around the table by the old lecher.
"Hi, April!" several G.I.R.L. members greeted the pregnant young woman as she entered the meeting room. With her was an attractive, but nervous, brunette.
"Hi everybody!" April replied cheerfully. "I want you to meet someone special in my life. Well, actually, you've met her before. Everybody, this is Summer."
Mouths dropped open at the revelation. Summer hadn't really passed very well before, but now she was definitely a very attractive woman. As April explained that apparently the Halloween curse had extended to Summer, too, Sunny sat apart from the group listening intently. First it happened to April and May, then June, and now Summer as well. A glimmer of an idea began forming in her mind.
The park was filled with booths, banners, rainbow flags, and pink triangles. The Pride celebration was an event that many of the G.I.R.L. members looked forward to each year. This year's festival was unusually warm, and April had a chance to wear a summer maternity dresses that she had received at her baby shower.
She made her way through the crowds of lesbian and gay couples, some with children in tow, PFLAG parents, dykes on bikes, drag queens, transsexuals, leather lovers, crossdressers, politicians courting votes, bears on bikes, square dancers, and even a few mimes.
Eventually she found what she was looking for. A large tent marked "Womyn Space" appeared amid booths of every conceivable denomination. Cautiously she entered. A petite young woman with a nose ring approached her.
"Hi! I'm Frankie. Can I help you?" She had a candid an hospitable manner that put April at ease.
April wondered if Frankie was short for Francesca, which happened to be her grandmother's name. "Good name for the baby if it's a girl," she thought and filed it away for the time being. She smiled and told the other woman, "I think so. I'm here to get some information. I have a new girlfriend, and we love each other a lot, but we've never been lesbians before."
"Just out, huh?" said Frankie.
"Well, something like that."
"I have some materials with lot's of information about lesbians over here and there are some books on that table. When are you due?"
"In September." April replied. "My partner and I are both really excited about it. I also need some information on raising children in a lesbian household."
"Well we have some stuff here," answered Frankie, "but there's a group over at that booth over there with a lot more information. They are specially focused on the needs of gays and lesbians raising families."
April was soon loaded up with several brochures, booklets, a safe sex kit, and a book on lesbian sex. Then she went across the way to check out the family booth.
Frankie turned to help the next person to enter the tent. She was very young and dressed casually in jeans and a Tee- shirt. Her hair was very blonde and cropped close. She was nervous.
"Hi! I'm Frankie. Can I help you?"
"Hi," the shy young teen took a deep breath and then blurted out, "My name is Chrissy... uh, Chris... and I think I'm gay!"
Snookie watched from behind the bar as the act neared its conclusion and LaVonda slowly removed her top.
"Magnificent," said Snookie to himself, thinking about the reaction of the thirsty crowd as much as the dancer's tits. Snookie had known there was something special about this girl when he hired her; a sensuousness that he couldn't place, almost manly in some ways.
As the music came to the end, June O'Shaughnessy, under the stage name of LaVonda LaVerne, closed to her finale, scooped up her tips, and exited the stage.
One man watched all of this quietly from a table in the back. As soon as June left the stage, he got up and left.
"It was her," Elly reported to the group at the next G.I.R.L. support meeting.
"I went there and saw her myself. It looks like that was the only job she could get."
They passed around a few of the new flyers for Snookie's featuring LaVonda LaVerne, "the hottest new stripper to hit town!"
Octavia spoke next. "Well, what can we do for her--anything? I mean, she hasn't been the best member we've ever had, but she is a member, and she does need our help and support."
"I don't know that she would accept it right now," responded May. "She's pretty angry at me, and by association, this group, for what I did to her."
"But it wasn't your fault, May!" Elly quickly consoled. "You couldn't know that the curse would extend to June; and June was very persistent in pursuing you."
"Nevertheless, I think she has reason to be angry, speaking as someone who has gone through this change herself," May announced.
"It's just misdirected right now," Octavia reflected. "Perhaps, in time, we might be able to help her, but for now we have to give her some time and just be ready to help if she does contact us."
May folded one of the flyers and put it in her purse. Sunny, who hadn't said anything at all through this part of the meeting, surreptitiously slipped one of the other flyers into her purse, too.
Emma and May had a long talk about the flyer and June when May returned home. They were communicating more and it showed. They were courting each other again, like they had 20 years ago, and it had rekindled their romance. They realized that they loved each other for the person inside, not the outside. Just a few days before, May moved out of her little bedroom and back in with Emma in the master bedroom. Sex had been different for both of them, but they realized that they had love and commitment enough to work through the awkwardness they felt at this new stage.
Sunny looked in the mirror and cried as she removed her wig. The makeup came off next, assisted by her tears. She picked strands of cotton from where it had caught on her beard stubble as she wiped with cleanser. "Why, God," she prayed between sobs, "Why did you have to make me a man?"
Derek poured some orange juice to go with his Fruit Loops. He carried the bowl and the glass over to the dining room table and sat down to breakfast. Between mouthfuls he spotted a colorful flyer left on the dining room table. He picked it up and began to read.
April and Summer left the clinic and headed for the car. Summer had the afternoon off from the library. When the library administration had found out about her sudden sex change last winter, they had wisely chosen to transfer her to another branch to keep things quiet. The media reaction to May and April's change last fall had taught them all to keep things under wraps as much as possible.
The visit with April's obstetrician had gone well and she was doing fine, except for the discomfort of the extra weight, some back pain, and the summer heat.
Summer felt for April, but she was also excited. This was her baby too, so she did all she could to make April as comfortable as possible and take care of things as much as she could.
"Wow!" exclaimed Josh when Derek showed him the flyer. "'the hottest new stripper to hit town!' Wait till Mike and Brad see this! We can go next Saturday night."
"Wait a minute!" Derek hesitated. "I didn't say we should go! I just thought it was an interesting thing to find on our dining room table, that's all."
"Yeah, why do you suppose your Mom and Da... uh, your parents would keep something like this?"
"I dunno," Derek responded with a puzzled look.
"Well, we should go anyway," Josh announced determinedly. "We've got our fake ID's. so getting in should be no problem."
"I really don't think we should," whined Derek.
"Derek," Josh put his arm around his friend's shoulders. "Face it. You and Chrissy are over. She just wants to be friends. That's the kiss of death as far as anything more serious. You've got to start looking for action elsewhere."
"Well, I still don't know about this," Derek muttered.
"Come on, let's go show this to Brad and Mike!"
Sunny watched the back door of the bar from her car, parked in a dark secluded corner of Snookie's parking lot. She had been here for almost two hours, watching the door, and also the car in the lot that looked suspiciously like June's old heap.
Finally a man and a woman exited. In the street light she could see the woman's bright red hair and face. It was June! Her features were very delicate; a greatly feminized version of the man she had known intimately on several occasions. The bouncer escorted her to the old heap and June got in. He waved goodnight and walked back into the building as June drove away.
Sunny started her car and began to follow June.
Saturday night was always the busiest. Tonight was no exception. As June began her number she looked out into the crowd with a seductive look. She focused on a face she recognized. It was May's son, Darrin, or Derek, or something like that. He was sitting with three other young men. "Too young," she thought. "How did they ever get in here?" Her dance took on a fierce heat that the audience interpreted as hot and sexual, but really came from the burning rage she felt inside her.
"Buy me a drink?"
Startled, the boys looked up to see none other than LaVonda LaVerne herself at their table. June made it a rule never to fraternize with the customers, since sex with a man was the last thing she wanted, but tonight she was making an exception. Besides, these young fellows were kind of cute and naive.
The boys hastily agreed and she sat. She ordered a drink. As she waited for it to arrive, the boys began to gush over her, telling her what a great dancer she was. She let them go on, slowly kneading their horny teenage egos and molding them like putty. As she sipped her drink, which she felt would help her overcome her inhibitions for the task she had ahead of her, she began to flirt with them even more. Before too long, Derek, Brad, Mike, and Josh were pretty drunk, both with the liquor and the attention of this voluptuous woman.
"Say boys, I have one more number to do, but after that we can leave early, go down the street to this little motel I know, and have some real fun," June suggested enticingly.
They all readily agreed, hardly believing their good luck. "Great!" June responded as she got up to leave. "I'll see you in a few."
The boys hastily checked their wallets and began to pool their money for the motel room.
It was 11:10 when they checked into the room. The dumpy bed was beckoning to the boys and they were eager, but June turned on the radio and began to take off her clothes slowly to the music first.
By 11:58 it was all over, and June watched them leave the room. She got up and hurried to the window. Hopefully she timed it right, she was thinking to herself. She looked out into the parking lot and watched as the boys, giddy from their experience, and the booze, whooped it up a bit as they staggered toward Mike's car.
The chimes of an old church clock rang out as if it were Big Ben in London. Then the gongs started, twelve of them, signaling the midnight hour.
June watched with a wickedly vengeful smile as the curse took affect. It was payback time for what May had done to her.
They stopped, unable to comprehend what had happened to them. Derek's friends were no longer there, or so it seemed. Where they had been standing just a few moments before, there now stood three pretty teenage girls with astonished looks. They were dressed in the same clothes, which draped loose and baggy on their thin young bodies.
Derek's own shoes and clothes seemed loose and baggy too. As she looked down her long brown hair cascaded forward, and she realized the awful truth!
"Oh no!" she moaned at her reflection in the bathroom mirror. "I'm never gonna learn this."
"What's wrong, dear?" asked her mother sympathetically. Tyme, still looking into the mirror, saw her appear in the doorway.
"Oh, it's just no use," Tyme grumbled her discouragement. "I don't ever think I'll learn how to do my hair."
"It takes practice, dear. You can't expect it to happen overnight."
"Why not?" Tyme smirked at the irony. "That's how I became a girl in the first place."
She was referring to the incredible turn of events that had caused her to come under a strange curse. A month ago her name had been Derek, the teenage son of Emma and May. Now she was under a curse that had transformed her into their teenage daughter. She had chosen the name Tyme for herself, because she not only liked the sound of it, but because she figured that time was what would help the most in adjusting to this change. Even so, she still got impatient with herself with all of the new things she had to learn about being a girl.
Emma reached for one of the hot rollers and helped her daughter, patiently showing her once again the way to do up her hair.
Sunny watched the clunky car pull up to the apartment complex. It was late and it was dark. Still, Sunny made out the figure of June as she exited the old heap, went up the stairs, and let herself into her new apartment. Sunny wrote down the apartment number and the time. She examined the area for more details to add to her plan. Everything had to be perfect.
The G.I.R.L. support meeting had several new faces in attendance. Tyme's friends, now also transformed into young women, were there along with their family members. Mike was now a curvaceous raven-haired beauty known as Winter. Josh was a petite strawberry blonde going by the name of August. Brad was a buxom brunette named after her grandmother, Autumn. They were all very nicely dressed, but still not real comfortable appearing in public as girls. Fortunately this meeting was in a private home with several others who had dealt with the same issues. Summer, who had done the most research so far, summarized the events that had occurred.
"As near as we can make out, the curse was first cast upon April and May last Halloween night by the ghost of a woman brutally murdered by three men 100 years ago. It changed both of them into women. The curse is passed on to others through sexual relations. Any man having sex with someone with the curse, will be changed into a woman also at midnight. We believe that June figured this out and purposefully lured the teens into a situation where she could exact revenge against May by passing the curse onto May's child, Tyme. How we can get rid of the curse is unknown; nothing so far has led us to believe there is a way to reverse it."
"Then there is no cure?" August's mother asked.
"None that we know of. We've talked with several doctors, but this is way outside their area."
"Maybe we should talk to a witch doctor," Autumn's father joked. His attempt at levity was a poor effort to cope with the serious situation.
Autumn reached over and squeezed her father's hand reassuringly. She flashed on how easy it was to show affection to her father now that she was a girl.
The rest of the meeting was spent answering questions, and listening to the concerns of the new young women and their families.
Sunny had been staring into the mirror for hours. She was deeply sad about her situation. She realized now, more than ever, that she was female inside, destined to remain in a man's body until she did something about it.
She was growing bald, and there wasn't anything she could do about it. The latest medications had not helped her at all, as her type of baldness was not curable by the new wonder drugs.
The more she thought about June, and how June had treated her and those poor teenagers, the angrier she got. Her idea for revenge had been all planned out for weeks. All she needed now was the moxie to pull it off.
Several days later April and Summer visited their obstetrician. They got a glowing report that both April and the baby were doing fine. April was not as sure however; the summer heat was making her pregnancy very uncomfortable right now. Her extra weight was difficult to manage, and the baby was often pressing into her back.
At times the baby would start squirming and kicking in the middle of the warm nights, waking her. Summer was of great comfort, however, and together they would feel April's swollen body when the baby was most active.
June drove into the parking lot of her apartment complex late one summer night. It was actually morning of the next day as she had gotten off of work after midnight that evening, but it was still warm from the sweltering day before. Her shift had gone well and she had lots of tips to show for her night of stripping at Snookie's bar.
She exited and locked her car, and began to walk to the stairway. Her footsteps clattered on the stairs as she ascended in the otherwise quiet surroundings. June approached her doorway, fumbled with her key, and unlocked the door.
"June," she heard someone call to her from the shadows of a recess in the landing nearby. Startled she turned to see the figure of a man looming toward her out of the shadows. It was Sunny. "June, it's me! I have to talk to you. It's very important."
"Oh, it's you! What do you want?" June was annoyed.
"I need to talk to you about what's happened."
"I've got nothing to say to you. Get lost!" June turned her back and opened the door. Suddenly she felt a push from behind and she stumbled into the room, falling to the floor with Sunny on top of her.
Sunny kicked the door shut with one leg and tried to pin June down at the same time. June struggled furiously, but she quickly realized that she was no longer any match for Sunny's masculine strength and size.
"Sunny! What the hell is this?" she started to add some other choice cuss words, but found them quickly smothered as Sunny clamped a firm hand over her mouth. The hand lifted away, but her lips had been sealed with duct tape that Sunny had kept palmed and ready. She began to struggle harder, but found her wrists were now being bound together with more duct tape. June began to realize that Sunny was very serious about this attack and that she was in very deep trouble.
It was inevitable that the news that four teenage boys had been changed into girls would eventually get out. The next day it happened and the media pounced on the story as they had with April and May's transformation.
Chris saw the news that day and was stunned! Derek was now a woman, just like her parent May! When the commercial came on she turned off the set and went out into the backyard to think.
Sunny waited for midnight with mixed feelings. She was about to become the woman she had dreamed of becoming, but the method she had chosen worried her conscience. Instead of feeling good, her revenge on June left a bitter feeling within her. The brutality of what she had done to June kept replaying in her mind. The cruelty of her violent attack gnawed inside her.
Then it was midnight and she changed. She almost didn't notice it; her guilt about last night's rape weighing heavily on her mind. She slowly stood up, dropped her robe to the floor, and looked into the full length mirror. She gasped. The transformation was more than she could imagine. Her hair was a full and luxurious mane of golden locks. Her body was petite and her figure was perfect. In all ways she looked like a woman. Her features were still the same, but softly feminine now. There was nothing left about her that would ever identify her as being a man.
Naked, she dropped to her knees and began crying. Her tears were both of joy and sorrow. The joy stemmed from finally becoming complete as a woman. The sorrow was over what she had done to June to attain her ultimate desire.
June drank heavily that night. It was her night off and it helped that she didn't have to go to the bar and show off her body. She felt cheap enough as it was without having to go through that indignity again tonight. She had spent most of the day in bed or in the shower trying to wash away the dirtiness she felt. She had never realized before what women feel when they are treated like a sex object, a piece of meat, without any thought of their humanity. Her conscience bothered her too for all the times she had treated women that way when she was a man.
"Tyme," Emma called to her daughter. "You have a phone call."
"Who is it?" asked Tyme.
"Just answer it and see," her mother replied mysteriously.
Tyme picked up the receiver and said, "Hello?"
"Hi, it's Chris, uh Chrissy."
"Oh, how embarrassing!" moaned Tyme.
"Don't be ashamed," Chris said. "We're friends, remember?"
When Chris came out as a lesbian to Tyme, Tyme had another adjustment to make, but this one was a lot easier for her than some of the others in her life recently. It had explained a lot. Now she knew what had been bothering Chris about their relationship before. As two young women, they got along much better.
A woman dressed in wild colors stood beside her booth and watched them coming her way. As they approached she beckoned them into her booth with an earnest gesture of her hand. Intrigued, the pair stopped and read the sign on the booth.
"Madam Torvah -- Mystic" was all it said.
"Please come in," the woman spoke in some thick accent that neither of them could place. When she saw their hesitation, she added, "For you, no charge!"
Tyme looked at Chris and gave a little shrug. They entered.
Sunny stared at the wall. She felt like she should be happy, but she was not. She kept thinking about that night just weeks ago when she had attacked June, and she felt very ashamed about what she had done. How could her desire for revenge and to be a woman lead her to such a terrible crime? She had asked herself that question over and over, but still she was not sure. She had been upset and obsessive about her vengeance and the need to be rid of her male body. She had known what she was doing was wrong, but she didn't care at the time. Now her conscience was eating her up inside with guilt.
The first day of school was a brand new experience for Tyme, Winter, August, and Autumn. With work they had adjusted to their new role as young women, but they were all very nervous nevertheless. They had friends and supporters like Chris that welcomed the new seniors back, but there were some students there who definitely gave the new girls the cold shoulder. The teachers at Jorgensen High were also very supportive as well as vigilant for any signs of trouble or harassment.
By the end of the second week, most of the students had accepted it as routine. After class Chris, Tyme, August, Winter, and Autumn met together out on the lawn.
"Madam Torvah was very interested in the ghost," Tyme told the other girls. "She could tell I was under some sort of curse as Chris and I walked by."
"How do you know she was on the up and up?" asked Autumn, twisting her hair brown hair around her finger.
"Yeah!" chimed in August. "She's probably conned people like you at fairs and carnivals all over the country!"
"She knew things she couldn't have known," Chris explained. "She knew that the curse was...well, contagious, for lack of a better word. She also knew that it was cast by a ghost. She called it a lost soul in anguish. She also knew that midnight was the time the curse took power."
"Can she lift the curse?" asked Autumn warily.
"No," replied Tyme, "but she thought that she might be able to summon the ghost and get it to lift the curse. Of course, I'm not sure I would want it lifted off me. Chris and I like things as they are." She reached over and gave Chris's hand a squeeze. "I thought you should know though."
"Do you think this seance idea of hers would work?" asked August. "I would hate to have her call up that ghost, get it angry, and have something else happen."
Winter took a defensive step back. "Well, I'm not sure I want the curse lifted, either."
August and Autumn looked at her in surprise. "You mean you want to be a girl?" asked August.
Winter nodded meekly.
"With a figure like that, why wouldn't you?" Autumn retorted. "I've got boobs sticking out to the next county. If this is our only chance, I want to go back. You just don't want to go back because of Eric Penhall. I saw you two making out in the stairwell the other day."
August choked on a sip of her soda. Winter blushed. "It was just a couple of friendship kisses!" she said unconvincingly.
Tyme looked at Winter and said, "Oh Winter! Be careful."
"We are careful!" Winter said defensively. "We haven't done it yet, but if we do, I have condoms for him to use."
"Damn it, Winter!" Tyme cried. "You can't have sex with him at all, even with condoms! They protect against STDs and pregnancy, not a curse. I've talked with May. She made June use a condom, but it still changed June to a her. You keep messing around and you'll soon have a new girlfriend named Erica!"
Winter felt a rush of tears coming as she got up and ran off.
August didn't say anything more. The petite blonde was plucking at the blades of grass thinking about Will Walters, who had expressed some interest in her yesterday. Strangely, she felt some attraction toward him in return.
"Winter needs to be careful," May told Tyme, after a long talk. "I'm afraid that as long as the curse holds, she will never be able to have the kind of relationship with her boyfriend that they both want."
"Well, they can, but only once," Tyme quipped wryly.
"This Madam Torvah said she could get the ghost to lift the curse?" May pressed.
"Yeah, but I don't think many of us want the curse lifted now. I love Chris and I kind of like being a girl."
"Like father; like son." This time it was May's turn to joke. "I like it too. I would never go back. Still, I wonder if there might be a way to fix things to everyone's satisfaction."
"Summer!" April whispered in the darkness. "Wake up. I think it's time."
Summer rolled over and looked at her partner. Sleep drained away and the import of what April was saying finally sunk in.
"What? You're in labor?"
"Yes. The contractions started earlier, but I wanted to make sure. I've been timing them. I think we should call the hospital."
"Sure, babe."
"Summer?"
"Yes?"
"Better get some towels too. The bed is all wet."
"Your water broke?"
April smiled smugly. "Yep! Our baby is on the way!"
"Hi," came a deep voice from behind her as August stowed her books in her locker. She turned to find Will Walters towering over her.
"Uh, hi Will." A nervous flutter deep inside made August go weak-kneed. "How are you do...doing?" She hoped he hadn't noticed her stammering.
"Great! Say August, would you like to go with me to the game on Friday?"
Sunny opened the narrow door and entered the confessional. She sat and waited for the priest, staring at the door.
At the sliding sound of the window being opened she announced in a timid voice, "Bless me Father, for I have sinned."
"Push April! Push!"
April pushed... and was rewarded with more pain. April gulped air and let it out in measured breaths. She felt exhausted. She could see the clock. It was going on seventeen hours now. Sweat covered her face in a thin sheen. Summer's hand held hers and occasionally gave her a squeeze of encouragement. She was so grateful that she didn't have to go through this alone.
"Okay, April, I see the baby's head now. One more push," the doctor said. "Big push!"
Summoning all the strength she had left in her, and then some more she didn't know she had, and also that lent to her by Summer's firm and loving grip, she pushed. With all of her might she pushed. Summer was at her ear, her other hand gently wiping at the perspiration on April's furrowed brow.
"Come on babe; you're almost there! I love you and I love our child. You can do it. You can make us a family."
April suddenly felt herself relaxing. She was trying to push, but there was nothing to push against any longer.
"It's a beautiful little girl!" Doctor Adams announced.
April fell back deep into her pillow with exhaustion and took a long relaxing breath. "Let me see her," she requested eagerly.
"Just a second; I'm cutting the cord and we're cleaning her up a bit," the doctor replied, smiling.
It took more than just a second, but soon her baby was brought into view. She felt Summer's squeeze once more.
She was beautiful, tiny, and confused. The doctor placed her naked little body into the blanket the nurse held out. Then she was in April's arms, and April was able to look down into the face of her baby, their baby. Summer leaned in and watched her too.
"Well, babe, you did it." She looked at April and smiled fondly. She gave April a tender kiss on the cheek. "I love you!"
"I love you too," April murmured back.
"It's a girl!" Summer announced as she approached Emma and May in the waiting room. "Mother and daughter are doing fine; healthy and happy!"
"And so are you," Emma observed with a big smile.
"Yes! I'm very happy!" Summer confessed. "Here! Have a chocolate cigar. After all, technically, I'm the father!"
"What was that!" cried August nervously.
"I stepped on a stick," Tyme responded, a little perturbed. "August, you need to calm down. You're making everyone more nervous than we already are."
"Well, I've never met a real live ghost before," August retorted huffily. "I can't help it if I'm a bit scared."
"'A real live ghost;' isn't that an oxymoron?" Autumn gibed.
Winter giggled.
"I just wish all of you would keep quiet," June muttered angrily.
That silenced the teens. They resented June being included in their expedition, but felt that it was probably best not to retaliate against her now. If Madam Torvah hadn't insisted on everyone under the curse coming along, June would not have been invited by any of the teenagers.
They were an intrepid group. April and Summer along with their baby, Snow; May and Emma; Sonny; June; Chris and Tyme; August; Autumn; Winter; and of course, the mysterious Madam Torvah, trudged up the wooded hill on Halloween night.
"It was near here somewhere," announced May, scanning the woods for any sign of the haunted house that had appeared one year ago this night.
April nodded and concurred. "I think it was up a little higher and over to the right a bit."
"This is ridiculous!" grumbled June irately. "There's obviously nothing in these woods except a bunch of idiots!"
Sunny moved to distance herself even further from June. They hadn't talked since a few weeks ago when Sunny's attempted apology only turned into a bitter argument.
Madam Torvah bowed her head, closed her eyes, and stretched out her arms in front of her. She began to murmur, low at first, slowly increasing in volume until it was recognizable as some sort of mantra in a language foreign to everyone else. Several of the teens shuddered involuntarily as the old mystic's creepy incantation grew louder.
All eyes were transfixed on the lady mystic as she chanted on. Then abruptly she stopped. She dropped her arms to her sides and looked up at them.
April gasped. She had been the first to look back up the hill. Where before there had been nothing, now the house again stood with a dark and looming presence amongst the trees. The sinister place was just as she remembered from the year before. May too, gave a startled cry of recognition.
"That's it. That's the place." May told them ominously.
"Exactly as it was, too," added April, holding Snow against herself a bit more snugly. Summer put her arm around April's shoulders protectively.
Madam Torvah said nothing more and began to walk up the hillside to the haunted mansion. Slowly the other women followed her.
It was not stormy this night as it had been one year ago. There was a slight breeze and a chill in the night air as the hot evenings of summer were gradually giving way to the dark cold winter. Leaves crunched crisp under their feet. They gathered on the rickety front porch and Madam Torvah waited until she had everyone's attention. "You veel not speak once vee are inside. I veel do all the talking," she commanded in her thick foreign accent. "It's important that vee do nothink to upset the spirit inside."
Then she turned back to the door and opened it. Boldly she entered. If she was at all nervous, she didn't show it. Sonny thought that she probably was not. That gave her enough courage to follow the mystic, May and Emma close behind. Soon they were all crowded together in the parlor.
The teenagers seemed to be the most nervous. August kept shivering; she could feel Goosebumps on her arms even though she wore a warm woolen sweater. Autumn twisted her hair nervously. Chris chewed at her nails.
Madam Torvah lit a candle. The wooden floors were covered with dust. Cobwebs hung everywhere. The old grandfather clock loudly ticked off the seconds as the time neared the midnight witching hour.
Madam Torvah began another chant, this one differing in cadence and rhythm from the first. It too was in a tongue unfamiliar to the group, but they could tell it held a different message than the first. The tone was gracious. Then the chanting died down and Madam Torvah spoke loudly, her voice resonating throughout the house.
"Mary Vitherspoon!" she called in a sympathetic voice. "Mary Vitherspoon! Come to us and be set free!"
They heard footsteps upstairs followed by a clunking sound. They waited quietly. Some more clunking, a rattle, and then some banging was heard.
The mystic resumed her neighborly tone. "Mary Vitherspoon! The time has passed for haunting. The time has come to be set free! Come to us now!" She followed this with a commanding and powerful word which none of the others could understand.
Slowly the dust began to swirl in one corner of the parlor. A slight breeze picked up. It blew out the flickering candle. There wasn't darkness, though. A bluish white light came from that far corner casting a glow throughout the room. Inside the glow appeared the image of a woman.
Her clothing was of an age long gone with stays, corsets, and buttonhooks. Her face was aged. It had been kindly once, but the horror of her death had left it contorted in fear and pain. The old spinster floated above the floor, watching them cautiously. The violence of her final minutes had scarred her more than physically; she was scarred emotionally and spiritually, too.
The group stared in shock. A few gasped. Soon the initial horror had passed and a feeling of deep sympathy predominated in the small band of intrepid ghost hunters.
Madam Torvah seemed unmoved by all of this. "Mary!" she said sternly. "Look vhat you have done!" She gestured to the group. "These good people, who meant you no harm, and are appalled at vhat happened to you and the suffering you have experienced, these good people are the ones whose lives have been changed through your curse.
"These ones have been changed, or their loved ones have been changed. They have adapted, adjusted, and survived. But now it is time for the curse to be lifted so it harms no other. It is time for you to undo as much of the damage as you can, and in doing so, know that vee vish you to be free."
The ghost's mouth opened slightly and her eyes wandered over the group. She floated gently across the floor towards them. The group stood transfixed by their fear. She hovered above each one, studying them intently. She started with May and then April. Next was Summer, holding Snow protectively. She moved on to June, who was visibly shaking. Seeing this, Tyme, Winter, August, and Autumn were determined not to show their nervousness as Mary Whitherspoon's essence approached each of them in turn. Sunny was nervous, however, and feeling guilty still for using the curse with selfish disregard for June's feelings. Chris and Emma were examined last.
Madam Torvah escaped the apparition's intense scrutiny, but the phantom did turn to face her and gave a long nod. Mary Whitherspoon then floated backwards to her corner and finally spoke.
"I regret what I have done. There is one among you that committed a crime to get what she wanted and for that she must be punished. She can earn further redemption by atoning for her crime. I will visit her when she has earned atonement. May the curse be lifted and not spread any further."
The group was startled by a loud chime immediately after the ghost spoke. The grandfather clock struck midnight!
Madam Torvah spoke loudly over the bongs. "Mary Whitherspoon, vee forgive you and set you free. Vee feel your pain and let you go. Vee release thee from this place. Go in peace, be at rest, and be free at last!"
And they watched in awe as the ghost lifted up higher. It moved over to the outer wall and then glided through it and out into the night as Halloween ended and All Saint's Day began.
Madam Torvah slowly led the group out of the house and back down the hill. Chris looked behind them and found that the mansion had vanished. Only the woods typical of the Marquam Hills was visible.
"So that's it?" June asked in a huff. "I'm still a woman! I thought we went through all of this to lift the curse."
"And to free a tortured spirit," Madam Torvah added. "The curse has been lifted. It cannot be passed on to anyone else. But vhat has happened already due to the curse cannot be undone with the exception of the one case as Mary said."
"Shit!" exclaimed June.
The teens burst out giggling. They all had what they wanted except for June and Sunny. August, Winter, and Autumn had all found boyfriends they liked. Tyme and Chris were together and happy as two lesbians. Emma and May were also finding renewed happiness together. April, Summer, and baby Snow were another happy family.
Sunny, feeling ever more guilty for her actions, found herself back to being a man again. According to Mary, she earned the atonement as punishment for her crime of raping June. However long it might be, she would atone.
June, however, thought it couldn't get much worse. Then she felt a trickle between her legs. Her period had started.
Calendar Girls © 2003 by Tammy Fairbanks