Jane took a deep breath as she peered toward the three hundred gallon tank that was slowly being filled with water. She was starting to have second thoughts about volunteering for the dunking booth now. As she released her breath she did her best to push those thoughts away from her. It was after all too late to back out now. And so with a growing sense of uneasiness she watched as the last few gallons of water were pumped into the tank. Once the tank had been filled to the brim, a few of the men filling the tank walked over to their pickup truck, they returned a few minutes later, each one of them toting a big two big twenty pound bags of ice in there big meaty hands. Then in a nonchalant manner the men ripped the at the clear, plastic bags of ice and dumped several pound of small cubes into the pool. Much to Jane's horror!

“Hey.” A voice behind Jane called out. “We gotta give the people what they paid for. The waters too warm and the ice would melt soon enough. I mean, the water in the dunking booth is suppose to be cold after all. It's really suppose to be freezing. But, we do what we must.” The voice belonged to a woman who stood a little taller than Jane, she had flaming red hair and emerald green eyes. She was dressed in a blue and white windbreaker. Her name was Margaret Rose Fisher or Coach Fisher. She was the coach for the girls Jr. High School's Swim team the 'Mermaids' and she also happened to be the girls. P.E teacher.

“Hey you're the one who volunteered for this thing. And just so you know, I'm cool with the whole you know thing. And if you want to try out for the team this year, your more than welcome.” She said smiling softy, “I mean, I know your older sister Susan's going to try out. And I know I gave her a hard time with her badge, and I know I kind of seemed mean by making her redo a lot of the work. But the girl has talent, you know, she just needs to get her bottom in gear, you have talent too.” She said, smirking, “And your a cutie too.” She added quickly as a afterthought.

Jane felt her cheeks turning a deep red as Coach Fisher praised her. At this point the last twenty pound bag of ice was just being emptied into the tank. Transforming the dunking booth into what must have been the largest glass of water Jane had ever seen before. Still blush she watched as the hose was collected and the six helpers collected there gear.

“So Jane-Chan.” Coach Fisher said smirking as she folded her arms across her chest as she peered toward the gathering crowds. Dozen of overly eager boys were starting to gather around the wooden counter, many of them already hand a handful of one pound bills already clutched in their hand. For the the last few days, a rumor had been going around the schoolyard that a cute, new transfer student had volunteered to be a willing target in the dunking booth. This rumor of course had been flamed and fueld by the girls of the manor house.

“Yes Fisher-Sensie.” Jane said smiling softy as she folded her arms in her center and shifted her gaze toward the still damp ground.

“I think you need to go ahead and climb up there. We're going to open the booth in a few minutes and we need the star of of the show to be up there. Remember, a bit of playful flirting goes a along away with getting the boys to throw at you. But don't overdo it now.”

Jane blinked and quickly blinked again as she peered toward Coach Fisher. Giving a quick shake of her head and a roll of her eyes she walked behind the tank and took a deep breath as she placed her foot upon the first rung of the the old iron ladder. As soon as she released her breath she started to climb the ladder.

After a few second of climbing she reached the top, then gathering up her courage she started to climb onto the drop seat. Once she was seated she started to move toward the edge of the seat. Her feet danged a good three feet from the surface of the water.

“Okay Jane-Chan, remember you gotta sit like a prime and proper lady. That means you gotta bring your feet together, and you gotta place those hands on your lap and straighten you back and stick out your chest a little.”

Jane blushed and quickly she brought her feet together, and placed her hands down on her lap. Her toes curled a little as if protesting being so close to the freezing cold water. She then gave a small, demure smile. She could feel the blush forming on her cheeks, the blush was spreading from one cheek to the other.

“Okay that perfect!” Coach Fisher cried out. “Hold that pose. Because that a perfect pose. I'll even for as far as to say that pose is picture perfect. Totally going to make the front page of Saturday's paper looking like that.” She said as she turned away.

And so Jane sat there, hands folded at her lap, feet brought together, toes curled up. She could see the whole fairground from her perch high above the dunking booth. A steady stream of people were passing through the front gate and into this gaudy money making machine. That is what Jane would have called it this fair, a gaudy money making machine. Beside the dunking booth there was a “Pitch til you win” A side game were one paid a quid and then was rewarded with three balls, one then had a chance to knock down a pyramid of old milk bottles. If one successfully knocked down the pyramid of milk bottles one was reward with a small stuff toy.

Then there was the “Kissing Booth” The booth where you paid five pound sterling and the local beauty princess would give you a kiss on the cheeks. Beside that booth was another one the “Pie Tossing Booth” Here one paid three pounds of sterling for the privilege of throwing a paper plate full of whipped cream at footballer player who was hiding behind a cardboard cut out of a cheerleader. Jane thought the footballers should be staffing the kissing booth and the cheerleaders doing the pie toss.

Beyond those two nothing really caught her eye, a dozen or so foot trucks were lined up against a chain length fence. The food trucks were offering the classic fair foods, such as fried codfish, fried chicken, corn dogs that had been smeared with honey, grilled pieces of chicken and beef on a stick and the classic fairground foods like hamburgers, hot dogs, you know the cheap red hot franks that smeared from one end to the other with Franks Yellow mustard and Hunts Ketchup and placed on a piece of toasted, rolled up bread and of course ice cold coke cola.

And then it was her booth, the dunking booth, often called the queen of the fairgrounds. Here a willing volunteer sat on an collapsible seat that was perched over three hundred gallons of freezing cold water. Five quid could get you three balls, and three chances to hit the metal trigger. Hit the trigger and the seat the person was sitting on would collapse and send the person crashing down into the freezing water below.

“Oh! So you really did volunteer!” A voice cried out from the crowd. The voice belonged to a brunette girl with sparkling pink eyes. The girl wore a nice, simple floral pattern dress that reached down to her knees. “Man, you are so brave, but you know, I gotta dunk you sister.” The girls said walking up to the counter and dropped down the two five pound bills.

Jane could not help but blush as she noticed her big sister Susan emerging from the crowds of people. Her blush only deepened as she walked up to the counter and dropped down two, five pound bills upon the counter top. She of course was rewarded with six, yellow and white tennis balls. From were she was sitting, Jane noticed that Susan had made something of an honest effort to dress herself up today. Instead of her normal shorts and anime graphic t-shirt she was wearing a nice, and one would almost say flattering sundress. And instead of a ponytail or a messy bun she had her hair down and she had even curled it with a curling iron.

“Oh!” Jane said, smirking a little as she peered toward her big sister. “Susie!” She cried as she peered down at the girl from her perch. “You've really cleaned up good. Like, you must be on a date or something? That or you got tired of dressing like a tomboy.” She said throwing a little shade in Susan's Direction.

Susan started to smirk as she reached down and picked up one of the tennis balls. She got a tight grip on the ball and raised it up. “You know, you're talking a lot of smack for a girl who's sitting over three hundred or so gallons of freezing cold water.” She paused as she tossed the ball up high into the air and caught it before it hit the ground.

“Oh! Be careful there sister, you don't want to break a pretty little nail do you?” She egged on in an enduring tone of voice as she watched Susan toss the ball up in the air and then catch it again before it hit the ground. She hated to admit it, but that little display of prowess had gotten her a bit worried.

Susan smirked as she drew back and let the ball fly through the air, Jane watched the ball travel through the air, a split second later she heard the ball smash into the metal trigger. Her seat gave way and she dropped like a stone into the water below her. The water was freezing cold and it quickly soaked her through and through.

“Oh that is so freaking cold!” She yelled at the top of her lungs as she bobbed up and down in the freezing cold water. “I swear to God, I'm so going to get you back for this you little brat!” She yelled as she peered toward Susan who was just standing there holding another ball at the ready!

“Oh come on now!” Jane said as she climbed out of the tank, she dripping wet. And she climbed with all the grace and skill of a soaking wet cat, she climbed out of the tank and up the ladder again and once more inched her way to the edge of the drop seat.

“I mean that was just a lucky shot. I mean really, you know even a blond hog is going to dig up an acorn once in a blue moon.” She said huffing as she folded her hands on her lap. “You gotta do it more than once. Otherwise that just counts as a lucky shot!”

Susan smirked a little and her pink eyes started to shimmer in the strong sunlight of the day. She then drew back and tossed the ball straight at the trigger. And then it happen, the ball smashed into the trigger again. Jane jumped a little and a second or two later the seat dropped, sending her back down into the freezing cold water. This time, she took her time and floated around the tank a little. She even dove down and pressed her face to the clear viewing surface. When she broke the surface of the dunking booth she noticed her older sister was standing there, laughing up a storm.

“Oh Jane, You know I love you girl?”

“And I love you too Susie. Even if your a little brat at times.” She said climbing off the ladder and back onto the seat. She was dripping wet now and the crowd around the dunking booth was growing with each passing second. Dozens and dozens of people were now surrounding the booth. All very eager to try their hand at dunking the cutie on the seat.

“Oh!” Susan said with a wink and a smirk. “I think you're becoming quite popular around these parts. Listen kiddo, I gotta run okay. I gotta meet this cute, hunk of a guy down by the petting zoo. So I'll Catch up with you a bit later.” She said, Still smirking she pulled her purse tightly around her shoulders. Once her purse was placed tightly around her shoulders, she then melted into the crowd.

The next ten or so minutes passed in a blur. True to Susan's words, Jane had indeed become quite popular, mostly because of the rumor going around the fairground that that the new mysteries transfer student had volunteered to be in the dunking booth. There was also another rumor going the school as well, that the brooding, cynical boy had bad been named James had up and gone loco and became a girl or something. But pushing all that aside, one thing remain clear, there was a new girl in town, all the boys wanted to see her and all the other girls wanted to check out her out too an maybe dunk her as well.

Now in those ten minutes nobody really came close to hitting the target. Instead most just dropped there pocket change into the 'Donation' bucket that rested beside the wooden counter next to the wire basket that held around twenty or so tennis balls. Most of the changed tossed into the bucket were copper pennies, but sometimes you might see a few round pieces of silver. As she watched the people pass by the the booth, Jane kind of felt herself wondering if this is what those animals at the local zoo must do every day, sit pretty and look at people passing by you.

Finally from the crowd came a woman, she was hanging on the shoulders of a tall lean man. The man had short, jet black hair and wore a light cotton, button down shirt with brown button and dust colored slacks. The woman wore a floral print sundress. The sight of the two made Jane blush harder than she had when Susan had noticed her. The woman was named Josephine and the man was named Robert, both of them were engaged to be married this coming spring. And by one of the many chances and changes of life, the woman, Josephine also happen to be Jane's Mother, who had started the adoption process a year before last and had just sighed papers a few weeks ago. So in a weird way very roundabout way, Jane was looking at her mommy and daddy.

“Hey Mommy! Hey Daddy!” Jane called from the top of her perch. A deep blush colored her cheeks as she offered the pair a little wave.

“Oh Hello kiddo.” The man said smiling a little. “I see you volunteered for the dunking booth, and by the looks of it, somebody's already dunked you a few times.” He said chuckling a little as he removed his arm from around Josephine's waist and walked toward the front counter of the booth. Smirking a little he reached into his pants pocket and pulled out a brown cowhide leather wallet. He quickly unfolded the leather wallet and pulled out a fiver. In one swift motion he placed the fiver down upon the counter and was reward with three balls.

“So who dunked you sweetie?” The woman said, walking up to the front counter of the booth. Following her future husbands example she also reached into her purse and pulled out her pocket book as well and soon she laid down her own fiver next to his.

“Susie dunked me.” Jane stated as another wave of blush washed across her cheeks. “Then she said something about having to meet a cute boy down by the petting zoo.” She added as an afterthought. And with that being said she raised her arm and pointed toward the collection of tents and fences. The wind that was blowing from that direction carried with it with it the smell of freshly cut hay, mud, dung and strange, mysterious smell that caused everyone to gag who came into contact with it.

“Maybe...” Robert said reaching up and rubbing the back of his neck with the open palm of his hand. “Maybe the people at the Children's Zoo noticed that one of their attractions were loose and decided to form a search party. Or maybe Sue developed a crush one of her keepers.”

Jane fell into a fit of giggles at the remark. Josephine on the other hand crossed her arms and gave her husband a glare that would turn any mans blood to ice. It was no secret that the staff of the house both loved and admired the headstrong tomboy who would sometimes turn princess for a day. Susan and Jane were often tick and tack, their closeness in age and their history glued them together. And so it was only right that some of the adults would often tease Sue, always in a friendly manner and always in a way that would make the girl roll her eyes, cross her arms across her chest and set her lips into a cute pout.

“Robert.” Josephine said in a trailing tone of voice. She rolled her eyes and reached down and picked up one of the three balls that had been placed down upon the counter top. She wrapped her fingers around the ball and walked toward the throw line.

“You know, as your mom, I gotta dunk you.” She said, smirking. “Just wanted you to know, I love you.” She said her smirk grew a bit.

Jane blushed and folded her hands in her lap. Her blush only grew when she noticed that her father had reached down and pulled out his new smart phone and had pressed the record button. Josephine though was loving it, she loved seeing Jane blush and wiggle around like a worm on a fisherman's hook. She allowed herself to savor this moment for a brief few seconds before she cocked her arm back and tossed the ball. The ball sailed through the air and struck the trigger. A few seconds later, Jane felt herself falling through the air. Then she splashed down, sending water over the side of the tank and soaking the ground in front of her. For a few minutes Jane floated around the bottom of the tank before breaking the surface of the water. Once she returned to the surface she offered her mother a little, crooked smile.

“Thanks mom.”

Jane was dunked a dozen more times that afternoon before her shift was over. But being dunked by her mother and sister were the only ones that really stood out. And with that another day in the life of Jane draws to a end.

Jane took a deep breath as she entered through the front door of the manor house. A sudden blast of warm air greeted her and for a brief moment her breath was taken away at the sight that greeted her. It was something out of a storybook. The living room had over the course of the school day been transformed into a homily little scene of domestic bliss. An evergreen tree thrice as tall and wide as her was sitting in the far corner of the living room.

The tree was decorated in regal Christmas style. Colorful glass baubles in the colors of red, green and white hung from ribbons in matching colors. Strings of blinking fairy lights wrapped artfully around the tree glowed gently in the darken room. A mountain of boxes in all shapes and sizes wrapped in seasonal wrapping paper and neatly tied with boxes had formed around the base of the tree. 

Beside the decorated Christmas tree somebody had built a nice roaring fire in the old stone fireplace. The blazing fire crackled and popped behind the old iron grate. The air too was warmed by the crackling of the wood and the dancing orange and red sparks of the fire. The pleasant and mouth watering aroma of freshly baked ginger snaps and gingerbread men and women hung in the air. And upon the mantle of the fireplace there hung from highly polished brass hooks that had been drilled into the masonry in a long forgotten age a baker's dozen or more of colorful stockings. Sewn onto the stocking were the names of the children. Names of her brothers and sisters, names like “Susan”, “Nikki”, “Oliver'' and a dozen other names and finally her own. “Jane”. All the young children and teenagers of the house had their own stocking that had been hung with great care above the blazing fireplace.  

But despite being surrounded by all the tapestries of Christmas Cheer, including a new virgin snow that had fallen during the day, the snow had for the most part covered the front lawn, the roof of the house and had totally covered the backyard. Transforming everything into a winter wonderland.  Despite all of this, Jane still found herself feeling a deep void as she started to peel off the many layers of clothing she had bundled up in that morning. 

At first she started with her oversized pink and white hoodie, she took hold of the brass zipper and pulled it all the way down and hung the thing on the coat rack, she then removed her boots. Those were pushed to the side with the others. Feeling a little bold she removed the ribbon tie from her uniform and hung it up with her hoodie. Once that was done she decided she was free enough to skip about the house. 

Once she was free of her hoodie and boots, she bounced into the kitchen. She wanted to fix herself something warm to drink, and she had a powerful hankering for a cup of steaming hot chocolate as that always seemed to chase away the cold winter chills. The house was eerily quite now, but Jane knew that would soon change in the coming hour. Tonight was after all Christmas Eve and tomorrow would be Christmas Day. She also knew that tonight was one of only two nights in the whole year that most of the household would attend Anglican Services at the diocese's cathedral, St. Andrew's Anglican Cathedral. And that meant only one thing, that she would need to take a long shower, shave her legs to perfection, wash her hair to perfection and style it to perfection. She would also be required to wear her best Sunday dress. This was not your normal morning Mass down at Christ Church, the local parish church.  

No this was a special event, they only attended two services in the whole year at the cathedral and those two were very special services in the liturgical calendar and those two days were Christmas and Easter. Easter this year would be really special too, since Josephine, her mother and Robert her father had arranged for a special confirmation service, one that would be led by the bishop of the diocese himself. Rowan Field, who had been among the first to rally to the call of Tim Forest sixteen years ago, when he first called out for aid to build the manor house. The service was to confirm her as an Anglican under her name. But that was still some months away.

All of these thoughts filtered through the sponge that was her mind as she started to mix her hot chocolate. First she poured some warm water into a heavy chine mug that was filled with some hot chocolate powder she had spooned into the mug while she mused. Then she reached into the drain board and picked up a silver teaspoon, spoon in hand she started to stir the mixture and it soon transformed from one part hot water and one part hot chocolate mix into a luscious winter beverage. And try as she might she could not stop her mind from starting to wander once more.

This time she started to ponder how her life had changed over the last two and a half years. Yes, it had been about two and a half years since she had been rescued from that hellish house that had been her home. Back when she felt she was just a poor, jade and cynical boy who was floating through his life. Counting down the days till he turned eighteen was free from the foster system. She tried not to remember those painful eight months of her life she had endured there. Those eight months were a very dark period of her life, but sometimes those memories came rushing back, they would flood her head and paralyze her.

Not only would that tiny voice paralyze her, but it also had the bad habit of sending her into a wild tailspin. A spiraling staircase of depression and anxiety that often left her only a husk of her former self when the wave finally decided to break.  Add in that she was slowly accepting the fact that was indeed transgender  and you had one nightmarish cocktail of mixed up and toxic emotions. A thick jungle she was starting to hack through with the help of her mother, father and her many newfound sisters and brothers. The problem was they were just mere spectators in her daily struggles. It was up to her, and her only to cut through that thick jungle so choked full of pitfalls and thick vines. 

Jane closed her eyes and lifted her hot beverage to her lips. She took a nice long sip. The hot liquid was soothing to her and caused her building anxiety to melt away. Jane then sighed a content sigh as she drained the last few ounces of her drink. Once her mug was empty she rinsed it out and set it into the drain board to dry. She then slowly made her way up the stairs, time had a habit of slipping through her fingers. And she knew herself all too well enough, if she did not start getting ready now, she'll soon become hopelessly sidetracked and get totally lost in the weeds.

And so knowing time was precious she started to make her way up the stairwell. Over the next hour she showered, she brushed and styled her hair and put on the best dress she owned. She even put on a little perfume because it was a special night, keeping that in mind she made sure to keep her make-up light; Settling only with a foundation and a bit of lip gloss and a pinch of mascara. Once she was finished with her primping she took the chance and peered into her vanity mirror. And for the first time that day, she allowed herself to show a small smile as she peered toward her own reflection. She felt like for the first time in about a fortnight she was not putting on an act. She was really Jane and Jane was also her. The reflection that greeted her was not a boy pretending to be a girl but one that really reflected who she was.

Smiling, she slipped out of her bedroom and slipped down the stairwell. It seemed she was just in time too, for all of her brothers and sisters were gathering together in the living room. All of the girls wore formal dresses that were a notch above your normal church going dresses. The boys too wore more than formal church going clothing. With all of them wearing coats, ties, slacks and dress shoes.

Jane quickly fell into line with her other brothers and sisters. Then out of the corner of her eye she spotted older sister Sue who had somehow managed to squeeze herself into a formal looking A-line black dress with pumps and a matching purse. Her brunette hair was no longer pulled back in the tomboyish ponytail, instead she wore it down and she had even styled it with a curling iron. She looked pretty cute. Jane did not have long to look, for soon she was being marched out the front door and down the sidewalk with her other brothers and sisters, one by one they were loaded up into one of the three awaiting vans. Once everybody had been loaded up the little convoy started up and pulled out.

Once they were loaded up, the tiny convoy started the one hour drive into the inner city. Jane who counted herself lucky enough to score a seat by the window and so she had a good view of the passing scenery. Every house they passed was decorated to the nines with Christmas lights and decorations. Many of the houses even had outdoor nativity scenes in the front yards. The sophistication of the scenes ranged from simple silhouettes to plywood cutouts to full on plastic figures.

Finally after an hour and ten minutes of driving they reached the stone steps of St. Andrew's Anglican Cathedral, the sight of the massive stone church took her breath away. The building towered over the surrounding building. Many of the surrounding buildings were nothing but flat, square, two stories of the various law firms of the region. Sandwiched between the square office building were a few supermarkets and odd shops. None of them reached the height of the stone towers that were topped with steeples and spires. As Jane peered up at the massive stain glass window she started to understand why the cathedral was a local landmark. None of the surrounding building came close to even touching it. The building was very special, and if her mom and dad wanted her to be confirmed here it must meant that she was really special to them. And that thought made her feel good about herself.

There was indeed something inherently uplifting and very profound and meaningful about attending Christmas Eve Mass, from the chiming of the altar bells to use of incense, and the chanting of the prayers in Latin, the homily that focused on the humble birth of Christ Child, who would one day redeem the world through his passion and his blood. It made Jane forget if just for a few hours her troubles and caused her to forget her doubts. Following Holy Communion and the dismissal the family once more loaded up in the vans and started toward home again. But not before stopping at McDonald's for an after church snack.

It was well into the night when the little convoy finally returned home. Most of her brothers and sisters had fallen asleep after they had pulled out of the parking lot of McDonald's, their bellies full of hamburgers, french fries, chicken nuggets, soda and ice cream cones. With full bellies and a warm car, they soon find themselves nodding off to the fable land of Nod. But Jane found herself too enthralled with many Christmas Displays they passed. And for the first time in a very long time, she felt herself starting to believe in Santa and the magic of the season.

And so, as her brothers and sisters trudged toward their bedrooms, cold and tired and dreaming of only their warm warm beds, Jane on the other hand went straight into the kitchen and started to slice some sugar cookies from the cookie dough roll that had been brought a week or so ago. This at first had puzzled her mother, but her puzzlement soon turned to delight when she was informed that the cookies Jane was baking were intended for Santa, who was due for a visit later and left a treasure trove of gifts under the Christmas tree for all the good little girls and boys.

Once her cookies were finished baking, she then set them out on a stone plate and she then set the plate out on the mantle of the fireplace. Next too of course a ice, cold glass of milk. Once all preparations for Santa's visit were done she then settled down on the sofa. Determined to stay awake and welcome Santa into her new family home. Just like any respectable, young lady should. But she was only a few minutes into her vigil before she found herself drifting asleep and before she could catch herself she found herself drifting off to the fable land of Nod.

The old grandfather clock in the formal dining room chimed too one hour after midnight. It was officially Christmas Day. And Jane was fast asleep on the living room sofa. The once roaring fire in the fireplace had long since died down to a gray bed of hot coals. Long winter shadows ran across the wooden floor. Then something happened, in a blink of an eye an petite woman with long, coal black hair and sparkling blue eyes appeared in the middle of the living room. The woman wore a knee length scarlet dress. Beside her was a huge burlap sack, from this sack she would pull out neatly wrapped gifts. These gifts were lovingly placed around the fully lighted Christmas tree.

“Dang it.” She said, sighing a little as she shook her head to the left and to the right. “My first Christmas trip around the world and I got caught. Man dad's not going to be pleased with this.” She said folding her arms across her chest and rolling her eyes in mild annoyance. “Anyway I'm glad you're up. Because you and I need to have a little heart to heart talk.” She said leveling her gaze toward Jane.

“Because right now, you're kind of straddling both of the two list. I'm not quite sure if you should be given a sack full of coal and a stocking full of switches and pockets full of ashes. Or this brand new laptop computer.” The woman said with a gentle smile.

Jane blinked and blinked again as she peered toward the woman with a very confused look. The woman quickly noted the confused, and lost look that Jane wore on her face. And once more she felt herself sighing again. This was throwing a huge wrench into her plans for the night.

“Oh don't play dumb with me hon. I know who you are. We've been keeping close taps on you all year long. And trust me when I say this, we have a dossier about sixteen inches thick on you. You've been something of a pretty good girl this year. But on the other hand you've been something of a brat. You have this bad habit of skipping over your History homework assignments and your Earth Science assignments too.” She stated as she gave Jane a hard level look. “And that very naughty on your part.”

Jane blinked and blinked again. Quickly without thinking she reached down and then tossed the woolen blanket to the side, the blanket fell upon the wooden floor. Jane then slipped off the sofa and peered toward the woman with a confused and concerned look
 
Jane blinked and blinked again. Without thinking she reached down and tossed the gray woolen blanket to the side, the blanket fell upon the floor. Jane then slipped off the sofa and peered toward the woman with a short of a confused and concerned look.

“Oh yes, we've been keeping taps on you.” The mystery woman said with a sigh. “You've undergone some amazing changes in the past year or so.” The woman paused. “For one thing, you stopped being 'James' and you switched over to become 'Jane' that was a change that threw us for one heck of a loop. I mean we're toy makers and not psychiatrists after all. And number two, you were adopted, you're now the proud daughter of Josephine and Robert Harris. And number three, you have a wonderful new boyfriend. All of this took place in the span of about a year or so. But still, you're on that border line, you've not been all that nice, and you've not been too naughty.”

“So, Jane, I have a proposal for you. If you would accept me from me, a spanking, I will be more than happy to fill your stocking with a fine collection of candies, and special Christmas treats, but I will also make sure you get your brand new laptop computer and something special extra too.” She said grinning from one ear to the other.

“Hold up there.” Jane said, blinking. “What do you mean you've been keeping taps on me?” Jane asked as she squinted her eyes toward the strange woman. “And you've got a freaking dossier on me? And you know about me skipping those history homework worksheets because of how boring and earth science too cause it was just, it's just a kiddie subject too really? And what about all this talk of being naughty and nice? And who in the world said anything about a spanking?” She paused before she decided to add. “Just who in the world are you and why should I not scream really loud right about now and call the police on my phone and tell the operator on the other line and tell them there some strange burglar breaking into my house, and spouting some kind of nonsense, she also dressed in a kind of Santa girl getup and she handing out stole presents too and she wants to spank me?”

First off,” The woman said mildly amused. “These presents were not stolen, they were made in my family's workshop up in the North Pole, second nobody would believe you. And third, it's like my family legacy or something. Where suppose to keep track of all the children in the world, keeping taps on who's been naughty or who's been nice.” She added.

“Workshop?” Jane questioned as tilted her head to the right side and blinked.

“Yes workshop. And it's huge and we have a dozen or so different departments. It really takes a lot of time and effort to make all those toys. And that's all I can say. I've already told you more than enough. Anything more and I'll have to take you back home to the North Pole with me, because then you would have known too much. And I doubt you'll want to swap your new life here in this manor house for a nine to five job working as an entry level clerk in accounting.”

Jane blinked and blinked again. She was quite unsure what to make of that statement.

“In short, I'm Mina Clause.” She finally said, taking note of Jane's clearly confused facial expression. “I'm the daughter of Santa Clause who has retired this year and me, being his oldest child has taken over the running of the family business.  And that business of course being to bring all the good little boys and girls of the world trinkets and gadgets and like I said before, your kind of in the gray.” She paused. “Staying up way past your normal bedtime could just be enough to push you into the red.” She added. “And trust me, you don't want to be in the red, not on your Christmas with your new family.”

“So, you're saying like if I get a spanking from you, you're going to push me back from this 'Naughty List' to this supposed 'Nice List' am I correct?” Jane questioned as she peered toward the strange woman, her voice was full of doubt but she was starting to believe her words. She supposed she had indeed been a bit of a brat this past year. She had quickly learned how far she could push her mother and father. And unlike her other brothers and sisters she never seemed to put one toe over the line. But she always straddled that line.

“That is correct.” She said, taking a deep breath. “I'll give you a few more minutes to decide. I have to cover the whole bloody world you know. And that's one heck of a tight schedule. I'm allowed a little leeway,” She paused, reached into the pocket of dress and pulled out her phone. She quickly checked the time before slipping the phone back into the pocket of her dress.
“In fact, I think I'm running out of time. So Jane, it's now or never. What are you going to decide?” She asked as she peered toward the young woman.

Jane took a deep breath as she nodded her head.

“Alright I believe you.” And with that she started to walk toward the woman and in short order she was pulled over her lap. She then held her hand up and a large hairbrush appeared in her hand. The woman wasted no time in flipping the end of Jane's nightgown up, exposing her matching lavender colored panties, the woman pulled those down and bared her bottom.

Once Jane's bottom was bared. The woman took a deep breath and reached into her sack, she then fished around for a few minutes before pulling out a large wooden hairbrush. She pressed the flat side of the hairbrush into Jane's bottom and then drew it back and smacked it. The smack sent a wave of sting flooding into her cream colored bottom.

The first pass of the brush took Jane's breath away. The Woman followed it up with a second pass of the brush that sent another wave of sting rolling into her bottom and a third wave of sting. Jane's buttercream colored bottom was already starting to turn a pale shade of pink. Jane who at this point in her life had been spanked once, once before by some phantom nurse was still shocked at the sudden flood of pain filing her body.

The sound of the hairbrush smacking the pinking bottom echoed aloud. The force of the hairbrush crashing her round bottom sent a tide of sting crashing into the bottom. The force of the strike caused Jane's bottom to wiggle like a dish of jello. The grandfather clock in the formal dinning room marked the passage of the seconds with its third hand, as each third hand marked the passage of another second, the screams of a young girl getting her bottom tanned echoed louder and louder.

The minutes seemed to turn into hours, the woman it seemed was a master at her craft and watching her tan Jane's bottom, applying the brush skillfully to her bottom, paying close attention to her thighs and her sitting spot. Before long hot, salty tears were running down her face and dripping down on the floor. None of this seemed to bother the woman, who kept up the steady tempo of the hairbrush smacking into Jane's bottom, turning it from a buttercream white, to peach pink, then to a rose red. Then an apple red and finally a deep, deep, ruby red.

As the seconds quickly turned to minutes and the pitch of Jane's wails climbed, a certain powerful sense of forgiveness started to flood over the girl as she lay wiggling on the woman's lap. As her tears poured down her burning cheeks like two salty rivulets and puddled on the floor. She felt the last few ounces of her energy starting to leave her body. And soon she became limb and laid flat. The woman eased down on her swing and gently pushed the brush to the side. Calmly she reached down and pulled the shivering girl into a nice warm hug and then she gently rocked Jane asleep.

Epilogue

The next morning, Jane woke with a still pink bottom. The second mountain of presents was still there. As she cleared the sleep away from her eyes she noticed a herd of the young members of the house starting to trample down the stairwell.

Their tiny faces became as bright as light bulbs when they noticed the second mountain. Proof enough to them that Santa Clause had indeed visited their house during the night. A holiday brunch was the first order of business. Of course there were presents all around, and more than enough. Jamie received a new Sunday Dress, and a dozen or so gift cards for her favorite boutiques in the mall. She also much to her own surprise received a laptop computer. And there was one more gift. A large hairbrush with a note attached that read as followed.

“I hope this hairbrush will remind you, when you feel like skipping on your homework or smarting off to your mom or dad, that I'm always watching. I'll be checking up on you again in a year's time. Until then Jane, remember what I said, was always keeping taps on you. Love, Mina Clause.”

The End.

And so too ends the first season of 'Melodies of the Heart: The Adventures of Jane' the story of a lonely boy who struggled to accept he was transgender and then once he accepted it, strove to make the best of that new life.