Doubts

The following is not story. It is a narrative. It doesn’t start at the beginning, and it is not known where it will end. But it will; everything does. There will be several sequential posts as the author is motivated. Since it is a narrative there is no dialogue and it is always in the present tense. The intent is not to entertain but to inform and to incite understanding, context, perspective. Ideally a reader my gain an appreciation where we are today, and what it will take for a better tomorrow. Enjoy.

Every day, I find myself wishing things could go back to the way they used to be.

I'm Richard James Tanner, apparently my great-great-uncle Marshall was the founder of our little corner of Louisiana. I'm fourteen years old, with four sisters. Shelly is nineteen, Paula is seventeen, Elaine is fifteen and Samantha is twelve. Yep, I'm the only boy in the family.

That wishing bit I mentioned is mostly because I truly miss my parents. If mom had not been so damn stubborn! Arrrggghhh!!!!!

Things quietened down quite a bit after dad pulled that stupid stunt in the Skate Park and was beaten so easily by Melissa.

I found it hard to believe she had once been a boy, but she had no reason to lie to me, I suppose. Damn, she is one fine woman!

Only time would tell if she remembered the emails I had given her. It would be nice to talk with someone who understands.

Kozuke gently runs the washcloth through the basin of scented soapy water, and begins to gently sponge the sweat off of her body. For some reason, she is always very sweaty in the morning. He suspects her dreams aren’t pleasant.

"My power flurries through the air into the ground," I sing as I dramatically glide across the stage, my ice blue dress flowing around me with every step I take.

"My soul is spiraling in frozen fractals all around
And one thought crystallizes like an icy blast
I'm never going back, the past is in the past..."

"Let it go, let it go," I sing, my lungs feeling like they're going to break under the strain.
"And I'll rise like the break of dawn,
Let it go, let it go,
That perfect girl is gone.
Here I stand,
In the light of day,

The girls stop to put up the top on the Mustang and get some refreshment, unwittingly putting on a show for the locals.

Sabina is a cynical, homeless young trans woman who prioritizes hormones even over such necessities as food and shelter. Deborah is an anxious workaholic with social issues and an apparent softer side, a responsible up-and-coming professional who has just had surgery. A serendipitous encounter on the subway system brings these two women briefly into each other's orbit, where they leave powerful impressions on each other and reveal vulnerable aspects of themselves through their differences, without fully realizing all that they have in common.

“Cheese!” I yell, pulling my widest grin as I and my other bandmates pose for a selfie with the excited young woman.

“Oh my god, thank you so much!” The girl- who I am told is barely eighteen years old- squeaks, before heading into the crowd to find other famous faces to photograph.

“You know, I like the idea, yeah?” Adeola says. “Giving, like, fans the chance to come to these parties…”

“Especially as, if memory serves, that’s how someone became part of this ‘family’ in the first place?” I tease Becca, who rolls her eyes and sighs over-dramatically.

"See you tonight!" Janet said with a smile as Ellie, Kacey and Monique paid for their purchases and waved goodbye to her.

"Bye!" Ellie replied with a giggle that warmed Janet's heart.

It had been almost four months since Ellie had moved in with Janet, and in that time, a lot had changed for both women- mostly for the better.

The woman I was interviewing for a job at first gave me a very good impression. In person she confirmed her CV. Competent, decisive, with a no-nonsense getting things done attitude. Perhaps a bit aggressive but for the position in question that was not necessarily a problem. In fact everything went well until she noticed that I was wearing a bra. I should have known better. Never wear a colored bra under a white shirt, even if it’s the most exquisite turquoise.

A short story...

Copyright © 2017 by AuP reviner

Sarah Daniels could not be considered beautiful, or even cute. She was larger than most girls in her class, and did not have the curves associated with eighth grade girls. She looked a lot like a boy. She was physically strong and enjoyed sports.

On a warm spring afternoon after school, Sarah walked into the kitchen of her family home and dumped her book bag on the floor. “How was your day, honey?” her Mother asked.

“Okay,” Sarah replied as she walked over to the refrigerator.

“Learn anything interesting?”

“No.” she started. “Wait, Yes, In health class they talked about boys who think they are girls, and girls who think they are boys, or something like that. It got me thinking. I am more boy than girl.”

Vanilla Sky Part 1 by Bailey Summers

One of the only real femme things is my face…I’m a strawberry blonde so kind of baby faced and I keep my hair long…but the rest of me is…I’m five ten, one seventy almost and got too much size…too much shoulder from working as a contractors helper for my step dad.

I hate my body.

And not really looking like a girl gave people plenty of ammo at school to make my life hell. Pushed, shoved, kicked from behind…spit on. Getting yelled at and accosted by the preachy kids, prank calls, online torture…then the last straw was getting jumped by a crowd of kids…I was lucky some good Samaritan had showed up with a baseball bat. But the teachers didn’t do a thing with the stuff in school and the cops with the swarming attack…

Yeah well why wasn’t I pulled out of school?