Jerry burst through the doors into the street. He noticed the outside of the door had an odd look to it; simple wooden construction with a latch to hold it closed.
"Wierd", he muttered, as he turned around. He noticed his legs felt odd, and his clothing strange; looking down, all he could do was gasp.
"Well", he thought, "At least I'm from a rich family, I guess. But why do I seem so short?"
Jerry wasn't so much shorter, but it was obvious he was on the wrong side of puberty now. And no wonder his clothing felt strange; he seemed to be dressed like a sissy! No, not a sissy... he recognized his attire as that of a child from a very wealthy family of the time. He could remember seeing pictures of young boys from that (this, he reminded himself) time period looking far more 'fancy' than boys of later years.
Brushing his now very long blond hair out of his eyes, he snapped his head around to look at himself in the reflection of the glass on the store-front nearby. A long page-boy haircut shone brightly on top of his head, the bangs very nearly coming to his eyes. On his upper body, a very loose, blousy top with a frill around the collar and cuffs; under that, a pair of short.... he felt them and cringed... VELVET shorts! His legs seemed to be covered by incredibly long, white socks... "Stockings?" he commented to himself... and feeling under his shorts, he confirmed they were long stockings, clipped to straps that went under his clothing and over his shoulders. On his feet were shoes that reminded him of girls shoes but which his mind insisted were proper shoes for 'proper' boys, just like Mummy always says...
"What?" Jerry shook his head and smacked it for good measure, shaking the ridiculous idea out of his head. He was frustrated and flustered, feeling alone, lost, and distracted by the clinging feel of his leg-long stockings and the silky feel of his shirt, until his worry was broken by the sound of a group of cowboys passing by on the street from their steeds, and a call of
"Ha! Lookit the fancy-boy, Boys! 'Taint seen no rich folks 'round these h'yar parts for purt-near a year... kid's gonna be torn apart by the chillun' around here by midnite, iff'n his Mama don't collect 'im RIGHT quick... HAR har har..."
Jerry squirmed under the gaze of them, feeling as vulnerable and out-of-place as any human ever had, he was sure. Looking frantically about, he realized he was indeed looking for his Mum, and seeing a group of adults turning the corner, he looked pleadingly towards them when he recognized....
