“I can’t believe him!” Michelle was so angry at Trevor. That… boy!
The young girl stomped her shoes on the sidewalk, lightly kicking a stone off the kerb. Why did he have to tell everyone else about this! The girl was still exploring what was a very ‘personal’ part of her… but she knew it wasn’t going to be the ‘only’ thing about her. To Trevor she was just going to be the ‘egg laying girl’?
Her mom and dad said it was a normal part of growing up and so she didn’t really think about what it would mean when it started happening to her, besides the natural excitement of growing up. But with the humour about it, she felt like she was being ridiculed. “Why do they think I’m a joke…”
Egg layers were rare, but she existed! It made her and her sisters special! Not weird!
She hefted her backpack as she headed home. The suburbs were almost clear of traffic… it was such a nice place to live with a lot of fresh air. Living near the countryside was something she felt thankful for.
Quickly she glanced in the direction of Trevor’s house, uncertain of their friendship at this point. She would cool off eventually, and maybe see the funny side… maybe there were some jokes about boys she could counter with? Though she couldn’t think of anything. She did like Trevor after all and still wanted to be friends.
A lot of the girls at school told her she shouldn’t try to be friends with a boy, because they were all icky and gross. She didn’t believe that at first but… they were just so ery different. “Maybe they’re right…” She had high hopes for Trevor though. It just ‘felt’ right to be friends, even if they had little in common. They had shared many walks together and practically grew up in close contact since kindergarten. When she heard Trevor had no siblings at all, she was very saddened at that.
Of course, the fact that they were friends a dimensional warp ago… was not known or even felt to Michelle. This was her life… as far as she knew.
Michelle dug out a pristine key to the family house as she arrived on the porch with another sad glance to Trevor’s house. When she was given this key, she felt so much more like she was now a grownup. It meant she no longer had to wait to be let in and experienced a new level of freedom. She could leave the house and return with ease. She could even let others in. It was such a simple joy that adults took for granted.
Her mother was doing the dishes and quickly greeted her. “Hey! How was school?” She smiled to her daughter.
“It was fine…” Michelle responded honestly. She set her backpack down. “Is Joni home?”
“I’m afraid not. She said she’s going shopping with Karyn.” Mrs Madison explained while setting down a few dishes in the drying rack. “How do you feel about fish tonight dear?”
“I’d love that!” Michelle beamed. The moment of elation helped. She just felt so frustrated… she needed to talk to Joni! Talking to her big sister always made her feel better… though another thought struck her. Maybe she could talk to Zoe?
“Zoe…” She grimaced a bit.
Michelle felt a little sense of trepidation doing that. The young girl was kind of afraid of all the ‘goth stuff’ her sister had gotten into. It felt a little intimidating. Zoe tended to express it by dressing in dark colours. Still, it was worth a try. A little hesitantly she went up the stairs and quickly knocked on her sister’s door hesitantly. “Um- Sis?”
“Come in!” She called back as the door was open. The goth-girl was lying in bed with a book. “Hey,” she said. “What’s up?”
Michelle looked glum and her shoulders slumped. She took in the environment of the room. The strange décor… did she ever change this since Halloween? A few fake spider webs in the corner, a small glowing crystal with a wire on it… it was all so eerie. She hated not being comfortable here but she knew her sister was still very nice. She decided to try talking to her. “Um- did people treat you weird when… you started making eggs?”
Zoe blinked and put down her book. “Oh.” She suddenly looked at Michelle with her full undivided attention. “Hm, not really.” She shrugged. “To be honest, they didn’t find out until I was a bit older… so… it was fine. Is someone giving you a hard time? Want me to put a spell on them?”
“No! Um- I mean- uh- it’s just… Trevor…”
“Oh... a boy?” Zoe frowned at that. “What’s he doing? Me and Joni can go beat him up for you.” She rubbed her hands for dramatic effect.
“I don’t want him beaten up! I just… I just wish he’d stop teasing me. He told all his friends about me- er- us- and-“ She shuddered. Maybe it was a bad idea to talk to Zoe. She always seemed to take the more violent approach. Joni was so much more level-headed. She looked down kicking herself slightly not really ‘liking’ to compare her sisters this way. Each one had their strengths but for this, Joni was the more logical choice.
Zoe hopped off the bed and gave her sister a hug noting her distress. “Hey, there there… it’s okay! It doesn’t matter what a couple of boys think anyway. They are not worth thinking about.”
“R-really?” Michelle was stunned at that.
“Really! Forget about them. I did.” She shrugged. “There are nice ones though. Concentrate on them.”
“T-Trevor isn’t bad though!” Michelle stammered. “I do like him… I want us to be friends…”
The goth-girl looked at her little sister sadly. She had been through a few similar things. What could she say? “You could always become a goth. Goth boys aren’t bad.” She smiled.
“Uh… nuh uh…” Michelle shook her head. “I um- I’m scared of the dark.”
“Aw… such a baby,” Zoe smiled to her little sister playfully. “In all honesty it’s hard to be friends with a boy. Boy’s find it hard to be friends with other boys, let alone a girl.”
“They do?” Michelle blinked.
“Sure. Boys tend to make friendships based on… associations. Like- through club activities. It’s all competition for them. Winners are exalted and-
“Ex-halted?”
“Exalted- er- never mind. Trevor is friends with people who play football, because they share that. He can’t go up to a random guy and say ‘let’s be friends’. You can though. You can go up to any boy and girl and say let’s be friends… and it could happen.”
“Wow… that’s kinda sad…” Michelle frowned a bit. “You sure?”
“It’s what I’ve seen. I make friends with goth people easy because I’m a goth. It works.”
Michelle frowned. “So… all I got to do is find something in common with Trevor… and we can be friends!”
“Haha- Yeah… though if you like, I’ll put a magic spell on him… he’ll rue the day he upset my sister….” She giggled.
“No uh- that’s okay. I’ll… I’ll be fine.” Michelle quickly ran back to her room.
Trevor had finished his game and was now home. His parents didn’t make that much money, but they certainly did their best. They could afford to live in the suburbs but were rather tight on everything else. As a result, Trevor didn’t have the creature comforts most kids his own age had. He had a computer console though it was a generation old from his father’s time. Getting new things was aways a luxury. They often argued it was better then living in the city.
“I’m home,” he said with a wave.
“Ah just in time. I got your report card,” his father smiled. He looked it over. “You seem to be doing quite well sport.”
Trevor beamed. “Yeah… I had some help with my friends.”
“Very good job,” His father patted him on the head. His mother smiled as she made a roast. It smelled delicious.
“Um- Dad? Can I ask you something… about girls?” He gave an awkward glance- but no more awkward then his father.
“Oh boy,” He groaned inwardly. “I knew this day would come. Alright sit-down son, this is going to be a doozie.” He cleared his throat.
“You don’t have to dramatize it!” Mrs Reeds suddenly said waving a spatula at them. “In any case, he’s too young to know ‘everything’…”
“Nonsense! I’m sure he knows about it already… right?” He looked at his son curiously. Though, how far along was he in sex education? He should probably know… but the school never mentioned it. Did they? It was probably still some years off. Kids were growing up so quickly.
Trevor frowned. What was his father asking. “I know that girls make eggs,”
Trevor’s father laughed.
Trevor wondered what was funny but couldn’t help but giggle too. “Hehe… yeah…eggs…”
“Yeah, well- some do.” Trevor’s father looked embarrassed. “Actually, why don’t you handle this dear. I’ll handle the cooking.” He guessed his wife was probably better placed for it. He could tell she wanted to go through this part for her son.
“Thanks,” The two switched roles and now Trevor was staring at his mother. Suddenly, whatever he wanted to ask was ‘gone’ from his mind. He couldn’t ask her! “Uh-“ was all he said.
“Go on, ask your question, don’t be shy.” She smiled trying to be encouraging.
“Uh…” He pursed his lips taking a breath. What did he want to know? “Well… why do some girls… lay eggs?”
“Heh, just the weird ones,” His mother laughed. “Don’t worry, none of ‘that’ in my family.” She dismissed it thankful that it wasn’t a ‘real’ thing she had to explain. “Don’t worry about that. Just worry about the normal ones.”
“I dated one of them once,” His father suddenly said. “She was obsessed with the Easter Bunny… the same way other girls were obsessed with vampires…” he shook his head. “Girls do weird stuff.”
“Yeah! That’s what I want to know!” Trevor suddenly said as he remembered the ‘real’ question. “Why are they so weird?”
“Well…” His mother glanced at her husband as if he was saying all the wrong things. “They are not weird.” She insisted.
“Yes they are.” Trevor said back to his mom. He could be quite forthright in replies when he was sure it was true.
“Yes. They are,” agreed Trevor’s father with a solemn nod as he stirred something in the pot of the kitchen… and probably in his marriage life.
At this point Mrs Reeds gave up and snapped at her husband. “Okay! If you want to act like a kid, then you can deal with him!”
Trevor looked shocked as his mother stormed off angry. He had this awful feeling in the pit of his stomach. “Did- I say something wrong?”
Trevor’s father looked at him with a distant look. “Eh, you get used to it.”
It was late evening… and Joni still wasn’t back. Michelle was getting worried. She had wanted to talk about this all day to her… but the urgency of it had slowly left her, leaving her with the urgency of taking care of her eggs. Her mom had kept them in a nice box for her. Inside her room, she looked at them. Three pristine white eggs… “I really… made them…”
It was strange to be proud of it… maybe she shouldn’t be but… it was rather symbolic of their nature as egg-laying females. She held one, surprised at how heavy it was. Something so…small… could be so precious. She felt an instinct… no matter what, no harm would come to this egg… no matter what… she just felt this urge that was so absurdly strong. She’d… she realised she’d do anything for her eggs.
She suddenly clutched it close to her chest, sitting there crossed legged. She held it tight, but not so tight…snug and secure. As they were her first, it was something rather… special about it. Lucidity started to enter her mind. She wasn’t sure what to do but she didn’t really want to mess with the eggs too much just in case. She took a deep breath, slowly she put them under her bed… but that desire, that need and longing to remain close to them remained. “I got to get out of here.” A part of her was afraid of these feelings. It didn’t seem normal… but it was perfectly normal. They were still weird instincts.
When she was confused, she often ended up in Joni’s room. Even with her absence, the familiarity of being there helped. Joni’s room was always open to her and it was warm, welcoming… inviting. Her oldest sister was her best friend and someone she admired a lot.
She sat on her sister’s bed, wiggling her legs anxiously. Could she explain all these weird urges to her? Would the feelings fade or get more crazy… the pain she had suffered initially was also still in her mind and this mixed with the desire to be happy- well- it was almost perplexing to her young mind.
Feeling calm she was about to leave when…her eyes glanced at something…
“Hm?” It was on a shelf… hidden away. At first, Michelle thought it was an egg, but it was just a bit too small for that. A simple strange rock? “Pretty…” She sighed as she looked it over. “Joni always has such pretty things…” Maybe a keepsake from someone who loved her? It was precious, whatever it was… she should probably put it back.
She quietly thought of her friend Trevor… throwing rocks or doing other stupid ‘boy things’. She really didn’t have anything in common with him… and the two would probably drift apart eventually. She’d… have to be okay with that. It wasn’t like there was some way she could find something in common with such a wild rough boy anyway.
“I wish Trevor could have more in common with me.”
The stone gave a brief warmth as the tip of her fingers left her hand… Michelle didn’t even notice it, neither would she even ‘recall’ making such a wish. After all, it was just an idle thought…
With the person named, ‘Trevor’ would indeed start to have many things in common…
It was late at night as ‘something’ began to change in Trevor. The dark haired boy still looked a lot like himself of course… but ‘something’ began to shift and change. His face started to turn a little more round… not that it wasn’t already, being quite young. His hair increased in length, going down to his neck. In his sleep he felt an odd tickle… He gasped a little, with his voice turning slightly higher pitched… and would probably remain so for the rest of his life. His clothes started to change into a pink nightie while his room bloomed into something a great deal more feminine. There were now plush toys, fluffy bears… and a lot of cute Disney characters adorning the wall. His bed turned pink as well, with beautiful drapes instead of basic curtains. Beside him a unicorn toy found itself nested in his arms… a very similar one That Michelle once enjoyed. The boy groaned a little as his gender shifted from male to female… but of course being a girl wasn’t enough to have something in common with Michelle…
The machinery inside her abdomen started to receive signals to produce proper eggs…
Trevor would have… so much in common with her. Given that the wish stated his name and personal history, he would still retain his own memories despite living the life of a complete ‘girly girl’.
