In ancient times, when the box owned by the beautiful Pandora, the first mortal woman, was opened all the troubles of the world flew out and could never be put back. So what will happen when a trunk with the name 'Pandora Wilkins' is discovered in a house in North London in 2009? Pandora’s Trunk Chapter 15 by Louise Anne Smithson Copyright © 2013 Louise Anne Smithson All Rights Reserved.

The prospect of having to tell Mum about Becky was the one ominous cloud in what would otherwise have been a perfect evening. I realised that it could not be long delayed now that my contract had been renewed and the Christmas holidays were on the horizon.

‘You speak to your mother regularly on the phone, why not tell her during one of your telephone conversations?’ suggested Lucy.

Carol didn't agree.

‘No, tell her in a letter, perhaps also enclosing some photographs, that way she can have a chance to reflect on the information before you actually meet her. Although I suggest that you arrange to meet her soon after she has been told. Depending upon her initial reaction, that meeting could be with either Becky or Nick.’

‘No,’ I said decisively. ‘I will write to her but the meeting must be with Becky, irrespective of what she says. In any event I no longer have access to Nick’s clothes.’

Carol and Lucy both looked surprised at this admission.

‘Everything relating to Nick is locked away inside that trunk in my room, together with the keys; I cannot now get to them without breaking it open and have no intention of ever trying to do so,’ I explained.

‘You really are determined to go ahead with your new life,’ said Lucy.

I nodded.

‘In that case, my dear sister, as soon as we have finished your excellent meal, we should sit down and draft a letter to Mum telling her exactly what has happened, and where you are now working. We’ll also take a photograph of the three of us wearing our posh frocks to send to her, together with one or two others you have of Becky more normally dressed. When the letter is written, you and I will take it down to the post box in the street and post it together, so there can be no backing out or second thoughts.

‘I think Carol is right,’ said Lucy. 'It is time that she was told.'

‘I know,’ I replied.

‘Would you be able to take Sunday night off work?’ asked Carol.

‘I could probably arrange to swap duties with a colleague; but why?’ I asked.

‘If we post your letter tonight it should reach Mum on Saturday morning. I will ring her at lunchtime to see how she is reacting. If things are ok I suggest that you and I should go to visit her for the day on Sunday. I‘ll remind her though that you will be dressing as Becky during the visit.’

‘Alright then, let’s do it.’

We cleared the table and then took a series of photographs of the three of us using the tripod and the timer on Carol’s expensive digital camera. We also took several pictures of each of us individually, and printed out the best examples using her photo printer. Carol and Lucy also helped me to draft a letter to Mum explaining what had happened to me, how I was currently spending my life, and how I’d always felt. It was a long and difficult letter to write. I tried to write clearly, unemotionally, but leaving no room for any doubt on my part. I tried to explain that for the first time in years I was truly happy with my life.

‘I wouldn’t go in to a lot of detail about your future intentions at this stage, let her get used to the idea gradually,’ suggested Carol.

Instead I wrote about how much I enjoyed my job, had made friends in my new role and hoped that I’d soon be able to meet her again. As soon as it was finished I printed it out and signed it as ‘Becky’ but added ‘your former son, Nick’ in brackets afterwards. I handed it to Carol, who had put two photographs of Becky looking happy, the best one of the three of us and another of my sister and myself, in an envelope. She sealed it and wrote on the outside that Mum was to read the letter before opening the envelope. She then put the smaller envelope and my letter into a larger envelope, addressed it to Mum and stuck on the necessary first class stamps.

‘Come on,’ she said, let’s go out and post it straight away.’

We must have looked an odd sight in November. Three glamorously dressed and immaculately made up young women in long dresses, with jackets draped round our shoulders to protect us from the cold, walking down the street, at 11.00 pm. When we reached the post box Carol handed me the letter.

‘You post if for me, please,’ I said.

‘No; you must do it.’

I took it from her and let it drop through the slot. I heard the sound as it hit the bottom of the letterbox. That was it; there was no way I could now prevent Mum from finding out. I took a deep breath.

‘Well done!' said Lucy.

‘No regrets I hope?’ Carol asked.

I shook my head.

‘No regrets, and thanks to both of you for all your help over the last few weeks, and I hope I’ll continue to receive your moral support.’

‘Of course you will, you’re our sister and our cousin after all.’

It was too late for Lucy to travel home on her own, so I found her some silk pyjamas from out of my new wardrobe and offered to let her share my bed with me as it was large enough for two of us. We all helped one another to get changed out of our finery.

‘Thanks Becky, it was a super meal and I’ve had a good time. I am really glad to have you as my sister,’ said Carol and left us as she had to go in to work at her normal time on Friday

I wasn’t due to work until the evening and Lucy had no lectures until the afternoon, so we woke at about 9.00am and lay in bed for an hour or more comparing notes about the events of the previous evening.

‘I’m afraid you’ve now passed the point of no return as far as telling your mother is concerned, the post will soon be collected from the box and your letter will be on its way to her,‘ said Lucy.

‘I know, there’s nothing I can now do to stop it, even if I wanted to, but I am quite sure that I don’t want to change anything. I am so happy with the way things have turned out and am determined to go ahead with my plans.’

‘But you must be a little anxious about your mother’s reaction to the news.’

‘Of course I am, but she will have to know about Becky sometime, and so why put off the evil day? Above all, I was so pleased with the way that you and Carol reacted to my news last night. I now feel closer to you both as a result.’

‘And I feel closer to you as well Becky. In fact I much prefer having you as a girl cousin than a boy cousin.’

‘Why is that?’

‘You just seem more relaxed and comfortable in your skin as Becky than you used to do as Nick. I can understand now why that was the case; you were always trying to pretend you were something you were not.’

‘Yes you are right.’

You are also much prettier than Nick, and what is more, I now know where to come if ever I need to borrow a ball gown.’

Lucy smiled and gave me a kiss on the cheek and I felt a warm glow of contentment passing through my body.

As we got up and began to get dressed Lucy looked around the bedroom.

‘Since you are now planning to spend your life as a girl, I feel that it is time you started to pay attention to some of the other aspects of being female. I think you should do something about your living environment to make it reflect your new girly personality a little more. Carol’s spare room is a little bit Spartan in its furnishings and appearance, I think you should try and brighten it up a bit. It shouldn’t really cost much money.’

‘Alright, now that I’ll no longer have to worry about buying some more clothes, I should be able to do so. Maybe you and my sister might be able to offer me some advice.’

‘Yes of course. Why don’t we have a quick look around a store selling furnishings to give you some ideas?’

‘That’s fine by me.’

I don’t think I have ever spent a happier two hours in my life than that Friday morning with Lucy looking around the shops at Willesden. We didn’t buy anything, but just looked around, examining products, making suggestions and generally chatting to one another. There was no worry or stress, just two girls spending some time with one another. All worries about my imminent meeting with my mother were for the time being dispelled. Lucy was accepting me as a girl, and that is all I’d ever wanted from anybody. But of course all good things have to come to an end. She had lectures to attend and was planning to spend the weekend with Andy, and I had to get ready for my work. My general feeling of well-being continued at work. I received several compliments on my new hair style and congratulations once it became known that my contract had been extended.’

I was also on good form with the patrons, which always resulted in more tips to share around. I was gradually getting used to dealing with guys, laughing at their jokes or massaging their egos. One man asked me out and for the first time I was almost tempted to accept. I’d been asked out nearly a dozen times over the last six weeks, but I’d made a point of turning them all down. Half of the offers came from married men or those with regular girlfriends. I got the impression they were all just looking for some exotic sex, and that was one area I didn’t want to get involved with. But this one guy, Roger, seemed different, as if he genuinely liked me. Of course I’d already turned him down once, along with all the others, but I’d tried to stay on friendly terms with him as I didn’t want to scare away a good customer.

‘I do like the colour of your nails, Becky,’ he said as I handed him his change on Friday evening.

‘Thank you, kind sir,’ I said doing a little mock curtsey. ‘I wore a dress this colour to dinner last night, and haven’t had the chance to change it yet.’

‘You should leave them as they are, the colour really suits you.’

I smiled and would have moved on to the next customer, but we’d hit a temporary quiet patch.

‘Did your boyfriend take you out to dinner?’ he asked, tentatively

‘No it was just a dinner party for my sister and my cousin, Lucy,’ I replied.

I could see that he was plucking up courage to ask me out a second time, and my heart went out to him.

‘I don’t suppose you would let me take you out to dinner sometime?’

I suppose I should have seen it coming and I really wanted to say yes, but I knew that one of the first questions that Mum would ask me was whether I had been seeing a man, and I wanted to be able to answer her truthfully.

‘Roger, thank you for asking, but this really isn’t a good time for me at present. Maybe, another time?’

I touched his hand gently and looked into his eyes as I said this, trying to convey the message, ‘not now but do please ask me again.’

‘Yes of course,’ he said looking totally crushed, and took his drink away to a table, blushing as he did so.

It struck me how much power women have over men, but I also knew that having been turned down twice he wouldn’t ask again, and that made me feel sorry.

Carol usually went out on Saturdays but on this occasion she’d decided to stay in. It occurred to me later that this was probably for my sake. I emerged from my room at about midday, and poured myself some tea.

‘Hi Carol, what time are you planning to ring mum?’

‘She has already called, in fact we’ve spoken twice. She rang me as soon as she received your letter.

‘How did it go then?’

Carol took a deep breath.

‘Well, as we realized, your letter has come as a shock to her. She was not at all happy to begin with and said she had no wish ever to meet you dressed as a girl, and certainly didn’t want you turning up at her house that way. She demanded to speak to you, but I told her that you had been working all night, were sleeping and I wasn’t prepared to wake you. I even went in to your room and turned off your mobile phone, as otherwise I’m sure she would have tried that. She was also very angry with me and with Lucy, and wants you to come back to East Anglia as Nick and forget that Becky ever existed. I told her that she would have to tell you that herself, but not until she’d had time to calm down and reflect on the news. Things seemed fairly disastrous at that point and so I left it for a couple of hours.’

‘And then what?’

I spoke to her a second time an hour ago after she’d had some more time to think. I believe I may have talked her round a little. She even admitted to me that you looked very nice in the photographs that we sent her, so clearly she hasn’t torn them up and thrown them away’.

‘So what was the final outcome?’ I asked.

‘She has reluctantly agreed to meet us both during the coming week. She will take a day off work and come up to see you in London.

‘With me as Becky?’

‘Oh yes; at first she tried to insist that she would only see you as Nick, but I told her that you were not going to be talked out of your new job and that she should therefore get used to the idea, if she didn’t want to lose contact with you altogether.’

‘Thanks, Carol.’

‘However, she’s adamant that she doesn’t want you to come to Brome dressed as Becky and feels that you should make some alternative arrangements for Christmas. She says that she would be too embarrassed if you came to her house and that someone in the village would be bound to catch sight of you.’

‘But I hardly know the neighbours.’

‘I know, and I told her that you made a totally convincing young woman, but I think she needs to see you for herself first. I therefore suggested that the two of you should meet in my flat when I’m at work’.

‘When?’

I explained that you usually had Wednesdays and Thursdays off, and so she will come up to London on Wednesday and should arrive at my flat about 2.00 pm. I normally see Geoff on Wednesday evenings but will arrange to be home from work by 4.00 pm if you like, so you will have two hours on your own to talk her round, before I come and back you up.’

‘Then what?’ I asked.

‘That rather depends upon the two of you. If she is still determined to be upset and go home on her own — so be it. At least she knows your secret now, and you will be able to get on with your life. But I hope you’ll be able to talk her round into accepting the situation, in which case we could all go out for a meal together on Wednesday evening.’

‘Thank you for all your trouble on my behalf Carol, you’ve been a great sister’ I said.

‘I won’t say it has been easy for me today, Becky, but I’ve done my best for you and hope you will be able to work things out.’

‘Thanks again. Do you think Lucy will get it in the neck as well?’

‘Probably not; at least not for the time being. I don’t think Mum is in the mood to want to discuss your situation with any of the relations at present.’

‘By the way, Carol, what do you think I should wear when I see her?’ I asked.

Carol laughed, ‘Oh Becky, you really are turning into a girl. You now have masses of clothes and yet you are still worrying about what to wear. I don’t really know what is the most appropriate attire for a son to tell his mother that he will be spending his future living as a woman,’ she said. ‘However I’m sure we can find something to make you look nice just the same. If possible, you should try to look smart and feminine, but don’t go over the top in terms of glamour. Also, try and tone down the make-up a little to begin with as well.’

‘Do you think I wear too much makeup?’ I asked a little anxiously.

‘No, not really, in fact I think you use makeup very well, but remember it’ll be a little bit of a shock to her the first time she sees you’

‘Alright then, I’ll do my best to look like a demure young lady,’ I said laughing.

‘But decorous as well.’

‘Of course.’