Weerd Hep, Revisited

Thanks, Malady, for all your help, editing and giving ideas!

I’ve got a strange story to tell. It’s entirely true, although I doubt you’ll believe me. You’re probably thinking this is a site for transgender fiction, not non-fiction. Well… That’s why I’m posting it here. I want to tell my story, and since it’s entirely unbelievable, I’ll post it as a work of fiction.

I guess the way these stories usually start, is that I give my name. So, to that end, I’ll say, “Hi! I’m Shawna Briggs.” I wasn’t always, and you’ll probably guess that I used to be Shawn. Shawn Biggs. Notice the missing ‘R’ in my last name. That was because… Oh, that’s not really important.

Now I should tell you that, yes, I was born a male, but like so many people, I knew that I shouldn’t have been. I went through the normal “You’re a boy! Not a girl!” stuff, but when I stayed at it for long enough, and he started realizing it wasn't just a phase, my Dad told me a story that his dad told him that his dad told about his dad. In other words, my great-grandfather.

I guess it was right about 2000 that I heard the story for the first time, and I always wished it had been me that was the ‘stranger’ in the story.

See, what happened was…. Maybe I should go about this in a different way. Rather than repeat the same story, let me tell you mine, because the stories are one and the same.

In 2008, I was 20 years old, and I went for a walk on a hot summer day, and the city was like a blast furnace. It was one of those days where you could see the heat squiggling off the asphalt.

I should back up and tell you that our house, mine and my parents, was in a subdivision that had been built on land that had been in my family for ages. At least back to my great-grandfather’s time.

Anyway, I rounded a corner and it just got hotter and hotter. I wanted to get home cause the heat was just shimmering and squiggling off the road, sidewalk, and even the grass. I couldn’t see the buildings surrounding me because of the heat shimmering!

Finally, though, the shimmers and squiggles stopped, and then I did too. There weren’t any houses! I was walking on a road, but it sure wasn’t paved! It was hot, but not nearly as bad as it had been. I looked up and the sky was crystal clear blue, and I could hear grasshoppers or whatever they were, chirping away in the field. Yeah, there was a barbed wire fence along the road, and on the other side was a field. Like I said, the heat was sure there, cause every breath was of warm air that carried the scent of the drying grasses with it.

Down the road a bit, were some buildings, and I started to hurry toward them, but then I slowed down and I began to wonder about the story I’d been told over and over and I started to wonder if this was the story. I sure hoped so!

I walked slowly then, just savoring the day. If it wasn’t the story, that was alright. It was beautiful. Woods to the left, and hay field to the right.

The buildings turned out to be a farm, and it looked like the one I’d seen pictures of, but this was much newer than the pictures of my great-grandparent’s farm. Yeah. that’s what it looked like. My great-grandparent’s farm!

As I got closer, I saw a woman hanging some clothes out on a rope stretched between a couple of T shaped supports. She saw me walking by and smiled and waved. “Hello!” she called out, waving to me.

“Hi!” I called back. I choked back the word “Grandma” cause by now, I was certain that this was my great-grandma. There was no mistaking her from the pictures I’d seen. A little girl suddenly ran out of the house and the door clapped shut with a bang. Looking at the little girl, I knew immediately that it was my great-aunt Bess.

I thought back to the story I’d been told. If this was the day of that story, and I was the kid Great-Grandpa told about, then this was exactly one hundred years in the past, and my greatest dream was to come true sometime in the night. What happened beyond that, I hadn’t any idea, but I really didn’t care.

I walked by the house, and continued down the road. Then I saw it -- the elm tree. It wasn’t huge, but it was unmistakable. I started looking for my great grandpa, and spotted him kneeling down between me and the tree. There was a long line of fence that had been knocked down stretching down the road for a mile or so. Three lengths of wire and fence-posts that were laying down on the ground. I wondered if he’d lost any cattle in this instance. No one had ever said, but then again, there was obviously lots that wasn’t said in the story.

He must have heard my feet scuffing on the dirt road, because he looked up at me. He was obviously working hard, as the sweat was dripping off him. He had a bit on his nose, and as he reached up, he rubbed some dirt on it, then grinned.

I thought back to what the stranger in the story had said, but then I remembered Great-Grandpa said the person didn’t talk like him. He seemed like a city person.

“Hi!” I greeted him. “Looks like you’ve got a lot of work to do. Want some help?”

He grinned even bigger, and said, “Sure, if you’re not afraid of a bit of hard work.” He eyed my build, and I have to admit, I didn’t look anywhere as fit as him. “I can’t pay ya, either, but I’ll welcome some company.”

Well, if this was the story, the conversation went a bit differently than I’d heard, but that’s not really surprising, with the three generations it had been passed down through. Sorta like one of those games where you whisper something to the person next to you and they whisper it to the person next to them, on down the line where it comes back completely changed. I hoped the major parts of this story were intact, though!

“That’s okay, Mister,” I told him. He hadn’t given me his name, and honestly, I didn’t know if he would. I just told him, “Maybe just some water and a bite to eat. It’s been quite a walk.”

He eyed me critically, and I thought maybe I didn’t look like I’d walked very far. Oh great, I thought. What if I messed things up?

Great-Grandpa smiled though. “Not a problem. Polly’ll fix us up some grub.”

I grinned and got working. I was a bit slow at first, but I worked hard, and once I realized what we needed to do, I threw everything I had into it.

Around midday, Great-Grandma brought out some food and beverages. Aunt Bess and Uncle Charles came out with her, each carrying stuff.

I had been watching, and glad to see that the elm was right where it was supposed to be according to the tale I’d been told.

Bess was probably about four years old, and she sat down beside me where I was, under the elm tree. She had a rag doll that she’d brought with her, and started playing with it, talking to it, and ‘feeding’ her little girl.

In the story, it had seemed as though I’d asked the question out of the blue, but I’d been watching my great-aunt, the little girl, playing with her dolly, and it seemed a logical question. “Have you ever wondered what it’s like to be a little girl?”

Well, the part about Great-Grandpa giving me a strange look was certainly true. “No,” he said. “I haven’t.”

I did as much playing that I could with Bess, and really seemed to have made a friend in her, but when we’d finished eating, Great-Grandpa got up and i needed to follow suit. We started working again.

It was late afternoon when we finished repairing the broken down fence, and I was famished. Great-Grandpa thanked me profusely for my help, and offered me dinner and a place to sleep during the night. We started walking back toward the house and Great-Grandma must have seen us heading toward home, and she came out to an outside table with some food, or ‘grub’ as Great-Grandpa called it.

It was delicious! Kind of a pot roast, and the veggies were thick in it. I was in love with her cooking! Just wonderful! And lemonade! Fresh squeezed, apparently because there was lots of pulp in it. Wasn’t too sweet, which I liked.

When it was time to get some sleep, I asked if I could sleep under the elm tree. Grandpa assured me that there was a bed inside I could sleep in. I say Grandpa, because this was a 9-year-old George Biggs, my Grandpa who was telling me this.

I knew I had to sleep under the elm tree for the story to be accurate, however. So I insisted that I slept best outside. By now, I’d gotten dirty and sweaty from the day, and I fit the look of a wild, outdoor person.

Great-Grandpa said that was fine, and I could have some grub in the morning too.

I lay down under the tree and waited. Now, there was an absence of information from the tale I’d been told. I had no idea what happened next, but it was said that somehow I was going to become a girl by morning.

I sat there, and nothing happened. I really couldn’t sleep, because my mind was awhirl. What if Great-Grandpa had been wrong? What if the person -- me -- hadn’t become a girl at all? Maybe he’d been wrong! Maybe he’d been mistaken! What if…

But somehow, I’d been transported one hundred years into the past, and was under the famed tree, passing the night.

I tried to stop the excited worry from going through my mind, and I eventually dozed off. I’d worked really hard that day, and I guess my fatigue overcame my racing mind.

I jerked awake a little while later, and looked at my form in the moonlight. It was a full moon. I hadn’t changed. I was still a guy. I could feel that nothing was different.

I was so disappointed that I flopped backwards onto the tree trunk. I hit my head hard, and I felt really dizzy. I must have passed out, because the next thing I knew, it was morning and I was warming up.

I jerked fully awake again, and looked at myself. I had changed! Somehow! Not only was my body that of a girl, but I was wearing a light sundress. Huh? How did…

What a stupid question I thought. How did I end up wearing a sundress? What about, How did I travel back in time? How did I become a girl?

I heard footsteps off to my left, and I looked, expecting to see Great-Grandpa. My Grandpa, George, had stopped and was simply staring at me.

Suddenly, he turned and fled back to the house. A couple of minutes later, Great-Grandpa came striding out. He stopped when he saw me. I stood, and since I’d been passed out on the ground, My back and neck were sore, so I stretched. My new body felt amazing!

“Who are you?” Great-Grandpa asked me.

I smiled at him, and said, “My name’s Shawna. Shawna B..riggs. Thank you so much for the food yesterday. Please tell Polly she’s an incredible cook!”

I turned and started walking down the road. I guess the magic or whatever had changed me didn’t include making shoes, as I was barefoot.

Each step hurt, but each one was a reminder that my greatest dream had somehow come true!

I walked for a long time, following the road, and I began to wonder if I’d ever go back to my own time. I finally looked up and the sun was past noonday. The heat was becoming incredible again, and my feet were starting to burn with each step. I moved to the grass beside the road, and found that the drying grass was sharp against the blisters that were forming on my feet from the walking and hot dirt and rocks.

I stopped, ready to sit down on the grass, but something told me to keep moving.

I wasn’t sure which was better. The grass, or the dirt, and I took another step toward the road. Suddenly, the same sensation of dizziness happened. I almost collapsed, I was so thirsty! Then, my feet were burning beyond anything I’d felt before! I was standing on hot asphalt, in the center of a busy street. A car screeched as it came to a stop behind me. I spun around, and saw an older model Chevrolet not more than two feet away!

I limped off the street and into a corner store. A Seven/Eleven. I looked at the Lottery machine and saw that it was the day after I’d left. Somehow, the transfer in time had moved me exactly one hundred years, each way.

“Can I help ya?” It was a girl, not much younger than me, who was minding the store.

I looked down at myself and saw that I was still, definitely a girl. “I just need to use the restroom,” I said.

The girl pointed at a sign that said, “No public restrooms.”

I sighed, and started to go outside. The girl must have seen I was limping, because she stopped me. “You need some flip flops or something?”

“I forgot my purse,” I said. “I don’t have any cash.”

The girl sighed theatrically, and went down one aisle and came back with an extremely cheap pair of plastic wrapped flip flops. “Put these on.”

I thanked her, and started limping my way toward home.

I saw the sign showing what street I was on and realized I had several miles I needed to cover to get home. I hated thinking of the distance I needed to go, and how sore my feet were.

The city bus ran along this route, and I could ride it almost to my front door if I just had two dollars! I started scanning the gutters, and wonder of wonders, I saw a five! I picked it up and hurried into another store. I bought a large soda, used the restroom, then went outside to the bus stop.

Finally, the bus pulled up and I carefully climbed aboard, paid my fare, and limped to a seat.

Sitting down was pure Bliss! I sat on the bus as it made its way along the street, and wondered what my parents would say when they saw me.