34-TV FICTION CLASSICS

BORN TO BE

"Look at yourself. Your hair, your nails are unquestionably masculine!"

"What can I do?" he asked meekly.

"If I were trying to convince someone I was a girl, I sure wouldn't wear jeans and a sweatshirt. You can't do much about your hair and nails, but you can change your clothes! You should be wearing a dress, nylons, heels, and makeup to make yourself look feminine. Nobody looks for a guy to parade around in dresses, so if you wear a dress, everyone will assume you're a girl. If you wear jeans, your gender will be open to question, and that means trouble!"

Ted thought for a minute, then excused himself. When he returned an hour later, he was wearing a pretty floral dress with a tight fitting bodice to accentuate his small breasts, a full skirt that flowed to just above his nylon encased knees, and white skimmers with two inch heels. He wasn't especially pretty, but nobody would mistake him for a guy!

I decided to wear a green silky polyester street dress, one of my favorites. The form fitting top empathized my breasts and small waist while the skirt flared delightfully about my nylon clad knees. Being fond of the way heels made my legs look sexy, I wore three inch pumps to set off: my dress.

I introduced Ted to the beauty operators as my daughter and they greeted him cheerfully. When I told them he would not be returning to boarding school, they insisted he set up a regular appointment. He could hardly refuse!

Two hours later, a much different Ted walked from the beauty parlor, the operators having performed wonders. His head was covered with a mass of lovely tresses that curled down onto his neck, and his brows had been shaped into thin, well shaped arches that set off the rest of his face.

Both he and I had been talked into having a set of eyelashes applied. I thought they would just glue them on. Not until they were almost finished did I realize that they were permanent.

In a moment of weakness, Ted had them pierce his ears again. Now, he had three sets of holes in his ears. Gold hoops adorned the lower holes, his diamond studs graced the center, and keepers with small gold balls decorated his new top holes.

His nails had been neatly manicured and polished a lovely red to match his lipstick. I was very pleased hearing his heels clicking in unison with mine as we walked to the

car.

I volunteered to go to the mall with him that afternoon,

A DAUGHTER

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and he readily accepted my offer. During the drive, he looked in the mirror and sighed, "I can't believe this is happening to me." He was worried about wearing a dress in public, but from his comment, I could see that he was more afraid of Bob!

When we walked into the teeming mob, Ted tried to hide in my shadow, but I wouldn't let him. "You have to lose your fear of appearing as a girl!" I admonished. "You came back and agreed to this masquerade, you know."

Ted and I wandered into a clothing store filled with teenage girls shuffling through the racks of clothes. We wandered from rack to rack pretending to look for clothes, but really observing the girls. I'd point out something they were doing, and he would point out something else.

After listening to a group of girls as they wandered by, Ted whispered in my ear, "I can't talk that way! It's so immature, so preppy, so. . .Valley Girl!"

"That's exactly the way you must talk to pass as one of them and blend in," I advised.

"Oh no," he sighed.

We wandered the mall and bought a few things, including a cute red jumper, a black leather skirt, two lovely blouses, a pair of jeans with flowers on the pockets, several slips, bras, panties, and pantyhose.

In a woman's shoe store, Ted saw a pair that were rather nice, so we sat and waited for a salesperson. He and I were talking when we heard a masculine voice ask if we needed help.

Ted's face turned two shades of pale when he saw Thomas O'Brien standing before us. Thomas was one of the boys he chummed around with before going into the army. Thomas saw the confusion on Ted's face, but I came to the rescue. "My daughter would like to see this in a size seven."

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"Of course, Ma'am," Thomas politely responded while taking the shoe.

"Mom, tha...that's. . .," Ted stammered.

"Yes, I know," I nervously smiled.

"He'll recognize me! I. . .we. . .I'll be the laughing stock of the town," Ted whispered. "Let's get out of here before he comes back!"

"He didn't recognized you or he would have said something," I stated, feeling confident of my son's feminine disguise. "Be calm, or your nervousness will alert him."

Small beads of sweat formed at Ted's hairline and he appeared ready to drop his lunch on the floor. In fact, he