Transvestia

I--I'm--I don't want to--God knows, but you force me--I'm a transvestite:" The fire fairly poured from his eyes and once the word had passed his lips, his entire attitude changed and he stood erect. "Yes. I'm a transvestite--and my dream of dreams is to live my life wearing the clothes and living the life of a girl. Only--only I'm a man, as you have so obligingly pointed out to me. And thats what I want to forget--and that is what I'm looking for." There was long, flat sound of an "Ahhhh." from the audi- ence as the young man went on. "And since I've provided you with so much inspiration, I will leave now, having provided you with a good laugh. And he broke and ran from the stage, through the door and down the road to the highway, too quickly to catch the wave of applause, too quickly to hear the banker call out "Stop! Stop! It's alright!", and just quickly enough to be snatched up and away by a Denver-Chicago diesel just pulling out of Miller's Truckstop.

The following day was a day of gloom in Smedley- burg. The watch and scroll were placed in the bank vault, and life resumed its normal pattern with a bitter tang of disappointment. At the Town Meeting, the following evening, The President of the Town Council introduced a resolution of regret which was passed unanimously and entered into the Town Record. A small bronze plate was ordered to be placed be- side the cenotaph in the Town Park, honoring the name of the young man.

"I think, all in all," said the President, rising again, "It's the very least we can do--in the hopes he'll pass this way again. However, life goes on-- the next item on the agenda is our Fourth of July Parade Queen. I think in view of what has happened, the best course for us to take is to select--and understand, I offer this only as a suggestion--that We elect as our queen the captain of our basketball team." With that, he sat down, smoothing his silken skirt modestly over his knees.

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