What's In A Name ?

Reprinted from VICE VERSA, Vol. 1, No. 4, September, 1947, by permission of the author, editor and publisher of this former Lesbian publication.

It was hot and dusty at the station, and Lou Ellon Erman, decked out in a print silk dress and cramping high heels, sat on a bench outside the ticket office, staring disconsolately through space.

"What time's the Local due in?" she asked the perspiring ticket agent.

"Got about 15 minutes yet," was his laconic reply.

Lou Ellen watched a bumblebee futilely buzzing against a flyspecked window pane.

"Like me," she thought to herself, "the odds are too much against him."

Idly, Lou Ellen wondered if Leslie would look like his brother, Ed. Not that it mattered much Lou Ellen wasn't interested in men.

-

Childhood experiences, much reading and brief acquaintance with a group of servicewomen stationed temporarily nearby had made Lou Ellen fully aware of her nature. Despite this she had done her share of USO hostessing during the war, for appearance's sake. A small town like Rockdale demanded that one at least appear to conform with the majority's way of life especially when one had to live with one's family. Besides, there just weren't any others of similar inclinations in Rockdale. At least, not to Lou's knowledge.

It was while acting as hostess at the small Hospitality House there that she had met Ed Wilton. Perhaps it was Ed's habit of referring to her as "Lou" that made Lou Ellen feel more at ease in his presence. She had always disliked her intensely feminine given name, and preferred the briefer appelation.

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