The Gender Journey Continues, but to Where?

Chapter 8: A lion and a thorn

We had a very casual start to the day. Basil was an excellent host and made sure that we had plenty of his special green tea. I wouldn’t be hungry for days, and he insisted on properly disposing of the remaining bitter apples, treating them like nuclear waste.

“I want to make sure that none of these seeds ever grows into one of the malignant trees you described.” I happily complied.

As we crossed the bridge back to the Path of Gender Enlightenment, I blew a huge string of celebratory bubbles to salute our wonderful host, or was it hostess, given the coolness of the morning? It didn’t matter to me or anyone else.

I was learning, Andi was filling out his/her bra looking confident, Harley moved in a non-binary way with confidence and grace, Judylooked radiant and happy just being herself — and Neverknow, well Neverknow was just Neverknow.

As we passed under a tree, we heard a “What’s Up?” from a pair of legs dangling from one of the trees. The leaves hid the rest. “What’s up with you?” I said.

The legs rotated out of sight and an upside-down head replaced them. “Not much” came a muffled response followed by an excellent one-and-a-half somersault. We applauded the performance.

In front of us stood a person (see I am learning) of moderate height wearing overalls, a white striped t-shirt striped in orange and pink, and a pair of scruffy work boots. The hair was a little wild, but the smile was genuine.

A deep bow was quickly followed by, “My name is Sam.”, which was then followed by hearty handshakes. We all introduced ourselves.

“Why are you all walking the road?” Sam asked.

After we told our stories, he smiled ear to ear. “I have been walking this road alone for a while. Some people don’t like my company.”

“Why not?” asked Judy.

“Because I prefer the company of women, nothing against you all, and that makes people uncomfortable because I’m a woman too.”

We looked at each other, smiled and said as a group, “Please join us!”

As we casually continued our stroll, Judy wandered off the Path of Gender Enlightenment to pick some flowers. Then she let out a yell of pain and went crashing to the ground holding her paw and crying huge tears. Sam was the first one on the spot. Pulling out a handkerchief to dry Judy’s tears, he held up her paw.

A large thorn was sticking in it. Without any warning, Sam pulled it out and used the tear-stained handkerchief to cover the wound. When he helped Judy up off the ground, she threw her arms around him and gave him such a large hug I noticed his eyes bulge a bit.

“There, there Judy”, Sam said, “why don’t you just hold on to me and I will help you walk a spell.”

Judy’s eyes welled up again and said, “That would be wonderful! No one has ever been there for me until I met all of you.”

Inexplicably, my eyes welled up as well.

End of Chapter Eight

Emma Holiday

In case you missed the first four chapters, here they are:

Additional writers note:

If you have read any of my writings on Medium you will have noticed a definite theme: the incredible pain of gender dysphoria and all the difficult aspects of just being transgender.

My writing has three specific goals:

1. Writing is my therapy. I have a very limited outlet for my thoughts so I write to find a way to process the most profound experience in my life. I need to understand and I need to accept myself to move forward.

2. Being transgender, for me, is a very lonely existence and if I can share some of the things that I feel and think as I go through the process of transitioning with others who are transgender and, in some way, lessen their pain and sense of loneliness, then all of this public exposure of my personal thoughts is not a waste.

3. I write to help cisgender people understand that all trans people want is to be simply understood, accepted and treated as a normal person. We are.

Thank you for reading my work.

Please also read:

Writers note: This series continues. It seems I bought more wine than I thought but I have to get more chocolates.

If you have read any of my writings on Medium you will have noticed a definite theme: the incredible pain of gender dysphoria and all the difficult aspects of just being transgender.

My writing has three specific goals:

1. Writing is my therapy. I have a very limited outlet for my thoughts so I write to find a way to process the most profound experience in my life. I need to understand and I need to accept myself to move forward.

2. Being transgender, for me, is a very lonely existence and if I can share some of the things that I feel and think as I go through the process of transitioning with others who are transgender and, in some way, lessen their pain and sense of loneliness, then all of this public exposure of my personal thoughts is not a waste.

3. I write to help cisgender people understand that all trans people want is to be simply understood, accepted and treated as a normal person. We are.

Thank you for reading my work.

Please also read: