ALL NOVEL 3. Distant Relatives
I sighed and asked, "Can't we do this tomorrow? I'm supposed to write a history exam first thing this morning, you know?"
"You can't go to school looking like that!" mom stated.
I grimaced, "I wouldn't go like this obviously, I just grabbed the first dry things in my closet. I'm sure there's stuff in there that'll fit me better. But I know what you mean, I basically need a whole new wardrobe."
"I have no idea what to do about shoes today," I added with a frown. "My feet are all small and cute now."
It was half past one in the morning and my parents and I were sitting around the kitchen table. They wanted to figure out what was going on, what happened to me. Meanwhile my wet clothes were getting cold and uncomfortable, so I took a minute to towel myself off then got changed. Now I was in a pair of light grey track pants, a short-sleeve t-shirt, and my favourite dark green hoodie. And everything was like ten sizes too big on me.
I wanted to get all my new measurements, I wanted to know how much I'd shrank. I also wanted a hot shower, and I really wanted to get some sleep, so I'd be awake for my exams later. And finally I wanted to go shopping for cute new clothes, but that was going to have to wait till after school. Not that I had much in the way of money, so I was kind of hoping my folks would help out with those expenses.
Dad took a deep breath then let out a long sigh before saying "That's not what your mother meant. You can't go to school looking like a girl, son. Nobody's going to recognize you, they won't know who you are."
The muscles across my shoulders and the back of my neck tensed up slightly, "Dad please stop calling me that. I'm not your son, I'm not a boy. My name is Violet, I'm your daughter."
"You can't be a girl," he stated. "You just can't. It's impossible."
I rolled my eyes, but I tried not to get too upset. Instead I tried to joke, "I actually checked that when I changed my pants? I'm definitely a girl."
He sighed and picked up his glass then took another swig of his scotch. As he set the glass back down he shook his head, "Whatever happened, we need to undo it. We need to fix this."
That only added to the tension across my shoulders and back, and it also turned my stomach slightly.
"No!" I stated firmly. "This isn't a problem, and I'm not broken. This is perfect, it's what I was meant to be. It's everything I've always wanted, and more! It's all my wishes come true, and I won't let you or anyone else take it away from me!"
"Try and be reasonable," he replied with another weary sigh. "What are you going to do for ID? What are you going to do for your exams? For college? What are you going to tell your friends? What about your summer job? Nobody's going to know who you are, and if you try and tell them it was some magic or miracle nobody's going to believe that. Hell I saw it happen with my own two eyes and I don't believe it!"
I slumped down in my chair until I'd slouched low enough my chin was almost level with the kitchen table. If I went any lower I'd slide right off and end up on the floor. I was probably pouting and in the back of my mind I convinced myself that I had a super cute pout, but mostly I was just trying to avoid thinking about everything my dad said. Because I knew he was right.
As much as I wanted to pretend everything would be fine, I could only imagine what would happen if I went to school in the morning looking like this. Teachers wouldn't know who I was, my friends Seth and Jade wouldn't believe it was me. I had a summer job lined up at a big plant nursery garden centre place, but I'd made those arrangements as a guy with my guy name. And I couldn't just show up and apply for a job as Violet because all my ID had my deadname and my old picture and all that stuff on it.
"Son?" dad asked after a few quiet minutes. "Do you know how this happened to you? Is there something you can do to control it? To turn it off, or reverse it or something?"
"No," I sighed as I closed my eyes. "I don't know how it happened, I don't know what caused it. But dad? I wouldn't turn it off or reverse it even if I could."
I opened my eyes and slowly pulled myself upright again so I was sitting up straight in the chair, then I looked back and forth between my parents.
I took a deep breath then told them, "Mom, dad, this is me. This is the real me, this is who I've been inside since forever. I'm Violet, I'm a girl. You're right, stuff's going to be difficult. I know how to file a name change form, I know how to get new ID and stuff. It's not that hard, it just takes time. And I know it'll be a million times harder if I have to do everything on my own, without your help. But if that's what I have to do, then I'll do it. Because I'm never giving this up. It's more important to me than anything else in the world."
Both my parents looked stressed about that, and the two exchanged a glance. Then mom opened her mouth to say something, when all three of us were surprised by someone ringing the doorbell. It wasn't just one 'ding' either, someone was rapid-fire tapping the button like they were trying to kill the final boss in a video game. The bell probably rang a dozen times inside two seconds, like it was some kind of life and death emergency.
"Who the hell is that?" dad frowned. "Who'd be at our door at this hour?"
He got to his feet and stomped out of the kitchen towards the front door still in his pyjamas, while me and mom waited in the kitchen.
"Mom?" I asked quietly while dad was dealing with whoever was at the door. "Will you accept me like this? Will you accept that I'm your daughter, that my name is Violet?"
She grimaced then sighed. Her voice was just as quiet as mine as she responded, "I'm going to need some time hon. This is all too fast, too sudden. And too much. I... I'm glad you're happy? But whatever happened to you tonight, it's not normal. It's not... Changing all at once like that, that sort of thing just doesn't happen. It's impossible."
That's as far as we got, when we both heard dad shout "Hey! You can't just barge in here like that!"
Mom and I both turned to look, just in time to see a strange young woman march into the kitchen. She stopped there in the doorway and her eyes locked on mine, then a wide warm smile appeared on her face.
"Hello Violet," she greeted me. Then as if talking to herself she added softly, "You look just as I imagined."
I had no idea what to make of that, and the two of us ended up just staring at each other quietly for a few seconds.
The woman was about average height, or maybe a little on the tall side of average. Her figure seemed athletic, she was slim with some smooth lithe muscle while still having all the soft feminine curves. Her short sandy brown hair was styled in a slightly messy pixie cut, and her bright hazel eyes had a spark of intensity in them that was hard to ignore. She was dressed sort of casual, in running shoes, a pleated off-white skirt that ended just above her knees, and a matching off-white sleeveless top.
Her outfit showed off her long shapely arms and legs, and part of my mind went off on a little tangent thinking about how much I wanted to get some skirts of my own. Maybe a dress too. Meanwhile the rest of my brain continued to focus on this strange woman, and I picked out a couple more odd little details as I stared.
She didn't seem to have a purse with her, and her outfit didn't appear to have any pockets anywhere either. There was a cute gold brooch pinned to her blouse above her heart, in the shape of a bow and a quiver of arrows. And finally, despite the fact that the rain was still coming down hard outside, the young woman appeared to be completely dry. Her hair, clothes, even her shoes were dry.
Another odd thing was I really couldn't guess her age. In some ways she seemed young, while in other ways she looked rather mature. The best I could come up with was she might have been in her twenties, but even that was just a guess. With a different outfit and hairstyle she might have fit right in at my high school. But likewise, a different outfit and the right make-up could have let her pass as a woman in her early thirties.
As we continued staring at each other another question came up. I was positive I'd never seen this person before, yet somehow she knew my name was Violet. The only people who knew that name were my parents and some semi-anonymous online friends. Except none of those friends would recognize me, nobody except my mom and dad had seen the new me.
"Who are you?" I finally asked. "How do you know me?"
My words got her to stop staring, and with that same wide smile on her face she strode into the kitchen then sat herself down at the table next to me.
Meanwhile dad marched in behind her and glared at the woman, "I don't know who you are but you're not welcome in here!"
The stranger ignored my dad completely, her attention remained on me as she finally responded to my questions.
"You may call me Phoebe," she replied. "That's the name I'm going by nowadays, Phoebe Archer. And I know you Violet, because you carry the blessing of one of my children. It's been a few years, but Cynthia told me all about you. You and she met when you were just a little girl."
My heart skipped a beat and I gasped, "You know Cynthia? Where is she? I've never stopped thinking about her, I need to see her again! I need to thank her, for everything she did for me!"
Phoebe's expression fell as a look of sadness came across her face, "Violet I'm so sorry. I thought you knew? Her time was almost at an end when the two of you met. You were her last friend, and I know you meant a great deal to her. You helped her more than you can know."
It took me a second or two to process the words, and the emotional whiplash was almost too much. One moment I thought I might get to see the girl with the pink hair again, the next moment I found out it was too late and we were never going to be reunited after all.
My eyes filled with tears as I shook my head, "No, she can't be gone!"
"I've had enough of this," dad interrupted. He sounded angry and impatient as he stood there next to Phoebe and demanded, "Get out of our house right now, or I'll throw you out myself."
The strange woman didn't take her eyes off me, and that same sad expression remained on her face. Without looking at him she responded to my dad, but in contrast to her sad expression her voice was quiet and carried a threatening tone.
"Better men than you have tried to lay their hands upon me. Out of respect for Violet I wouldn't do to you what I did with Actaeon or Broteas. Perhaps it would be more appropriate for you to share the same fate as Siproites? If nothing else that might teach you some empathy for what your daughter has endured until now."
I didn't recognize the first two names, but the third one rang a bell. It took me a moment or two to remember it was something I'd come across in Greek mythology. Siproites was a Cretan man who was turned into a woman after coming across a goddess bathing in the nude. That was exactly the sort of story that caught my attention, like of course there were gender bender stories all the way back in ancient Greece.
My eyes widened as I stared at the strange young woman, then I glanced at her brooch again. The gold bow and quiver of arrows could only mean one thing, and I may have gulped slightly as I realized who was sitting in our kitchen, who'd come to see me.
On the one hand it seemed impossible, for a number of reasons. Like first off if she was who I was thinking, then that meant the gods of ancient Greece were real. Even if that was true though, why would she be here in our house? And how would she know me, how would she know my name?
On the other hand I mysteriously turned into a cute purple-haired girl less than two hours earlier, and the strange woman recognized me, knew me by name, and she knew Cynthia as well. She arrived in a rain storm without getting wet. She was casually throwing around obscure names from Greek mythology. And she was wearing the most well-known symbol of the goddess as a fashion accessory.
Fortunately my dad hadn't tried to follow through on his threat to try and throw her out. I had no idea if either of my parents understood who our strange guest really was, but if she was anything like the legends said then I had no doubt she'd do exactly what she said to him, or worse.
"Ma'am?" I finally asked in a nervous half-whisper. "I mean you no disrespect, but what does the Goddess of the Hunt want with me?"
"I am also the Goddess of Nature," she responded in a calm confident voice. "And Goddess of the Moon, and protector of young women."
"Cynthia was one of my children, a woodland nymph," our guest continued, but her voice was softer and carried some sadness again. "She was an anthousai to be precise, commonly known as a flower nymph. She bestowed upon you her blessing, and she gave you your name. And tonight young Violet, you performed a sacred rite in her honour."
She probably saw the confused look on my face so she elaborated, "You were cleansed in virgin rainwater beneath a full moon. Then you sowed the seeds of your namesake, and you shed both tears and blood in sacrifice. I was moved by your actions, and the emotions behind them. So I granted your deepest wish. Along with the final wish of my Cynthia."
"Oh," I gulped once more. Then I bowed my head towards her and added, "Thank you Lady Artemis, I'm grateful for your generosity."
A second later I added nervously, "Except um, I didn't realize I was performing a rite? I just wanted to plant some seeds in Cynthia's name, after what happened in the lot next door on Sunday."
"Well then young Violet," the goddess replied with a wry smile, "You and I have much to discuss."
