Eddie got up early and took a quick bath. His mom found it odd that he was doing so, but also didn't want to discourage any spontaneous hygiene habits that might be developing in her son. He dried himself off, and put on a brand new pair of white briefs he hadn't yet worn. He didn't want to get any grime on them, knowing Mickie would be wearing them. And he wanted to be clean for whatever of hers he'd be putting on.

He still couldn't quite wrap his head around the idea that he'd be wearing girls' clothing. It was such a forbidden idea, he couldn't even quite picture what girls' underwear would be like. The undies he had just put on were certainly for boys, with the flap in front. He'd seen Rosemary's underwear in the laundry, but she was so young. What would Mickie's be like?

A heightened sense of awareness filled his being as he rode out to Paradise. The birds were chirpier, the breeze was breezier, and the sky was bluer. He was on his way to the beginning of a one way trip to who knows where, and he needed to soak up every little detail along the way. A young woman emerged from the drug store as he rode past, her hair arranged neatly in a bun. I could have hair like that, he thought. His bike raced ahead more quickly, as both thrill and apprehension pumped him up.

Mickie's bike wasn't there when he reached the culvert. He parked and walked gingerly through, careful not to get himself dirty on the way. He found a spot further up the bank in the grass, away from the mud, and sat down and waited.

And waited. He didn't have a watch, but it seemed like at least twenty minutes had passed, and no Mickie. Had he dreamed this whole thing up? The longer he waited, the more it felt unreal, like the whole thing had to be a fantasy cooked up by his twisted mind. Why would he dream up such a thing? Because there is something wrong with him. Something unwell. Mickie is a sweet young girl, and he has somehow imagined her to be a freak like him. A freak who doesn't accept what God has planned for him. It's bad enough that he has these strange desires. But now he is projecting them onto his friend as well.

A sound from the culvert roused him from his self-torture. Mickie was finally emerging, hunched over. She straightened out as she exited, and let out a sigh of relief when she saw Eddie.

"I'm glad you're still here, I'm sorry I'm late. I got in another huge fight with my mom."

"What about?"

"She got me an appointment at the salon. She wants to do something more girly with my hair. So she wasn't going to let me come over here, but then the salon called and said could we come a little later. So she let me come but we gotta be fast."

"Ok, well I guess this shouldn't take long. I was worried you weren't coming, like I dreamed it all up."

"I'm sorry Eddie. Don't worry, nothing's gonna stop us from doing this. OK, now first, we have to set this thing between us."

She pulled the talisman out of her pocket and placed it on a large rock between them. "Now, you go over behind those bushes and take off your undies, and bring them back here."

"OK..." He did as she asked and went behind a thicket a few yards away, where he was shielded from her view. He took off his shorts and hung them on a branch, then removed his underwear and laid them gently across another branch, careful not to mess them up in any way. He pulled his shorts back on and walked back around to her, conspicuously carrying the undies between his thumb and forefinger.

"OK, hand them to me."

Mickie disappeared behind the bushes for a few moments, then returned and handed him her panties. "Here, they're brand new and the most girly pair I've got. Now go put them on." He proceeded back to the changing spot, trying not to look at what was in his hand.

After pulling off his shorts again, he took a look at the panties. They were pink, with a lacy band. Just flat on the front, no flap like his. He felt the softness of the fabric, and felt a jab of shame again. Better get this over with before I chicken out, he thought, and he stepped into the panties and pulled them up his legs. He took one quick conflicted look down at them, then covered them up with his shorts and went back out to Mickie.

"OK, now we both touch the talisman." She placed her fingertip on one end, and he did the same. Suddenly the eye stones flashed red, and he felt a warm feeling all through his body. Then it faded away.

Mickie grinned at him. "It's starting."

"How long will it take?"

"It's gonna be a few days, I think. It doesn't happen all at once."

"I don't think I feel any different."

"Yeah, it takes time. Alright, I gotta go, I don't want another fight with my mom. I just hope I don't come out with some stupid hair."

Before he knew it she was gone, and he was standing there alone. With girls' panties on. It felt weird and it felt normal. He almost felt like a spy, like he was doing something secret and exciting that nobody knew about. He crouched back through the culvert, got on his bike, and rode back into town humming the James Bond theme.

+++++

Eddie spent the day lazing around the house. He watched some TV for awhile, but after zoning out to Match Game followed by a rerun of The Brady Bunch, he got bored and went up to his room. It was such an odd suspended kind of feeling - he was waiting for something stupendous to happen, yet everything seemed as normal and dull as any other Prairie Falls summer day. Once he was back in the privacy of his room, he gingerly pulled on the waistband of his shorts, revealing a hint of the pink underwear peeking out. Yep, it's still there.

He was tempted to call Mickie several times, but as he didn't have anything to report, he suppressed the urge. He also didn't want to talk about it within earshot of his parents. Ultimately he got too antsy and went out to ride his bike around.

An hour later he returned home, having experienced nothing remarkable on his ride. He was just about to the top of the stairs when the phone in the living room rang. He stopped and cocked an ear as his mother answered it.

"Hello? Oh yes, hi. Sure, let me get him. Eddie! It's Mickie on the phone!"

He ran down and grabbed the receiver out of her hand, then gave her a look that said 'give me some privacy'. She went into the kitchen looking bemused.

"Hey Mickie."

"Eddie!" she whispered back. "You won't believe what happened! When I got home, my mom all of a sudden said I don't have to get my hair done, and she doesn't know why she was thinking I needed to do that! Isn't that amazing?"

"Wow yeah, that's good," he whispered back.

"It's starting to work!"

"You still wearing, um, you-know-what?"

"Of course! Are you?"

"Yeah."

"You sound kinda funny. Are you mad or something?"

"No, not mad. It's just... nothing's really happening."

"Just give it some time. It's gonna work! OK bye!"

Mickie did her abrupt hang up thing, and Eddie went back up to his room and laid on the bed. I know Mickie thinks it's doing something, he thought, but it could be a coincidence. Maybe her mom just naturally changed her mind. Why isn't anything happening to me?

After a few more minutes lost in thought, there was a knock on the bedroom door.

"I'm coming in honey," his mother said through the door, and then entered the room carrying a hamper. "I have your clean clothes here, I want you to put them away right away, OK?"

"Yes Mom," he said robotically, and got up to open his dresser drawers as she laid the folded clothes out on the top of the dresser. He grabbed the pile of underwear and was putting them in a drawer when he noticed. Interspersed with his white briefs were a few pairs that looked suspiciously like the pair he was wearing. Girls' underwear. He froze. Was his mom onto him somehow? But even so why would she do this?

Then he noticed the pile of T-shirts she had just pulled out of the hamper. On the top of the pile was a white blouse, with ruffly sleeves and some lacy trim, and little yellow floral patterns. Undoubtedly not a boy's shirt.

"Uh, Mom..." he said as she was about to go back into the hall.

"Yes Eddie?"

"Um, I think you got some of Rosey's stuff in here..." He held up the blouse tentatively, as if merely touching it would get him in trouble.

"What do you mean, honey?" she asked quizzically. "You know that's much too big for your sister." She smiled at him. "I know you love your T-shirts, but it's nice to have something prettier to wear once in a while."

Eddie felt a shiver go down his back. Was it starting, for real? He got a little bolder. "But what about these?" He held up the girls' underwear in the pile with his briefs.

She shook her head and gave him a concerned look. "What about them? It's just your underwear. Are you feeling alright honey?"

Eddie decided to push it one step further. He held up panties in one hand and briefs in the other. "Both of these are mine?"

"Honestly dear, what has gotten into you? Of course they're both yours, I wouldn't have brought them up here otherwise. Are you going to stop playing games and put them away?"

"OK..." he stood there stunned.

"I'm waiting..."

She stood there, arms crossed, and watched as he put his clothes into the various drawers. One more surprise met him as he put away the socks - there was a cute pair of black tights with them. He shoved them in with the socks and closed the drawer.

"Thank you," his mom said. "Maybe you should take a nap, I think you need some rest," and she left him to ponder the situation.

Eddie sat on the edge of the bed for some time, trying to process what had just happened. There had been the intense rush of memories the other day, and the glowing eyes and vibration from the talisman. Those were definitely unusual. But this thing with the clothes - it was the first time it started to feel like this could really be true. What his mother was saying had been positively abnormal.

He got up and went to the door, just to assure himself it was latched. Then he stepped over to the dresser, opened the shirt drawer and meekly pulled out the blouse. He held it up before him admiringly. He realized he was breathing a little heavy - it really was making him nervous. A tenderness filled him as he brushed the soft fabric across his cheek. He set it down, took a deep breath, and slowly pulled off his T-shirt. Then he pulled the blouse over his head. It was just like putting on a T-shirt, only it wasn't.

He looked at his reflection in the mirror on his door. It wasn't a very big mirror, but it was enough for his head and torso. He stared at himself for several seconds, then quickly pulled off the blouse and flung it onto the bed. What was he thinking?! He looked ridiculous. He sat on the bed again, letting the panic subside. OK, maybe it's not ridiculous. It seemed fine to his mom.

He laid back and looked up at the ceiling, then over at the blouse he'd tossed onto the bed. It is pretty, isn't it? Mom's right. Maybe someday I'll look pretty wearing it.

After an uneventful supper he brushed his teeth and got ready to change into his pajamas. After taking off his shirt and shorts and socks, he stood there for a bit, in just his panties. They looked odd on him, with his boy parts bunched up inside. But a little part of him relaxed into it. Pretty soon this won't be weird anymore, he thought. He opened up his dresser drawers. The panties and tights and floral blouse were all still there. After pulling off Mickie's panties and placing them carefully in the hamper, and putting on his pajamas, he crawled into bed. A lightness filled him, and he allowed himself to think about the things he had missed out on. Playing with dolls, tea parties, princess dress up. Maybe there were things he was already too old for. But it wasn't making him sad. It was more like rolling forward through those markers, to find his new starting place. To get himself in position so that when the gun went off, he could fling himself into the race with all his soul.