Sent By Sophia

Chapter 9: Debate

A Transgender Coming of Age Adventure

A Story from THE ONE

Ariel Montine Strickland

*

The digger was delivered the next morning as planned. Dora was on hand to watch Tom drive it down the narrow drive towards the house.

Noise; lots of it. I’m cold: I must have shivered as someone wrapped a warm blanket around me. Drift away again…

Noise again, light… My mother’s voice:

“I think he’s coming around.”

“Let’s have a look.”

Male, foreign, heavily accented.

“Ah; you back to us, yes?”

“Grunt”

“Whatyouname?”

“Huh?”

“He’s asking you for your name.”

Mother’s voice again.

“Name… Aisling…”

“It’s his stage name…”

Opening eyes, lights on ceiling, a man standing over me, white coat, stethoscope.

Chapter 6

Marilyn walked with her to the stairs. She held out her hand.

“See you later, Brightman. I’m heading back to my office to plug a new name into our searches. We’ve been trying to get the names of the robbers that Anderson was with out of the records for a week. They all went into juvenile and the records sealed. We’re looking at another avenue, but I believe that we now have the one we really wanted.”

She went up to the team office and stood by the ‘Rascal Wall’.

II. The Hearing

“What are we to do with you, Aylesea?” Pyotr Wylock asked as he stared at me. I answered his question with silence.

I stood in the center of the council chambers, my hands shackled. The men in the council looked bored…except for Feederk Wydosk, who stared at me with disdain from the far side of the table.

There are changes afoot but at least life looks to be settling down a bit for the Wunderkind. Or is it, things are hotting back up with BlauHase and at the Tanzklub but at least Mum is back home.

I. Wycliff

I, Aylesea Wysax, was conceived in the bonds of the slaveowner called Wycliff in the Wystill mountains. Everyone in Wycliff, from the mayor to the field generator workers who kept the town’s AG engines operational, lived to serve the kingdom Tyrian. No one in Wycliff had ever seen the drivers who reigned over us. But what is so important about a town held aloft by rope, steel, and anti-gravity engines? Why keep 20 generations under someone’s thumb?

When Samantha wants to help Jenna, she finds out her friend is the victim of a three hundred year old family curse...and a whole lot more.

At the house that was apparently ours in the world we ended up in, we took the opportunity to wash our clothes, and we looked through papers to try to see how we lived on this world. It looked like we had a handyman business.

“Great car,” a voice called out as I opened the driver side door.

I turned to see Andy standing next to his car wearing a white polo shirt and blue jeans. He hoisted his backpack up and walked over to me.

“My parents want me to invite your family over this weekend.”

“I reckon they’re going to be expecting a wedding proposal.”

“Don’t tempt me,” I replied.

There's a single-occupancy bathroom at the end of the east corridor — the one with the accessibility sign and the slightly sticky lock that everyone knows about and nobody has ever put in a maintenance request for. I've used it before when the men's is occupied. Today I go there first, directly.

I push the button to lock the door and it clicks.

Chapter Four

When they arrived back at the house, there was immediately a complication.

A car that Sam didn’t recognize had taken their spot in the driveway, and someone else had parked on the curb. He wasn’t ready for anyone to see him like this! Wasn’t all the wedding stuff supposed to be the following day? He hadn’t considered that Fiona might end up having company that wasn’t on the itinerary, since the bridesmaids were all friends and relatives of hers.