How You Dress it Up: A Matter of Perspective (Erik's Story), Part 1

Hello all! First, I just wanted to say thank you to all of the wonderful people who have left kind messages in support of me and my recent captions. I really do appreciate your comments. Today, in light of an advancement of a new story I have written, I am going to start posting little chunks of the story (in order) over an extended period of time. This allows me to get work out quicker and test the waters to see if people like where I am taking the story.

So this story is based around a family of three boys in a small town called New Haven. The main character and narrator, Erik, discusses the inclusion of a unique family, the Phillips, into their town. The perspective of each person in the town on the new family seems divided, but Erik has a plan to make things right. If you like what you are reading, please let me know! I'll keep posting in smaller parts unless I hear strong disapproval.

How You Dress It Up: A Matter of Perspective (Erik's Story) Part 1

It all started when the Phillips moved to New Haven. It was late in August, only about two weeks before school was about to start, and I was mostly worried about surviving senior year. If only I knew what was in store for that year...

The Phillips moved in quietly across the street. John Phillips was to be working as a deputy to the sheriff, and came over to introduce himself and his family the next day to get acquainted with the folks around New Haven. His wife, Darlene, was a shy, quiet woman who earned some extra cash as a seamstress. Their daughter, however, was a bit of an enigma. Judy was her name, but no one saw much of her during the initial move; only a glimpse of a blond head in the window or the occasional sighting of her going to the mailbox was proof that she actually existed. My younger brother Frank was disappointed; he had heard that she was a incoming freshman like him, and was hoping to find someone to be his friend at St. Elmo's in the first few weeks.

Our curiosity over Judy grew as more details began to emerge about the Phillips. Old Man Rankel, the grandfather of my best friend Matt, swore that he saw two men in the Phillips' home one day, even though no one ever saw anyone besides John and Darlene come in and out of the house. Mrs. Sanders, the biggest gossip on our street, disagreed: she had sworn that she had seen two women and a girl sitting at the dinner table one evening. I even heard the mailman talking with my father one day about how he had delivered a package of wigs to the Phillips' house over Labor Day Weekend. It was all very strange.

The day before school was back in session, Matt, my brothers Frank and Mark, and I were all sitting in our lawn, mulling over the horror that was school, when we saw Judy for the first time out in public! She was walking down towards the middle of town in what appeared to be VERY large clothing for a girl her age. "Let's follow her!" whispered Matt. Intrigued, the four of us began hopping fences to inconspicuously follow her on her path into town. To our disappointment, she was only walking into her father's small side-room attached to the sheriff's office. "Aw, she's still as boring as we thought," moaned Frank. "Let's go get some ice cream, you guys."

     "You go," muttered Matt. "I'm going to see what she's doing..."

     "Suit yourself," said Frank. "Hey Erik," he said turning to me. "Will you buy me an ice cream cone? I'm all out of money..."

     "Of course," I sighed. "Let's go."

Frank, Mark, and I left for the dollar store down the block while Matt walked up to the window of Mr. Phillips' room. After paying for our ice creams, we came back five minutes later to find Matt running towards us, white as a sheet. 'GUYS GUYS GUYS!" he yelled, short of breath. "You're not going to believe..."

Before he could finish, a bell clanged as the door to Mr. Phillips' office came open. We all turned around to look, and were surprised to see a young, brown haired boy led out of the room by a tall, redheaded woman. "Oh my god," I said softly. "That woman is wearing the exact same outfit that Judy was wearing..." We all stood, mouths agape, as the two people walked back down the street in the direction of our neighborhood. "Wait a second," said Frank, confused. "I thought that no one else went in there..."

     "You're right, Frank," said Mark, who had gathered what Matt and I had figured out. "The exact same people that were in there came out."

     "So what does that mean?" asked Frank, innocently unaware.

     "It means," glowered Matt. "That we have some crossdressers in town."

END PART ONE