Irhaboggle Pride (2022) Gaylor Swift's Version

Mary's Song, Seven

Emma was seven and Mallory was nine, the younger looking at the older as if she were the brightest star in the sky.

"Here, Emmie, watch this! Do what I do!" Mallory cried out, swinging as hard and fast as she could. Once she was sufficiently high in the air, she jumped off the swing and landed in the creek just a few feet in front of them. Emma's mouth was open in surprise and awe. Mallory turned around, beaming, having landed the jump perfectly. The water was cold but refreshing against her bare feet, running through her toes. "Ok, your turn now!"

Emma's surprise morphed into worry and fear. "What if I don't make it? Or what if I hurt myself?" she asked.

"Awww, don't worry, I'll catch you!" Mallory promised, holding her arms out, but Emma hung her head and shook it shyly. Mallory stuck her tongue out at the other girl, pretending to tease her for being a big, fat, little baby, but Emma only shook her head again, smiling. Even though she was too scared to jump in, she reveled in the feeling of being so high in the sky, emerald grass solid and reassuring under her feet. She reveled in the smell of the warm, midday air. It felt so alive! On the porch, their parents smiled at one another with knowing looks in their eyes.

Once the two were all "swinged-out", they started climbing the trees in the yard, trying to reach the treehouse in the tallest, largest one.

"I'll race you up, and I'll win, because I'm bigger than you!" Mallory teased, grabbing onto the wooden ladder that would lead them up and inside. This competition, Emma felt a bit readier to take on. The ladder was wide enough for both of them to awkwardly scramble up at the same time. Because Mallory was being careful not to accidentally shake the ladder too much or push Emma off, she slowed down and let the other girl win.

"Ha! Yay! I guess I am faster than you!" Emma smiled down at Mallory from inside the treehouse, wood rough under her hands and knees.

"You sure are," Mallory smiled, then she reached up to Emma and Emma was more than happy to pull her in. They spent some time lost in their own little world together, sharing dreams and secrets, braiding one another's hair. Even once the sun set the stars came out, the two didn't feel tired at all.

"Love you to the moon and to Saturn," Emma whispered as she leaned against Mallory's shoulder and admired the pretty lights above.

"Awww," Mallory ruffled Emma's hair. She jokingly asked Emma for a kiss, tapping her cheek, but when Emma leaned in to oblige, Mallory sped down the ladder. "Chase me, Emmie, chase me!" she laughed, and once Emma got her bearings, she was more than happy to comply, also racing down the ladder and after the other girl, back to their house, fireflies swirling around their feet like stars from below with every step they took.

ooo

Emma was 16 and suddenly she wasn't that little girl that Mallory used to see, in more ways than one. Of course, on the one hand, she was more physically developed now, taller and older. She wasn't a child anymore. On the other, she also didn't entirely feel like a woman anymore. She still used female pronouns and didn't mind identifying as a woman, but as she told Mallory...

"I think I might be nonbinary. Genderflux to be precise."

"Oh?" Mallory's red eyes widened in surprise, and Emma nodded pensively, having clearly given it a great deal of thought.

"I still feel like a woman some days, but others... It's hard to describe or explain, but I just feel different. She/her pronouns rub me the wrong way. I guess sometimes I feel agender, like, no gender feels right, and I just feel like Emma rather than a woman, if that makes sense. But other times, maybe it's a third gender? I haven't quite figured that part out yet."