Dreams, Secrets, and Transformations: Beyond the Enchanted Looking Glass

ch.10 Family

"Given this weekend any thought?" Gerald asked, pleased with his son's choice of attire.

"Dad, um, with the, um, well, the mirror." Brad struggled to express his desire.

"So, do you want to take another trip through the mirror or not?" his dad asked.

Secretly Gerald had been hoping his son would come home excited to go again, but he didn't want to press him into something he might not want to do after thinking about it. A full transformation can really mess with your head, especially if it isn't something you really want.

"Yeah, I guess so," Brad replied, but Gerald still sensed some reservations.

"Well don't sound so excited. I mean, we can," he assured his son, "if that is something you really want to do. You kinda sound like you don't. I know I told you I like doing it, but that doesn't mean you have to."

"No, dad. It's quite the opposite. I really want to," Brad's face finally erupted into a huge smile.

"So, I was thinking." Gerald began to explain, obvious excitement in his voice. "With tomorrow being Friday, as soon as I get off work, I'll come back, get you, and we can go together. We can go just for the evening, get some dinner, and come back, or maybe overnight, like last time. Or even the whole weekend if you prefer. What are you thinking?"

Instead of answering, Brad jumped up to answer the door.

"Dinner's here," he announced.

Gerald desperately wanted to hound Brad, to insist they were going back for the whole weekend, but he didn't. He was excited to share this side of his life with his son and excited to see his son was just like him. There were so many things he wanted his son to get to experience, but he didn't push. Instead he dropped the subject, waiting for Brad to bring it back up.

Over dinner, Brad asked questions and learned more about his dad's experiences on the other side of the mirror.

He learned what his dad's day job was on the other side. There, Miranda was an actress that made television commercials, and worked as a print ad model, as well as an extra in movies and TV show episodes. That was the day job he went to every day through the mirror. A burlesque performer was his late night weekend job.

"What's burlesque, dad?"

"Well, um," his dad stammered, scratching his head, trying to decide how to explain this to his teenage son without it sounding like he worked in a strip club. "It's a nightclub where we perform on a stage doing dance peformances for men who pay a lot of money to be there."

"So, a strip club?"

"No, definitely not. Burlesque is much classier, although more exotic it's not trashy, and it focuses on the tease part of striptease as an art show form. We don't strip naked. Were not trashy like strippers. We dont do lap dances. Burlesque is famous for its fashion style; corsets, stockings, hats, feathered clothes/accessories, extravagant and lush hairdos, lots of makeup. It's art."

"Still sounds trashy X rated to me."

"No not X. Definitely R rated but not X."

"But either way I couldn't go see one of your shows?"

"No, no you couldn't. However, once you turn 18, you could join--"

"Wait," Brad interupted, confused about something his dad said earlier that didn't make sense. "you said you can never bring back anything you didn't take with you, so how does that work with your pay? I know you gotta make really good tips as an exotic dancer. How do you work there, and not here but we still have money?"

"Again I'm not an exotic dancer. Anyway, that's one of the loopholes of the mirror I learned about. First of all, the mirror in the spare room isn't the only magic mirror in existence on this side, there are many. That means there are many other guys like us that travel back and forth, experiencing life as females. There are also many females on the other side that were guys from over here who decided to never come back."

"Wait! You can do that? Whoa."

"Yes you can," his dad affirmed. "I've met a few guys on this side who travel back and forth and I have hung out with some of them on the other side. They have told me about guys they knew that decided to remain on that side permanently, but those guys eventually lose all memory of their former male selves. There's a community of us that share what we learn. There's even a small group of husbands and fathers that go to work on the otherside every day and their wives and children have no idea. Before I ever considered the possibility of working there, I had a guy explain how there was a loop hole that allowed you to bring back money, but only money you had personally, legally earned. If you attempt to return with money stolen or otherwise illegally obtained, the mirror won't let you through and you'll be prosecuted over there for theft. You get caught doing that they actually destroy the mirror you entered from and the outfit you traveled in, so you can never come back."

"That's crazy."

"Okay, I've given you plenty of time to think it over. What are we going to do this weekend?"

"I've actually thought about it quite a bit, already. When I got ready for bed last night I started to relax and think about wanting to be a girl for... " He hesitated, wanting to say forever, but instead he limited it to what his father had offered, "for the whole weekend, but what about what you said about guys staying too long and forgetting their lives on this side?"

Gerald chuckled, "You don't have to be worried about that. You'd have to stay for several months for anything like that to happen. So that's what you want to do? Stay the whole weekend, I mean." Gerald inquired feeling thrilled by the notion. There was so much he wanted to give his son the opportunity to experience. 

He had throughly enjoyed their time together over there, even though he was concerned about getting them back. Now that they knew they could do it together, there was so many things he wanted to experience as Miranda with a daughter. He also wanted to expose Brad to all kinds of first time feminine experiences as a teenage girl, things he wished he could have experienced himself first hand and not just through Miranda's memories.

"Yeah, I think so," Brad nodded. "If you do."

"Actually, I'd love that," Gerald grinned.

"It's all so exciting. The possibilities are endless. You said, if you go through for a day, it is always a day here too, right?"

"So far, yeah," Gerald confirmed.

"So, actually, if we wanted to, we could go through the mirror and spend all our weekends there, as Brooke and Miranda?"

"Yes, I suppose we could."