(A short story based on Bob and Bigfoot.)
"I want to be a little girl."
Bob's wife stared at him in shock.
He was a lithe, strong man. He was a couple of inches taller than her, and he made sure he worked out enough to keep his figure trim. His features were even, though a bit delicate, and his face was a strong and pleasant oval. On top of that, he had the ability to make money. And listening to what he was saying she felt like somebody had just doused her with water, touched her nipples with a cattle prod, and tickled her goosey.
That's what she called it, her goosey.
"A little girl?"
Bob nodded and stared at his wife with sad, mournful, brown eyes. Funny, his eyes seemed not so sharp, not so glinting, more soft and tender, and it had all happened after that hunting trip. That damned hunting trip. What had happened on that hunting trip? (Interested readers should see 'Bob and Bigfoot.')
"Yes. All pink and pretty. Maybe wear a dress with that fluffs out all pink. Do little girls wear high heels?"
Barbara was rooted in spot in their living room, listening to his raving. She was a pretty woman--hell, a gorgeous woman--with high breasts, thick, dark, curly hair, and perfect make up. Of all her attributes, she was most proud of her make up: her darkly shadowed eyes, her bright, red lip gloss, the perfect shades and shadows of professional pancake.
Now, however, she thought not of her make up; all she could think about was how her life was oozing away before her eyes.
"I guess I could wear falsies, or something, maybe just put some water balloons in a bra, and I could learn to cross my knees properly and the right way to walk in heels...."
"But...Bob--"
"I could wear pale, pink lipstick, just enough to accentuate my light skin..."
"But...but..."
"I could fix meals and tidy up the house...
"But...but..."
"And, Barbara..."
"But...but..."
"Could we buy a strap on?"
"BUT, BOB!" Barbara finally managed to insert her words forcefully enough to interrupt Bob's meandering but hard to derail train of thought, "YOU'RE A REPUBLICAN!"
Bob blinked. He hadn't thought of that. Being rich and white and not believing in gun control--hmm, he was going to have to rethink that one--he was becoming a force in the state Republican party.
"You're a force to be reckoned with, you have businesses, you...you can even write bad checks!"
That was true, he was getting so powerful that he could write bad checks, and the powers that be in the Republican party didn't really care. As long as Bob kept writing enough good checks, what did it matter if he wrote a few bad checks?
"But I really want to be a little girl. You can do my hair up, when I grow it out long enough, and you can help me learn to dress--"
"Bob," Barbara felt a weariness deep down inside.
"Do you think the Republicans would care if a little girl wrote them checks?"
"Bob," Now she felt hysterical, and his name was all she had to hang on to.
"Do you still have those outfits from your beauty pageant days?"
"Bob," and she could handle no more. She ran from the room, stifling her tears, desperate that her make up remain intact.
Bob stared after her for a moment, but she wasn't really in his mind, hadn't been ever since he had gotten home. He was thinking of other things. He stood up and walked out of the room.
Upstairs, on the side of their large, double king-sized bed, with the motor that caused everything to shimmy and shake, and the mirror that swiveled on hinges out of the baseboard, Barbara sat. The room was perfect, everything she dreamed of, the dresser just the right grain of oak, the vanity large enough to secure all the oils and stains she used to make her face just perfect, the pictures of her winning the various pageants, and life was so grand and good and just the way she liked it, and now...and now...Barbara's hands shook as she dialed her telephone. Shortly, a ringing came back to her ears.
"Hello?"
"Diane?"
"Barbara? Are you all right?"