“We’re going off to the Living to go to see this funny festival the humans are holding,” Dad said as he and my sister got their things ready. “Do you wanna come with us?”

“I… don’t really like going down there,” I said hesitantly. It’s true. The Living just seemed so much more crowded than The Village, with such nosy people. Last time I was down there, a man tried to sell me a microwave off the side of the road.

“I figured I’d ask,” he shrugged. “We’ll be down there a while, so make sure you and your mother get dinner. We’ll grab something while we’re out.”

“Do I… have to get Mom dinner?” I asked. “She’s a bit…”

“Yeah, I know bud, but you’re just going to have to do this for me tonight. I know she’s difficult, but…”

“EDWARD, YOU NALESU! WHERE ARE YOU?!”

“And that’s our cue to leave,” Dad said, looking at his watch. “See ya in a few hours bud. Hold up for us.”

Dad andIsa walked out the door and teleported away together. I don’t blame them for getting out of the house when you have large temperamental things waiting to peck your eyes out at home. And also Chee, the pinkgeon pet. She can get snippy sometimes too.

“Where is he?!” Mom asked, stomping into the room angrily.

“Dad left to go to a human festival withIsa.” She looked really upset when I said it. “Nothing wrong with that though.”

“You mean other than the fact that he won’t take his own wife with him,” she growled.

“Can you blame him?” I thought. Good thing she didn’t do mind magic. That would require her to be proficient in learning magic, but the truth is she’s really bad at it. “Let’s just get dinner, Mom.”

“I already got it,” she lied.

“No you couldn’t have,” I pointed out. “I’ve been in the living room all day, and you couldn’t have been in there without me seeing or hearing you.”

“I’ll get it later then,” she mumbled, looking down.

“Can you get it now?” I asked nicely. “To, you know… eat with me…?”

“Right, you wanna monitor me the whole time, right?!” she snapped, her whole attitude turning around. “Because you all think I’m fucking anorexic or some shit!”

“Mom, I just want to make sure you eat,” I sighed, tired of it all.

“Bullshit,” she growled. “You all think I’m a fucking loser!”

“Mom, I just want you to eat with me. I don’t think I’m asking much.”

“No, you just don’t want me here!” she shouted. “You don’t want me here, your sister doesn’t want me here, and your fucking dad doesn’t want me here!”

After that, she stomped over to the door, walked out, and slammed it shut behind her so hard that the hinges broke a tiny bit. I walked over to the door to inspect it. Yeah, Dad would have to replace another one. The neighbors probably heard that one too.

*   *   *   *   *

It was getting really late, and I was still the only one at home. It was kinda boring. Dad and sis were still in The Living, and Mom was at who knows where. I had written a lot, played a ton of music, and had been a pretty productive day. One of the few times I was actually feeling good about myself for it.

I had walked around the house looking for something to occupy my attention. I drifted into Mom’s room at some point. No, I didn’t respect her space. She didn’t respect mine, so I never particularly saw the implied “keep out” sign on her door. That’s when I looked at her closet too, and got curious. I never actually saw her wear more than jeans and a t-shirt, so I wondered if she actually had anything else in there.

I walked in the closet and, lo and behold, it was mostly jeans and t-shirts. In the corner though, there were some dresses hung up against the wall. Curiosity got the better of me. I had never actually seen her wear a dress very often. Maybe once or twice every few years. Some of them I’d never seen her in before. Some of them I was also pretty sure she didn’t fit in anymore. As you could tell, they were pretty old.

“Interesting,” I said, going through the few dresses she had.

I stopped at one that I thought was actually beautiful. I’d never been one for fashion, but I do like the look of dresses. They were pretty. Especially some of the big ones with long skirts, or bright colors. Of course, there’s not many people whose eyes aren’t attracted to the shiniest thing in the room. 

I found one that was red and sparkling, and it extended all the way to the floor. It was definitely pretty, eye-catching, and like something a teenage carvation would wear to her prom night to make all the other girls jealous. Then, out of seemingly nowhere, I got a thought so odd that I’m still not sure where it came from at all.

“I wonder how that would look on me?”

I wasn’t expecting it to cross my mind, and it surprised even me. I’d never thought of how anything would look on me before, so I’m not sure why this time was any different. It was an interesting feeling of curiosity, so I thought I should indulge in it. I took the dress and went to the bathroom.

Slipping into the dress was weird. It was really soft and smooth, and was a lot more flowy than my typical jeans and shirt. A bit unnatural feeling at first, but I kind of liked it when I finally got it all on. Yeah, it was a bit big, but it was made for my mom, not me. And we didn’t exactly share the same body type.

I looked at myself in the mirror, and felt something change underneath. The dress felt so open and loose compared to my usual attire, which only made me feel more excited about the new outfit. I just got such a rush from wearing it, and felt a sense of… empowerment? I wasn’t really sure. It was all so new to me. I had always been made fun of a bit for having some more feminine features and habits, but I didn’t mind. All it did was give girls an excuse to mess with my hair without warning apparently. I looked closer to a girl now, and I kinda wanted to see how far I could go.

“You’re looking… different,” I said to myself. “But still like yourself.”

I grabbed a hair tie and held up my hair with it, in a high ponytail instead of the usual low one, but still gave a bit of a frown. I still looked more or less like my normal self in a dress and done up hair. I glanced, and reached for a second hair tie, and pulled my hair into pigtails, which ended up looking like two fuzzy and curly pom-poms attached to my head. I looked cute, and kinda loved it. Then I reached for my sister’s and mom’s limited makeup pool and used some lipstick on myself.