Menu Load Error

- Text Size +

No More Bluebeard by Debbie Sanderson. Feb 1997.

Dedicated to Judigirl, who writes such pretty stories,
and a certain little boy called David.


"Feel free to pass it around,
archive it, repost it...
Please don't alter it,
or charge for it. Thanks"




"How do they seem to know when you're in a rush?" moaned Mrs. Wygal at yet another set of traffic lights that had turned red, just as she'd reached them. Impatiently she pulsed the accelerator, racing the engine to vent her frustration at the down-town traffic.

"I'm gonna be a fairy queen," piped up little Josie from the back seat for the umpteenth time.

"Yes dear," said her mum under her breath. "If we ever get there!"

For days now the children had been so excited, well, Josie certainly had. The little six year old had chosen her fancy dress outfit over a week ago and had spoken about precious little else since. David wasn't so sure. He'd thought the whole idea of dressing up was rather silly, and had taken some convincing. It had taken a whole range of inducements to persuade him to play chaperone to his little sister, but after a number of promises had been made, the nine year old lad had finally agreed.

As soon as the lights changed she slipped the car into gear and pushed the accelerator to the floor. It'd be nice for the children to play together, she thought - even for such a short duration as the party. David had been associating with rather a rough bunch of boys on the block, and was starting to pick up some of their bad habits.

By the time they arrived back at the house, Mrs. Wygal's footwork had retrieved a few minutes, but they were still seriously behind schedule. A small white van had already pulled up outside the house and a young man in a fancy overall was taking two large brown boxes from the rear.

"You're early," said Mrs. Wygal, climbing out of the car and undoing the child-locks on the doors to free the children. He fumbled in his pocket and consulted a scruffy piece of paper.
"Oh sorry, but it does say five thirty on my docket. You're the last one tonight," he said defensively, nodding at the now-empty van interior.

"Goodness, is it that time already? You'd better bring them in". She took a stick from David and ushered the muttering boy into the house. He'd certainly gotten into the swashbuckling spirit and the apprentice pirate had been in danger of beheading her prize pertunias. For now, Bluebeard had been disarmed, but there was no doubt that he'd soon find a replacement cutlass - perhaps even in one of the boxes that were being carried in.

Hastily she signed on the appropriate dotted line and dismissed the delivery man. "Right, David upstairs, Josie in the kitchen. I want you both clean in five minutes flat!" As the children
scampered off, she followed David upstairs, peeled back the lid of the upper box and spied a frilly pink outfit. This was obviously Josie's, so she deposited the second in David's room,
then started to lay out the pretty fairy costume on her little daughter's bed. She smiled to herself, she'd certainly make a cute fairy princess tonight.

"Wow!" exclaimed the little girl as she ran into the room. As was normally the case with those pointless exercises such as washing, she'd beaten David out of sight and would probably be
ready well before he'd finished messing around. With a shade of reverence she approached the outfit and lightly ran her fingers across the frilly trimmings. It was pretty!

Within a few minutes she'd stripped and was stepping into thepink silky panties that would serve as a lining under the outfit. Over these she slipped a pair of while sheer tights. They were decorated with a light floral pattern that was just discernible in the right light. Mum held up the frilly outfit and the little six year old stepped in, allowing her mum to pull the leotard over her arms and into place. The pink lurex body was stretchy and made a perfect fit. The silver speckles
that had been wove n into the fabric sparkled and gave an almost ethereal look. For a moment or two, mum fussed over the pink ruffles that cascaded down from the child's waist and down
to her thighs. There was little to do, however one tried to arrange them they simply sprouted outwards, adding to the childish charm of the outfit.

She took a couple of frilly pink bands from the box and pushed one up to the top of each arm, where the light elastic held them in place. She smiled as she fluffed them up, her little
girl was really taking up the likeness of her dream fairy-princess.

Josie sat on the bed while mum fastened silver satin ballet slippers on her feet. The white ribbons had been criss-crossed around her ankles in the proper manner, and were now fastened
in a neat bow at the front. While Josie was still seated, one of the few moments during the week when the youngster hadn't been dancing around, mum brushed her long silky hair before
carefully fitting the crowning glory. Although plastic, the pretty tiara glittered and sparkled just like the real thing. She was impressed with the quality of the outfit and the attention to detail, for example, the princess's necklace and bracelet which matched the tiara. She'd probably hire from that supplier again.

Although normally too young for such a treat, tonight was an exception and Josie was allowed to wear a little make-up; just like a "big girl". With pink bows for lips, and a lightly blushed cheeks, she looked an absolute picture. Mrs. Wygal was delighted and had Josie perform an impromptu pirouette, followed by the sweetest little curtsey you could imagine.

She left Josie skipping downstairs to admire herself in the full length hall mirror and went into see how David was getting on. She might have guessed - he'd made little progress, having
been distracted by something or other. He hadn't even begun to get changed.

"David, we don't have all day!" she exclaimed. "Come on, get your sweat-shirt off... oh... oh dear..." She'd removed the lid of his costume box and was peering inside in disbelief. After a
brief pause for thought, she replaced the lid, tucked the box under her arm and raced downstairs shouting, "Finish getting undressed David... or there'll be trouble."

"Oh, I see..." she said into the phone, " and there's no way to get another? Yes, yes, I do understand, but... mmm, okay. Yes, I suppose so... Thanks anyway. Bye."

David wasn't going to like this!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

She raised her eyebrows in surprise. David had actually done as she'd said, and was sitting on the bed dressed in just his underpants. She sat next to him, put an arm around his shoulders, "There's been a bit of mix-up with the costumes," she began, "I'm afraid you won't be able to go to the party as a pirate after all." His face dropped.

"You know how much your sister has been looking forward to going?"

"Yeah."

"You know that it's her birthday treat?"

"Yeah." He started to fidget, uncomfortable with her tone of voice.

"Well sweetheart, she really needs her big brother to look after her. In fact, if it wasn't for you, she wouldn't be able to go. I'm sure you wouldn't want to spoil her birthday treat, would you?"

"No," he admitted. He knew that she'd be heart-broken if she couldn't go to the party, but wondered where all this was leading.

"The costume isn't what we ordered, in fact it's quite different."

"How different?"

"Well okay," she said, "Its... It's a girl's outfit..."

"It's a what?" She was joking of course.

"It's a girl's outfit."

He looked into her eyes, considered the reassuring arm around his shoulders... oh no, she wasn't joking! A shiver ran down his spine. "Oh no. No way. Not a chance!"

She lifted a slender finger and placed it over his lips, "Shhhh, don't be upset sweetheart, it'll be okay. Once you're dressed up nobody will even know you're a boy."

The finger moved to his cheek and caught the beginnings of a tear forming in his eye. "But I don't want to go dressed as a silly girl," he protested, "can't I go as something else?"

"I'm sorry, I should have checked the delivery when it came. I rang the supplier and there just isn't any way to get another outfit in time"

"Well, I'll go without one. Can't I go in my normal clothes?" He knew the answer already but desperately looked for a way out of this ridiculous predicament.

"You know it's costumes only. I'm sorry David, you'll just have to wear this outfit," she said, patting the now infamous box. "Anyway, it's your birthday soon - I was wondering if you'd
like that new mountain bike you've had your eye on?"

"What, You mean the twelve speeder?" He perked up a little.

"Yes, that's right. If you'll do this for your little sister and me, then I'll make sure you get that bike for your birthday."

He thought about the fun he'd have with his new bike. All the guys had them and he'd really be a part of the crowd.

"Deal?"

"Okay," he said tentatively. "Now, what's in the box?"

She lifted the lid and he cautiously peered over the edge of the box, as though the contents might jump out and bite him. There was a lot of tissue paper wrapping, but there nestled in
the middle, he could see a folded costume. Having being told it was a girl's outfit, he was sure that he'd have to wear a dress of some kind, but at least it wasn't pink! The pale blue dress stared out at him impassively.

His mum broke the spell by reaching in and lifting the dress out. His eyes followed her every movement as she carefully unfolded the dress and shook it to remove the creases. "There,
that's not so bad, is it?" she asked, holding it by the shoulders so they could get a proper impression.

Well of course being a boy meant that any dress was unwelcome, and this one was no different. Despite being blue, it's only redeeming feature, it was still exceptionally girlish and made
him cringe. Sure, the top was plain enough, if one ignored the rounded frilly white collar and big puffy sleeves - also trimmed with white lace - but the skirt was very full and quite
frilly. Looking at the deep frill around the bottom made him think that it must be a costume from some fairy-tale or other. Whatever it was, it was certainly very childish and quite unsuitable for a boy. His expression said it all.

"Don't you like it?" asked his mum.

"You mean I'm supposed to like it? What is it... I mean, what is the costume supposed to be?"

She shot a glance at the offending box. "Oh, there's more than just the dress - you're going to be 'Alice in Wonderland'."

"Oh great!" he moaned, mentally replaying the Alice cartoons he'd seen on TV. From "Bluebeard" to "Alice" - I'm going to be sick!

Nervously he looked again into the box and experienced the gut wrenching realisation that the rest of the costume actually did match his mental image. It looked like there were frilled
petticoats, panties and all that kind of girlish stuff still in there!

"Come on, let's get on with it," she said, glancing at her watch again. She delved into the box of horrors and rummaged around for a few seconds. "Well, I guess these are first," she declared, holding up a pair of pink frilly panties.

"Uh... do I have to?" he whimpered.

"Of course! You can't wear those under your dress, silly!"

Feeling very foolish, he dropped his underpants and reluctantly stepped out of their protection. Wasting no time she bent down and held the pink frilly garment for him to step into. "Legs in
sweetheart."

He simply couldn't bear to watch and stared intently at the ceiling as she pulled the cool silk up his legs, hid his embarrassment, then let the elastic take its place around his waist. "Oh good. They fit lovely," she said, reaching back into the box.

As she rummaged again, he allowed his hand to casually drop to his side and brush the pink silk. It wasn't deliberate of course, he wasn't purposely stroking the soft sensual silk. Nor was he intentionally fumbling and caressing the pretty lace trim, he was just a little nervous, that's all.

"This is a petticoat." He snapped back into reality and looked at the simple white dress-like garment she was bunching up in her hands, "we girl's wear them to line our dresses."

He wasn't sure he liked his apparent inclusion in the throwaway "we girl's" and "our dresses" phrases, but was prepared to overlook it for now.

"Arms up sweetheart."

Obediently he reached skywards, feeling rather childish as he thought about the times he'd watched mummy dress his little sister like this. She slipped the petticoat over his arms, head, then let the soft cotton float downwards until it reached an inch or two above his knees. He'd never worn anything like it before - at least not as long as he could remember. It felt soft and comfortable, almost like a long vest... but somehow nicer. He kind of liked the way mum smoothed it down and brushed away imaginary wrinkles.

While he stood waiting in anticipation for the next pretty article to emerge from the box, he caught himself swaying gently from side to side, and stopped. His cheeks flushed as he remembered seeing the little girls at school do the same thing. He guessed that maybe their petticoats had tickled their legs, too. He was embarrassed by his feminine behaviour,
but it felt so nice to have such soft material swishing against his legs.

His legs quivered involuntarily when he saw what mum brought out next. He'd not expected to wear such a frilly item and felt boyish rebellion rising in him again. "Oh, you're joking. I don't have to wear that, do I?"

"But of course, sweetheart. A proper Alice needs a fluffy petticoat to make her dress flare out nicely." She simply bunched the masses of frills in her hands and held it aloft invitingly. "Well?"

He mumbled under his breath and reluctantly raised his arms up. She pulled the rustling bundle past his ears and all the way down to his waist, where the elastic hugged him gently. The swath of pretty net and lace seemed to change his shape completely, accentuating his hips beneath all the layers of snowy froth. For a couple of minutes mum fluffed them up until it looked just right. From David's perspective the petticoats sprouted out at right angles and formed a wide frilly circle
about his waist. Dropping his hands by his side simply lost them in all the froth, so after fondling the pretty lace for a few moments, he satisfied himself with dangling his hands limply at the wrist in a feminine manner. Given the pretty clothes he was wearing, the girlish gesture hardly seemed to matter to him.

"Gosh, that looks pretty. Don't you think, David?"

"Oh. Yes, I suppose so." He wasn't ready to admit it just yet, but he was beginning to warm to the new feminine feelings that seemed to be rising within him. After all, these clothes did
feel quite exquisite, and it wasn't his fault he was having to wear girls clothes.

While he tried to come to terms with the bubbling emotions, his mum picked up the pretty blue dress from the bed and held it against him. "This is a lovely dress, I had a similar one when I was a girl. You'll look so sweet."

David was still a little unsure and gave her a weak smile. She was right though, it was a lovely dress.

She unfastened a row of tiny buttons down the back of the dress, just as far as the waist, then lifted the pretty blue cotton dress over his head. "Come on, Alice," she chuckled, guiding his hands through the elasticated arm-holes of the large puffy sleeves. She lifted the bodice to his chest and gently spun him around by the shoulders. The buttons were rather fiddly and it took his mum a minute or two to fasten her little boy into the cute little dress.

He was beginning to feel a little trapped, realising that he'd never be able to remove the girl's outfit - not on his own anyway. It wasn't an altogether unpleasant feeling though. After all, he convinced himself, it wasn't his fault he was having to wear a girl's silly dress.

"Oh David, you look adorable," cooed Mrs. Wygal, as she fussed over his pretty outfit, carefully arranging the flared skirt over the fluffy snow-white petticoats, and pushing the puffy sleeves a fraction more up his bare arms to make them puff out just a little more. It was actually quite pleasant being pampered like this, and having his mum spending so much time on all the little details. There was no question that he loved Josie, of course, but it was lovely for him to be the centre of attention for once. Tiny buds of femininity were quietly beginning to spring to life within him. Eventually they'd produce their fruits of softness, tenderness and compassion and make him a much nicer, gentler person. For now they settled for sending a little thrill of delight thoughout his body as the little girl inside woke up.

Meanwhile mum had been back to the box and was holding one of the few remaining items aloft for him to see - a white pinafore. Although fairly plain, cut in the traditional "Alice" style of course, there were frills around the top which gave it an obvious feminine quality. Without waiting for his approval, she simply slipped it over his head and turned him around to take the straps around his waist, where she tied them in a long floppy bow at the back. "Are you starting to feel
like Alice?"

He nodded weakly, not ready to admit to himself just how lovely he did feel.

"Well you certainly look like her..." She chucked as she arranged the frilly caps of his pinafore over the dress's puff sleeves. She'd wanted to say more, much more. In fact she delighted in her new little daughter and would have loved to hug her close, but was afraid of pushing him too quickly. For a moment or two he stood, simply savouring this strange new experience of standing before her dressed up like a small girl, then decided to take the initiative. "What's left mum...
mummy?" he asked, quickly swapping to the more childish form of address as it seemed more appropriate for a little girl.

"Well look for yourself." She sat the box on the bed and he peered inside. A pair of very polished black shoes reflected back the fading light from the windows, next to this lay a blue
hair band, which matched the colour of his dress, and finally a small white bundle, which he picked up to examine. He unraveled them to find a pair of white knee-socks, not unlike those worn by Josie for school. No, they were probably a little more fancy than schoolgirl socks, probably to be worn for a special occasion. Well, this certainly was a special occasion, he
thought as he flopped down on the bed to put them on.

"Oh Alice!" cried his mother as the petticoats and lace flew into the air at his less than refined maneuver, "You're going to have to learn to sit properly - like a girl".

"Oops!" He flushed as he realised that his dress and petticoats were in complete disarray and his frilly panties were clearly peeking out. He stood, then made a second more controlled landing, instinctively slipping his hand down the rear of his dress to straighten it.

"Well, that was better, but I think we might need to put "L" plates on you - just to let people know you're a learner. Er, knees?"

He looked down and corrected the problem by clamping his knees together. Gosh, there was so much to learn about being a girl! He clasped one hand inside the other, laid them softly on his
lap amongst the frills and froth of dress and petticoat, and looked up sweetly at his mother - giving her the prettiest smile he could muster. "Better mummy?"

"Yes sweetheart, much better."

While he sat demurely on the bed, she slipped the pretty shoes on his feet and fastened the thin black strap across his foot and into small shiny silver buckles at each side. He watched,
fascinated at how delicate they were - completely different to the boys shoes he was used to. The scooped front showed off the patterns on his socks and the toes were just so shiny. He
swung his legs back and forth like a little child would, sure that he could see every ruffle of his petticoats reflected back in them.

While he played, his mum fetched a hair brush and brushed his short hair backwards. She then lifted a mysterious bag from beneath the folds of the discarded tissue paper and pulled out
a long hairy object. As she fluffed it with the brush, it became apparent that it wasn't a long-hair hamster, but a girls wig... a wonderfully golden coloured one, at that.

She placed it onto his head and resumed the careful brushing, from the top of his head, down the lovely flowing locks which cascaded now over his shoulders. Glancing sideways he could see the silky strands forming a pretty frame around his face, and could almost feel another part of his boyishness slip away without protest. He reached up and stroked the curls flicking around the frilly white collar of his dress and started to feel the excitement welling up inside him. Why on earth hadn't anyone told him how wonderful it was to be a girl? It wassurely a well kept secret that boys were rarely privy to.

She heard her son give a contented sigh. "You're enjoying this aren't you?"

"Is it wrong of me?" he asked, defensively.

"No, of course not sweetheart. Just relax and enjoy yourself. You'll have a lovely time at the party." The party! He'd forgotten about that, slipping into a lovely dream world of soft, pretty girl things. In a few minutes he'd be paraded around in front of other girls and boys.

She felt him tense up. "It's okay darling, nobody will know you're a boy. You'll look just as pretty as the other little girls"

"...just as pretty as the other little girls..." he ran the sentence over and over in his head, emphasising each aspect. Yes, he'd look just like the others, sweet and feminine, nobody
would know. He would indeed look pretty, especially in such a pretty dress and petticoat with all those frills and lace. There was no doubt of course that he'd look little - the childish outfit would see to that. He'd probably look nearer his little sister's age of six, than his own, he mused.

By now his mum had extracted the hair-band from the box and was carefully placing it on his head. She swept the golden strands from the sides under the band and behind his ears, allowing
them to melt into the gentle cascade falling around his shoulders. Well, she wouldn't want to hide his pretty face from view, would she? Of course not. She wanted everyone to see the girlish flush in his pretty pink cheeks.

She disappeared out of the room for a short while and left him twiddling with the bottom of his hair, wondering if she'd let him wear it in bunches sometimes, like little Josie did. He thought about what colour ribbons he'd prefer... probably ones that matched whatever dress he was wearing, he decided. Gosh, there were so many exciting new things to think about!

Mum returned with a floral bag and his heart skipped a beat as he realised what it contained. Sure enough, the first item out was a small silver compact which opened with a click. She took
out a small brush and gently dusted inside the compact. "A pretty little blush for a pretty little girl," she giggled as she softly dusted his cheeks with the loaded brush.

"Now, " she said in a coaching voice, as though he'd soon be doing this kind of thing for himself, "you need just enough to give your cheeks a pretty pink flush. Too much and you'll end up looking like a painted doll."

He nodded and made a mental note to write all this down in his diary. She took out a lipstick, showed him how to pout while she applied it to his lips. "Pink to make the boys wink!" He blushed furiously at the very thought. She blotted it on a tissue and repeated the process a couple times more until she was satisfied. A little girl wouldn't normally wear much make-up, but it was a party, and it was such a special occasion.

After a careful application of mascara, he fluttered his eyelashes prettily like a young girl would. Finally mum put a trace of powder blue eye-shadow on his eyelids. What a perfect match to his dress, she thought.

"Oh, I've got something else for you to wear," she told him as she fished out a delicate silver chain with a tiny heart-shaped locket on it from her bag. She lifted it to his throat and reached around the back to fasten it. "You look so pretty," she whispered into his ear.

She stepped back a pace to look him up and down and admire her handiwork. This would certainly work, she thought. There was no way that the sweet little Alice look-alike in front of her
could possibly be mistaken for a boy, she was far too delicate and pretty.

"Turn around sweetheart and show me how you look."

He stood and slowly performed a 360 degree turn while she adjusted his dress and pinafore. "Perfect. You'll be the belle of the ball," she pronounced. As she led him by the hand to the door he snatched a last look around his room. This would have to change, he decided. There was no place for football posters in a girl's room, he'd probably get some pretty ballet dancer ones to replace them. The guitars would probably go, too. Perhaps Josie could lend him a few nice dolls to sit on the shelves. He'd certainly have to talk with his little sister about all this, he was sure that she'd be able to teach him a lot.

He tingled with excitement with every step as he savoured the lovely swish of his pretty petticoats. What a wonderful feeling of softness and freedom they brought. He gingerly made
his way down the stairs. It felt strange not being able to see where he was putting his feet, but the lovely display of snowy frills and ruffles were a very agreeable compensation.

Mum watched with admiration as her new little daughter tackled the last few steps. She'd done fine, and had even worked out that holding her wrists close to her side stopped her dress lifting as she descended.

"What do you think?" she asked, gesturing to the full length hall mirror. Full of anticipation he ran across to look, and was not disappointed. A pretty little Alice looked back at him and fluttered her eyelashes. He was stunned. Rather than the boy in a dress that he'd half expected, he simply didn't recognise himself. The little girl in the mirror looked an absolute picture and could have been any of the little lasses in his class. He moistened his lips, tasting the fruity
lipstick - the little girl in front of him ran her tongue over pink lips, then gave him a pretty smile of approval.

Looking the little sweetie up and down, his eyes fixed upon that delightful hemline, so wide and swishy. He lifted his pinafore and dress and inch or two just to check that all those ruffles of white petticoat were still really there. The little girl flashed her frillies at him.

"Wow, you look great!" chirped a familiar voice from behind him. He turned and smiled at the pretty little fairy, "thank you," he whispered.

"What a super costume," she continued, "aren't you the pretty one?"

"You look great too, what a pretty outfit!"

For a moment the two were silent again, not quite sure what to say next. Josie held a fairy wand in her hand, a pink affair with a glittering star at the top and a white satin bow about
half way down. "I hereby change you into 'Alice' forever!" she announced, waving the pretty wand in his direction.

They both burst into a fit of giggles and David threw his arms around his little sister's shoulders and gave her a great big hug. "Why thank you Fairy Princess!"

"Erm, aren't you forgetting something?" she asked, disentangling herself from her brother's grasp.

"Am I?"

"Of course, silly. If I'm a Princess, then you're supposed to curtsey to me!" She put her hands on her hips and looked up at him insistently.

"Oh. How do I do that then?"

She shook her head and tutted. "I don't know, these new girls, you've got to teach them everything!" Using just forefinger and thumb she deftly lifted the frilly hem of her tutu, crossed her legs slightly and dipped into a pretty curtsey. "There. Now you
try it."

He looked down. "Which am I supposed to hold, my pinafore, dress, or petticoats?"

The six year-old put a finger to her chin to consider the matter. "I tell you what, why not try it each way, and the Princess will decide which is the prettiest."

"Mmm... not bad," she said, watching his first rather clumsy attempt with the pinafore. His next try was somewhat better, this time he lifted the hem of his dress. She acknowledged his efforts with a simple nod. For his final attempt he bunched whole handfuls of petticoat and dress in each hand and lifted them up - an altogether too clumsy exercise, she decided.

"I think the second method is the best," she said, "but lift your dress a little higher so I can see more of your petticoats."

He pinched the hem of his dress and lifted it several inches to show off his frilly petticoat, as he'd been told. Then, with a surprising degree of gracefulness for a boy, dropped into the
sweetest little curtsey he could muster.

"Wonderful!" applauded his little sister.

Until mum returned the children practiced curtseying, constantly refining their technique in an attempt to be the prettiest. "Okay girls, let's have a very special one for the camera," said mum.

She stood back a pace or two and carefully focused, "one... two.... three!" To her delight the children gave her a lovely simultaneous curtsey - complete with frills and smiles. "That's
certainly one for the album," she said, pressing the shutter at the optimum moment.

It hadn't escaped her notice that they were already running a little late, but wanted to give David just a little time to adjust to his new apparel before he made his debut. She quickly handed Josie her coat from the stand, then took the little lasses white fur-lined cape, thought for a moment, then wrapped it around David's shoulders, tying the pretty ribbons
under his chin. It wasn't a particularly cold evening, but in his Alice dress his arms were a little exposed. Besides, it finished his outfit off lovely.

She ushered the children into the garden whilst she locked the door and set the alarm.

David shivered involuntarily, his cotton dress and light fluffy petticoats offering little resistance to the evening breeze which blew gently around his legs. It wasn't that he was cold,it was more the unexpected sensation of the frothy lace softly tickling his legs at every whim of the breeze. It was really quite pleasant. He spied the discarded stick he'd been using to as decapitate mum's flowers and smiled to himself. He didn't think that old Blue Beard would be making an appearance again, not for a while at least.

As they walked to the car Josie slipped her little hand into his. It seemed the most natural thing in the world for her to do. If any neighbours had glanced upon the pair they'd have been treated to the sight of two sweet little girls, almost bouncing, hand in hand.

Mrs. Wygal strapped the girls in, jumped in and gunned the car off the driveway and back towards town.

David was fascinated by just how frilly his petticoats were now that he was sat down, so much so that he struggled against the seatbelt to crane forward enough to see his knees. Excitedly he
fidgeted with the hem of his dress, alternately smoothing it down, then pulling it back slightly as he though he couldn't resist another glimpse of all that lace. This was a wonderful new experience for him, but he feared that it would be short-lived and was determined to make the very most of his night as a little girl.

He caught his sister's eye and blushed furiously. "Enjoying yourself Alice?" He bit his lip and nodded.

She giggled softly, reached over and smoothed a part of his dress that he'd missed. "It's nice wearing a dress, isn't it?"

The little girl was always observant, too much so occasionally - but there was no denying that he was certainly enjoying his feminised state.

Throughout the journey the children chattered excitedly. Josie seemed to have an endless stream of advice about how girls should behave and how he ought to walk and talk. As he
listened intently, trying to absorb all the last minute tips to avoid being recognised as a boy, the magnitude of what he was about to do suddenly dawned on him.

Oh wow! Here he was dressed like a little sissy girl and in a few minutes he was going to seen by dozens of other people, perhaps even kids from his own class. His palms began to sweat as he considered the implications of being caught, but there was no way out, mum was already pulling into the car park.

"Any last minute advice?" he asked Josie, nervously.

"Yeah, if you get stuck, just smile sweetly!"

Mum was almost knocked flying as The Fairy Princess scrambled out of the car and onto the crunchy gravel. Alice was rather more reluctant, bit her lip and gave mum a nervous "I'm not
really sure about this" look. Mum took his hand and coaxed him out, brushing down his dress and petticoats that he'd inadvertently let ride up.

"Hey! Just you wait on a moment young lady," she shouted to Josie, who's little fairy bottom was disappearing into the distance. Tightening her grasp of David's hand, she set off a-pace with him nervously in tow.

The hall, an eighteenth century building with large foreboding stone walls, stood amongst a backdrop of tall oak trees which gave it a very regal presence. The banners and balloons
festooning the front porch did little to its dignity but certainly made the entrance look just a little more cheery.

As Alice and mum climbed the six stone steps the sound of music and laughter could be heard permeating the oak doors. Of course Josie was first through, and would have been lost in the sea of gaily dressed children, had mum not grabbed her by her shoulder, "Don't you forget to look after your... " She smiled at one of the other parents who was just leaving, "... sister."

David's eyes grew wide as he looked around, not realising that the party would be so well attended. There were characters from story books, nursery rhymes and quite a lot of costumes
that he simply didn't recognise - oh, and the inevitable collection of cartoon mice who'd taken it upon themselves to form a private party within a party and were taking over a corner of the hall.

At the far end of the room flashing lights could be seen and the heavy bass of a disco pounded in through open doors. Maybe there'd be a little safely in the relative darkness of the disco, he pondered.

David felt an arm around his shoulder and the unmistakable perfume of his mother homing in. With a smack of lipstick on his cheek she gave him last minute instructions. She'd be back for them both around ten, they were not to leave the hall, and don't forget to hang their coats up. "Have fun girls," she chucked as she kissed Josie, thrust something into David's surprised hands, then scuttled quickly out of the door.

David looked down and winced. She'd landed him with the cutest little clutch purse made from a glistening material that seemed to be covered with multicoloured sequins that reflected every
hint of light. It was sparkly, rather childish in style, but worst of all totally conspicuous. There was nothing he could do with it except clutch it like a small girl would.

"Nice purse!" giggled Josie, "Come on, the cloak room's over there." She skipped quickly away to avoid being bashed with David's latest accessory.

The children removed their coats, and handed them to a lady on the counter, in return for an orange ticket which David placed in his purse. Josie straightened the collar of his dress, slipped her hand reassuringly into his, and began to guide him across the centre of the hall towards the pulsating rhythm.

With his lovely dress and fluffy petticoats swishing with every movement and his little leather shoes patting out a distinctive tappity-tap on the wooden floor, David felt that every eye most
be upon him. As they made their way around Peter Pan, Little Miss Muffet, and all the rest, he realised that people were not paying him any more attention than usual. Sure, he noticed an
admiring glance or two, but no hard stares, nor, thankfully, any ridicule or taunting remarks.

He tried a nice smile or two and was delighted to have them returned. This was incredible. Here he was dressed from head to foot like a little girl, in the middle of a big room full of people, and not one person had laughed at him, nor even said anything unkind. His confidence grew with every step.

The music in the disco was too loud for normal conversation to be of any use, so most people simply communicated with gestures. Josie gave David's hand a comforting squeeze as she led him to some seats a little way from the edge of the dance floor. There were children everywhere, darting in and out, running around each other, and pockets of them, mainly the girls, dancing to the music. Everyone was laughing and obviously having a terrific time.

David flopped into a seat and received an immediate elbow in the ribs. Blushing, he swiftly clamped his knees together modestly, then set about arranging his petticoats and dress
properly over his knees.

Josie grinned to herself when, a few minutes later, he was still preening and arranging the frills like an over-fussy little girl. She'd waited a long time for this party and was so pleased that David was so obviously enjoying himself. Wouldn't it be lovely to have a sweet sister instead of a
brother, she thought. Just think of all the pretty things they could do together!

"Fancy a dance?" shouted Josie in his ear.

"In a minute." He guessed that she'd ask and was busily watching the other girls to see how it was done. The older ones had a certain rhythm and set of movements that they seemed
to favour, but the smaller children simply bobbed up and down sweetly. Seeing how he was only nine years old, in his "Alice outfit" looked no older than seven, and with Josie leading him
all the way felt about five; he thought he could probably get away with anything. He took Josie's hand and "Alice" and "Fairy Princess" took to the dance floor.

The girls faced each other and started to jig about to the music. David surprised even himself and quickly found a rhythm that he didn't realise he had. He'd long since been a guitar fan and loved music, but had honestly thought that dancing was just for girls. Perhaps it was.

He felt so free, so alive. With the smallest of movements he found that his dress and petticoats would sway to-and-fro and swish softly around his legs. It was no wonder that girls loved to dance so much if it felt this good!

For a while he contented himself with doing his own thing, then he spotted a young girl in a flowing pink dress; Cinderella, perhaps. He watched how her dress swayed prettily and with so
much grace, then changed his style a little to copy her leg movements. He was thrilled at the thought that he'd look as lovely as she did.

Before too long he'd "borrowed" the pretty skipping movement from "Little Bo-Peep" and a cute hand flick from a pretty little lass in a white embroidered top and red floral skirt, and had melded them into his own rapidly developing style.

He closed his eyes and swayed gently in time to the music, tossing his head whenever the beat warranted it, just to feel the long golden locks softly brushing his cheeks. Melting into the music, reacting instinctively to the bright flashes visible through closed eye-lids, for the very first time Alice danced her pretty little heart out.

After what seemed like several wonderful hours, the DJ decided to change the tempo and play some humourous tunes for the children to act out the "actions" to. After "The Bunny Dance",
which had the toddlers hopping around like sweet little bunny rabbits, he played "The Birdie Song". Josie and Alice joined in and had to pretend to be little birdies, waving their arms
like wings, and waggling their bottoms at appropriate points in the song. Most of the boys refused to join in, thinking that it was far too silly, but the girls looked adorable, giggling and dancing around like little birds.

Alice was past caring what anyone thought and was having the time of her life.

The final dance of the set was the traditional "Conga Line", which everybody wanted to be a part of. The second the music started up boys and girls grabbed each others waists and a long line quickly developed. David was pleased to find himself clutching a rather cute twelve year old and felt a soft pair of hands wrapped around his own waist.

Ordinarily he'd have blushing madly at the thought of being so close to a lovely girl, and would have been falling in love with that long silky brown hair, but today was very different. As they set off in a haphazard direction, he found his eyes drawn irresistibly to the long white ribbons holding her hair securely in bunches, and how they bobbed about so prettily with each step. They were just... just... so feminine! He wondered if one day he'd be able to wear his hair like that, and if he'd look just as enchanting.

He switched his gaze downwards, past where his hands rested on her trim waist, and down to her lovely rounded bottom. But it wasn't her bottom that held his attention, but rather the girl's pretty peach dress which was shorter and more flared than his own little Alice outfit. Each time she skipped he'd catch a tantalising glimpse of frothy white petticoats and wonder if they were as frilly and pretty as his own.

As she kicked sideways he noticed the frilly ankle socks she had on, and the way that the lace trim frilled out. Of course he'd seen Josie wearing similar a hundred times before, but somehow he'd never actually *seen* them. They were very pretty, and between steps, between collision preventing maneuvers, he took mental snap-shots at each opportunity. He was waking up to the pretty details, to the lovely lace trim and delicate embroidered flowers, to the peach bows that
matched her dress so perfectly. Being a girl and being able to, no - being allowed to, appreciate such finery was both delightful and exciting. Silently he prayed that somehow this one Conga would last forever and he'd be able to continue his feminine studies.

"I'm pooped!" squeaked a familiar voice, dragging him back to reality, "Do you fancy a drink?"

He missed a step, stumbled, and the girl behind detached herself then relinked and disappeared into the crowd, taking his goddess with her.

"Oh okay," he sighed realising just how tired he was. They made their way to the soft drinks kiosk and David fumbled for imaginary pockets in his dress. Suddenly it dawned on him.

"Oh no! My purse, I've left my purse in the disco!"

For a second the girls looked at each other in disbelief then the took off in haste, ducking and darting around all the other children until they found where they'd been sitting.

"It's got to be here somewhere," cried David in dismay as they looked on and under every chair within the vicinity. After several long frantic minutes it became clear that it was gone.

David's eyes began to water. This was the first time he'd dressed up as a girl and he'd gone and lost his purse. Mum would never let him dress up again. He burst into tears.

Josie, taken aback for a second by his unusually feminine reaction, flung her arms around him and hugged him close. "It's okay Alice, we'll find your purse." There was no consoling him
and the sissified little boy continued to weep. Josie took out a small lace hankie and had him wipe his eyes as he tried desperately to sniff back the tears.

"What's the matter girls?" asked an authoritative voice from behind them. They spun around and looked up at a large kindly looking woman who wore an orange "steward" badge on the lapel of her tweed jacket.

"My sister's lost his purse," exclaimed Josie, mixing up her pronouns in her excitement, "and we've looked everywhere and can't find it!"

The woman bent down on one knee and looked at David, who's bottom lip was quivering, but for now he'd managed to quell the flood. "Is that right, little one?"

He nodded and felt the tears begin to sting again.

She put an arm around each of them and gathered them close, "Don't worry girls, we'll find it." Her smile was reassuring and David felt a little better.

She stood and took the children by the hand and led them back to the foyer, through a small knot of on-lookers who'd gathered at the commotion. Several passed comments, "She's lost her
purse, poor little lamb", "Who, the little lass dressed as Alice?", " How upsetting for the little sweetheart"...

The woman bent over a door and released a clip which let them through into the confines of the cloakroom. As there were no seats she bent down, put her large strong hands around David's
waist, lifted him effortlessly, and sat him a heap of frills and lace with his legs dangling childlike over the edge of the wooden counter. A second later she deposited Josie next to him.

"Now sweetheart, tell me what happened."

Voice quaking, David explained where he'd left his purse, that they'd gone dancing, and how he'd realised that it was missing. The Steward asked him to describe what it looked like.

"Well honey, I've got some good news for you. A few minutes ago someone handed in a purse, and I think it might be yours." She reached under the counter and reappeared with David's pretty
purse in her hand.

"Oh great!" he cried.

"Before I can give you it back, I need to know your name, honey"

"Er.. Alice," said David, "my name's Alice."

She looked him in the eye and smiled, "no sweetheart, what's your real name? You see because your purse was handed in, and you're claiming it, I have to put your name on the form. Otherwise I could lose my job - and you wouldn't want that would you?"

David was elated that his purse had come to light, but suddenly felt very exposed and foolish, sitting in front of this imposing woman dressed as a little girl.

"D...David. David Wygal" he stammered.

She wrote a few things on her form and handed his precious item back. "Now, let's get you all fixed up... David... or do you prefer Alice?" He blushed and looked at the floor.

"Well I think you make the prettiest Alice I've ever seen!" she said, winking at him. Reaching back under the counter she pulled out her own bag, large and brown. "Not as pretty as yours I'm afraid," she laughed and took out an ivory coloured compact, which she opened and pointed the mirror in his direction.

David stared at his tear-streaked reflection, he'd smudged his eyeshadow and his mascara had run. He looked a mess.

"Would the little panda like to look like a little girl again?"

David grinned and nodded. The woman took a small bottle of cleansing cream from her bag, unscrewed the top and poured a small dollop of pink goo onto a tissue. She then worked gently
around his eyes, turning the tissue until his face was clean again.

"Would you like me to put some fresh make-up on you?" He blushed and bit his lip.

"Of course you would, sweetheart. All girls like make-up... don't we?" She looked at Josie and received an affirmative giggle and enthusiastic nod. David felt a little better. It was nice to be included as a part of in this little feminine clan. "Okay then," he chirped.

The woman took out a dark bottle, unscrewed the cap and after pumping it in and out several times, withdrew a long slender brush. Expertly she quickly reapplied the mascara to David's
lashes making them look long and girlish again. She searched through her bag but was unable to find a shade of eye-shadow similar to the one he'd smudged, so she chose a darker blue and
restored his eyelids to their former feminine glory again.

"You didn't smudge your lipstick, but I guess you'd like it freshening, wouldn't you?" she asked, readying a tube of lipstick. With a nod of approval, she re-pinked the little boys lips into a cute bow. "There, doesn't that feel better?"

She held the tiny mirror up again and he gave himself a critical once-over, pulling his best pretty smile just for effect. Actually, he did feel better. Seeing himself with smudged make-up had shattered his little girl illusion a little. Of course he wouldn't wear make-up normally, but in
such a feminine outfit, he'd felt a bit odd, almost naked without a flush of colour. He grinned at her, pleased with the swift restoration of his pride.

Little Josie gave the woman a hopeful look. "Would you like some too, your Highness?" The little girl grinned from ear to ear and sat quietly while the woman prettied her up.

"Well," she said at last, "I guess you girls will want to go dance some more." She lifted the children down and unfastened  the small door and prepared to usher them out.

"Oh, Miss..." said David, tucking his purse carefully under his arm, "... thank you ever so much for your kindness!" He took hold of his dress and petticoats as Josie had taught him and dropped the astonished woman the sweetest of curtsies.

"Why thank you Alice, that was very pretty. Well done."

At last the girls were able to take some much needed refreshment before returning back to the disco. They spent the remainder of the night dancing and running about excitedly - but David was much more careful with his purse of course.

Finally to their dismay, the party wound down to closing time and mum reappeared to take them home. She could hardly get a word in as they chattered excitedly about all the things they'd
done. In the car David relived every moment of the evening, the dancing, having the lady fuss over him like a little girl, the whole thing. The journey hardly seemed long enough to recount it all.

"Well I'm sorry children, it's bedtime" said Mrs. Wygal closing the front door behind them to a chorus of "Oh mum!" After a little resistance, especially from David who was very reluctant
to give up his Alice status, they admitted that they were quite tired and resigned themselves to climbing up the stairs.

Mum followed David into the bathroom and helped him take off his make-up with some moisturising cream on a cotton-wool ball. When he was clean and fresh, to his dismay she stripped off all the pretty clothes one by one, leaving him standing in just his frilly pink panties and plain white petticoat. "Okay sweetie, go put your night clothes on and come downstairs for supper". He look a last rueful look at the Alice outfit which she'd carefully folded onto the chair and slunk off back to his room.

Mum and Josie sat on the sofa discussing the day's events and munching contentedly on some home-baked cookies when the door opened and David strutted in, proud as a peacock. "Oh thanks mum, this is brilliant!"

Josie looked up and giggled, almost choking on a mouthful. He brother stood framing the door, decked out in the sweetest pair of baby dolls she'd ever seen - pink, silky and very frilly. On
his feet he had children's pink bunny-rabbit slippers, and a white floral housecoat was draped across his arm.

"I thought you'd like it," she grinned.

Things would certainly never be the same in that household. Little Alice was here to stay. Bluebeard? Nah, he'd never be back.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thank you to everyone who wrote to me after I posted my last story. We all appreciate a little encouragement to write further stories.

Stay small and pretty,

Hugs,

Debbie

--
http://forum.girltalk.to/ A pretty place for little girls to meet and play.

The End. (Complete)
Debbie Sanderson is the author of 0 other stories.

You must login (register) to review.
tgfiction.net Webutation