"Paula wake up." Pauls mother said in a soft voice. "You dont want to be late for the bus." "Paula?" Paul thought as he kicked off the covers. He sat up and stared in disbelief as how far the end of the bed suddenly seemed. He looked at his tiny hands, feet and peppermint stripe night shirt he had on. As he reached down between his legs and found nothing, a smile had spread across his face. A dream come. "Coming, mother." Paul said in his now little girl voice as he slipped out of bed and ran to the dresser.

The training curriculum, a bit antiquated, still called for orientation in being a male sex partner for the EP girls, so Thursday was spent teaching Chrissie who became Howard once again and me Lenny once more how to dress like a manly man and treat a lady. We wore those drab old mens clothes again, but naughtily wore lacy panties underneath. I knew I would never wear mens underpants again. Yuck! I missed being a girl, but I enjoyed our double date that night with Darci and Tina.

Audra was nearly overwhelmed by the stampede of her brother and sister welcoming her home. Ken picked her up and twirled her around. "Welcome home!" he shouted. The reaction from Ken froze Audra; it was the kind of reaction that Susie might have gotten had she been ill. Audra was unsure of how to react. "Put her down you big oaf," Susie instructed as she slapped Ken on the shoulder. "She just got out of the hospital!" "I wont break," Audra admitted as Ken let her down. "We have something to show you," Ken told her.

After dinner, I went back to my apartment and unpacked. An hour or so later, I walked back down the hall past the boys rooms to a large common room near the entrance to the building. There were a few tables, some couches, and a wall mounted TV. Most of the guys were in there. A poker game was in progress, with Doug loudly announcing the face up cards he was dealing around the table.

Jill was a newly married year old woman who recently married a wealthy year old man whose birthday was approaching. Her stiletto heels clicked on the floor to see pumpkins for sale, statues of pilgrims and different costume shops competing for upcoming Halloween parties. "Spells R Us," said Jill as she read the name of one store that never rented out mall space for Halloween before. "Wonder if they have anything interesting?" "Hello, Mrs. Stevens." Said a man behind the counter dressed in an old bathroom.

Hobbled as I was, it took some time to make my way down the stairs. Still, I figured I was better off trying to walk down than to take my chances with the elevator and to be at the mercy of whoever got on. I had learned my lesson there. I did not run into trouble until I was almost home... I had just stepped onto the third floor when I heard a door slam somewhere up above. I expected whomever it was to take the elevator, but a voice whispered

John Dyke was walking through a construction area while the workers were on break. He tripped on a crack and fell onto an orange construction cone. "Mine." He said, snatching up the cone and walking off. "Anything I touch is mine." John continued toward his home on the hill that over looked the city dump. He had own the property the dump was built on so that he could keep his collection in.

After a while we split, and went silently to different areas. Mom went down to the rec room, I suppose to sit and think. I went upstairs to my bedroom, to lay down and think. I dont think I got much thinking done, though. The next I knew the shadows were long and Mom was sitting on the bed, looking sadly down at me. "Mom? Are you mad at me?" She reached down and gently stroked my forehead.

The sun rose and Mickie rolled off the brand new mattress to the floor. There wasnt much of a drop since the delivery guys put the mattress on the floor where he pointed. The metal frame lay nearby still wrapped in its plastic covering. He was too tired to set it up last night. The boxes too were piled here and there since he and two friends from San Diego helped him unload their truck. "You guys can crash here" he had offered.

The whole gang were still celebrating. Graduation had taken up the day of family and friends. Photographs, discarded robes, suprising undergarments, dull speeches and somehow it was surreal. As Ben sat there between two of his friends listening, somehow the school building behind the speakers podium looked different. For four long years, it had been a home away from home.