Goldie

There once was a man named Alex who lived on Earth working as a construction worker.  As a young man Alex felt wrong. He worked hard, drank hard, played hard and smoked. He wanted to seem normal so he tried spending time with girls, not just as friends, but as, you know, lovers. It did not go well. Alex felt he should be the girl! He felt sorry for the girls he was with; he could not be a ‘real’ man.

Alex took early retirement to avoid people. He moved off-world to Trantoon 6, sometimes called the fairy tale world, where vast areas of the planet were covered in forest. Alex avoided facing his confused feelings about gender by avoiding all people. But even on a world like Trantoon, people move into the neighborhood.

A pretty golden haired girl named Goldie moved in a mile down the dirt road. She was bubbly and all smiles. She refused to be alone,even when living alone. She walked to Alex’s house in the woods everyday right around supper time. Over the weeks she pried the truth out of Alex. She understood Alex’s problem.

Goldie took Alex’s hands and told him the truth about her. It seems Goldie is a witch, or at least a magical being able to grant wishes. Does it matter on the fairy tale world? Goldie asked Alex to close his eyes while holding her hands. When he reopened his eyes he saw himself. He was in Goldie’s body! “Go home,” Goldie said from his body. “Live my life for a while and see if you like it. If you want this body and life back I will return it. If not, I can dispose of this body and move on.”

The months and years went by with no desire to be Alex again. One day Alex (his body, at least) showed up at Goldie’s doorstep with a marriage proposal. It seems when Goldie moved into Alex’s body she became Alex, only without the insecurities about women. And now he was in love. Goldie had to admit his old body looked good for its age. Of course she said yes. It’s the fairy tale world.