Fresh Start Chapter 74

An hour later she was standing outside of Alexis's cottage. Nervously she knocked on the door. She waited a second and was tempted to walk away when she heard Alexis's voice.

"I'll be right there."

The door opened and Alexis's eyes met Jirra's.

"Hi. Can we talk?" asked Jirra.

Alexis nodded. "Sure, come on in."

Jirra followed and sat down on the couch. Alexis sat down across from her in a chair.

"I need to ask you a big favour. I need you to promise not to tell anyone what I'm about to tell you."

Alexis sensed the seriousness in Jirra's voice. She wondered what it could be. "I promise."

Jirra stared back intently. "I wasn't totally truthful with you. I didn't lie about anything, but I did withhold something about me."

"Are you okay?" asked Alexis in a concerned voice.

Jirra nodded. "My health is fine. Part of the reason why I was uncomfortable with you controlling our relationship is that..."

There was a long pause. Alexis waited patiently. She saw that Jirra was struggling to hold back her emotions.

"Go on, Jirra."

Jirra nodded and opened up the photo album she had carried in. She passed it over to Alexis.

Alexis looked at the photos. It was Liz with a teenage boy. There were several other photos of Liz, a man, and the boy. Alexis assumed the man was Jirra's dead father. The boy sort of looked like Jirra, and she wondered if Jirra had also lost a brother recently.

"Alexis, that's me. I... I used to be a boy."

Alexis stared at the photo and then at Jirra, who now had tears running down her face.

"How? Did you have SRS?"

Jirra shook her head. "I know this sounds crazy, but I was transformed."

Alexis stared back. What Jirra was saying was unbelievable; people don't change gender. Yet, as she compared the photos to Jirra, she saw the similarity. Jirra had the exact same freckle pattern on her arms as the boy in the photo.

Jirra then told her what had happened. She described being in the copper cauldron when the lightning bolt struck the building. Alexis listened, but her logic was telling her that Jirra must be delusional.

"Look, I know you think I'm nuts. But I wanted you to know that I'm dealing with a lot of issues. Tara says that I need to find my balance. Well, I'm nowhere near to being balanced. I accept that physically I'm female, but I don't feel like a girl, whatever that means. I truly love you, but my physical and mental conflicts make it difficult. I also couldn't stand the idea of hiding something from you."

"I don't know what to say. I don't know what to think," replied Alexis.

"I understand. I just wanted you to know the truth. If you don't believe me, go talk to Tara."

Alexis nodded.

"I'll go now. I won't bother you anymore."

Alexis wanted to say stay, but she didn't. She just stared back at Jirra.

Jirra reached down and took her album from Alexis. She stood there for a moment and, having nothing else to say, she walked out.