Dream to be different

I really wasn’t sure about myself when I was younger. Sometimes I could be really timid, sometimes I was a real extrovert exhibitionist.

The mood swings were a real bitch, as well.

Then came the day that changed my life…

I was trying to cheer myself up, doing my favourite pastime, window shopping, and I was looking at the portraits in a window of a hair salon one evening.

The owner, working late, saw me and came out, saying "I bet you’re thinking, she’s beautiful, isn’t she?"

To my amazement, my quiet reply was, "Not quite; I was dreaming about being able to carry off the hair style..."

The owner suddenly had a wicked smile on her face.

"You won’t know if you don’t try", she said...

She introduced herself as Sharleen and beckoned me into the shop. It was only when I introduced myself as Mal, and she saw how flat-chested I was, that she realised I was a young guy…

To give her credit, it didn’t faze her at all. I think she was more intrigued, than anything else. After all, in the dim light outside, she had been sure I was a young woman…

“I can see I’ve got a fair bit to do”, she said, “It’s going to take a while, but I think I can still pull it off. It’s not going to be cheap, however…”

My face fell. I wasn’t that well off, especially at that moment. Work had been non-existent, and job interviews had come to nothing.

I turned to leave the salon. Sharleen, thinking, put her hand on my shoulder.

“Hold on a second, sweetie. I’ve got an idea. How would you like it to be you in the window next month?”

I was quite intrigued. What I really liked was the way she was treating me, like a girl, as well as the feel of her hands.

I should have still walked out then, but I didn’t. I couldn’t. The allure of being a beautiful woman was just too much to resist.

I turned back into the salon, and Sharleen guided me to a chair.

“Here’s the deal”, she said, all businesslike. “You let me take pictures throughout your makeover, start to finish, so I can do some brilliant ‘before and after’ photos for the window. In return, you get the makeover for the cost of the materials, and a token amount for my time and the electricity.”

I should have still said no… I should have…

“Yes!”, I squeaked…

She started by washing, tidying and styling what was there already; she also dyed it a beautiful chestnut brown. It even shone like chestnuts do when they’ve just fallen from the tree…

“It’s the colour of the extensions I’ve got in stock”, she explained. I didn’t care; I loved the colour.

I thought I’d died and gone to heaven when she fitted the extensions. I now had gorgeous, lustrous past shoulder length hair. I almost preened in the chair.

Sharleen noticed. With a smile, she carried on.

She put a ‘ripple’ in my hair down the back and deliberately made it slightly fuzzy. To my amazement, it actually made me look younger, and I shivered with anticipation. Then, to my amazement, she kissed me…

“I thought that was what I was reading from you”, she said. “It’s nice to have someone really caring about what they look like. Also, your spirit is burning really brightly.”

I was surprised by the kiss, but not shocked. Sharleen knew exactly what I wanted, no, needed, and she was giving it to me…

As she worked, she showed me exactly what she was doing, explaining everything. As she did, I was finding things more and more familiar.

Sharleen added some gentle cherry red highlights.

“Do you want this finished off properly?”, she said. I just nodded…

She taught me how to do my makeup, to properly match my new hair. Then, saying she’d be right back, she went out back.

She came back with a beautiful metallic blue dress, with a silver choker and some stockings. She also passed me some underwear and a bra that felt slightly padded…

“These look your size”, she said. “They belonged to my daughter, before she ‘left’…”

I slid behind a screen and changed. While I did, I didn’t notice Sharleen taking my existing clothes, making a note of my shoe size.

“Yuck! Nasty things!”, she said, binning them out back.

I had a bit of fun getting the stockings on, as I hadn’t done my toenails for a while, but I managed to get them on without laddering them. I was getting completely carried away in the moment; I would have worn a bin bag if Sharleen had asked me to.

Once fully dressed, I made sure everything was smoothed down and flicked back the tiny bit of hair that had moved when I put the dress on.

A pair of heels were pushed under the screen, and I put them on, as well. I then stepped out. Sharleen gasped. She then took a photo with her phone. She also turned me toward the mirror…

I couldn’t help it. I cried like a baby, on her shoulder. In truth, it was a rebirth for me…

The young woman who had stared back at me was beautiful, innocent looking.

Looking closer, I also saw another picture of her, on the wall. This one was slightly yellowed with age, but it was definitely her, definitely now me.

“Hello, Melanie”, Sharleen said. “Welcome home.”

Sharleen had her daughter back, and I had a wonderful new life to look forward to…