Dragonflies

Julie J.

I have a special place I go to when I just want to be alone. It is an abandoned dugout surrounded by a ring of trees and shrubs. When the dugout was created the dirt was piled on the north side. Since then grass has grown on the dirt. In the summer it is particularly enjoyable to sit on the grass and feel the sun’s warmth. The dugout is full of water all year round. Some aquatic vegetation has taken hold around the edges of the dugout as well as native flowers. I especially like watching the dragonflies as they dart from plant to plant. They are especially interesting. They come to a dead stop then hover in place. The other insects go about their business as they dart from flower to flower but they do not have the same fascination for me. These insect sounds are somehow soothing.

There is an even better reason I like this place. I am a cross-dresser. I can indulge in cross-dressing here without fear of discovery. I have never seen another person here in all the times I have come to this place. That has been over five years. There is a clearing amongst the shrubbery where I change in and out of my other attire.

At home I have two similar backpacks. One is used for carrying stuff back and forth to school. That backpack is usually stuffed under my bed. The other is where I store my girly treasures. It is stored safely at the back of my closet.

I have an older sister. Every once in a while she goes through her closet deciding what to keep and what to throw out. She does not embrace recycling yet. This is a bonus for me. If I happen to be near her room when she is going through her closet I volunteer to take the discards down to the trash. Needless to say some items don’t reach the trash; they go into my idea of recycling. While I don’t have a large wardrobe it has mostly come from my sister. The panties I bought at Christmas saying they were a gift. I had bought a couple of pairs of tights at a corner store saying my sister asked me to get them for her. I have to keep the amount of stuff in my backpack small as its size is limited.

One Saturday after helping my sister manage her closet I had replaced some items in my special backpack but before I had put it back in my closest my cellphone rang. It was my friend Jim. He asked if I had forgotten that we were going to watch a video while we did our homework assignment. I had forgotten. “I’ll be there in a few minutes” then hung up the call. I put my phone back on my bedside table, picked up the backpack sitting on the floor and headed over to Jim’s place.

It takes only a couple of minutes to walk to his place. He opened the door before I could knock. He said that we had the place all to ourselves until after ten. We went downstairs to the family room. I threw my backpack on the end of the sofa. He said if I wanted something to drink I should go up to the fridge and get it myself. He asked if I had the USB stick with the details of our weekend homework assignment on it. I replied it’s in my backpack. As I was coming back down the stair I noticed the strange look on his face as he drew out a slip from my backpack. I froze. Oh god! I brought the wrong backpack. I was sure any infrared detectors in the area could pick up the warmth of my embarrassment.

He looked at me, “Care to explain?”

I was tongue-tied but finally stammered out. “… My sister’s backpack?”

“She doesn’t use a backpack!” Then he grinned. “Come with me” he said. He led me to the upstairs guest room and opened the closet door. Hanging there were dresses. “My cousin comes here so often that she decided she should leave some of her things here. That way she doesn’t have to lug around a large suitcase every time she comes.” He went over to the dresser and opened the top drawer. She had left underwear and nightwear in that drawer. In the next drawer down there were tights and pantyhose. He looked at me still grinning. “I have been known to indulge … I didn’t know anyone else who did.”

I sat down on the edge of the bed. “This is too much” I remarked.

He looked at me. “Want to? … We have the house all to ourselves.”

Of course I wanted too. I just didn’t want to appear too eager to do it.

“You can change downstairs. We’ll meet back in the family room.”

My latest acquisition from my sister was a light yellow drop-waist sundress with spaghetti straps. I changed my socks for a pair of white anklets then put my white sneakers back on. I had always dressed in secret. Nobody had ever seen me dressed. I was very nervous when I heard Jim’s footsteps coming down the stairs. First I saw white ankle socks in white sneakers then the hem of a blue dress.

We stood there looking at each other. We were two teenage boys dressed in girl’s dresses. We had no make-up, no girl’s hairstyles. We were not trying to be girls. We were just two teenage boys enjoying wearing female clothing – nothing more. We completed our homework assignment. Every once in a while we would glace at each other and smile.

Since it was still afternoon I revealed to Jim that I had a special place where I would go to cross-dress. He asked me to show it to him. Perhaps he might enjoy the same place. We changed into our regular clothes then headed out. We couldn’t go there dressed in our special clothes. We carried them. I led him to the dugout. I pointed out the place amongst the shrubbery where to change. It took only a minute or two and then we were standing on the north edge of the dugout in our dresses. The feeling of the gentle breeze tickling the hems of our dresses against the back of our legs made this a special place. The shorter the skirt or dress the better.

I turned, looked at Jim and commented, “Welcome to my special place … see all the dragonflies?”

“Now our special place” he said softly.

After that whenever we called the other and said, “Dragonflies” we knew to meet at that special place where each dragonfly’s compound eyes would behold multiple images of two teenage boys enjoying wearing their girly treasures.