Alternatives
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Alternatives free porn video
Alternatives
By Heather St. Claire
Sometimes the course of a lifetime depends on the choice of a moment.
Usually, we don't recognize it when it happens. Sometimes, the reality
becomes clear in retrospect; but far more often we never see their significance
at all.
So, we can consider Everett Kent to be particularly lucky--or not--
depending on your point of view. One day, he had the choice of two futures laid
out for him as clearly as any of us are ever to experience. Did he make the
"right" choice? Your opinion is as valid as mine.
Everett was probably three or four when he realized there was something
"different" about him; it wasn't until he was six or seven when he was totally
clear on what that difference was... he longed to be a girl. He had never felt
totally comfortable with boyish things and boyish ways.
One Sunday, he learned about the power of prayer in Sunday school. He had
a childish view of it, of course; he thought of God as the ultimate wish-giver
in the sky. So he went to bed that night, and prayed that he would wake up the
next morning as a girl.
Of course, it didn't happen. It didn't happen the next morning or the
morning after that either. But somehow, it became a habit, and it continued
right into Everett's teen years, and even into adulthood.
It was the night before his 25th birthday when his prayer finally got an
answer.
He had climbed into bed; half closed his eyes, and repeated the thought
that had become almost automatic with him. "Please God, let me wake up a
girl..." He supposed he should say "woman" now, but it had become an ingrained
habit, a mantra. Tonight, however, was to be the last night of this prayer;
almost immediately, the room was filled with a shimmering light, which quickly
grew in intensity.
Everett opened his eyes, amazed, and saw the figure of an angel standing
at the foot of his bed. She looked like... well, he had to admit that she looked
like one of the angels out of the Victoria's Secret catalog. "I know what you're
thinking, Everett," she said sweetly. "And yes, it's intentional... we assume a
form that's comforting or pleasing to whomever we visit."
Everett smiled, and had to admit that he felt both comforted and pleased
as he gazed upon the tall, slim woman with the shining face, long, curly brown
hair, scanty underclothing, and huge wings sprouting from her back. This time,
the angel gave him the opportunity to voice his next thought.
"Are you here to grant my prayer?" he asked.
"Maybe, Everett," she said in a soft, sweet voice. "Actually, I am going
to be offering you a choice... two alternatives, neither of which will be
ideal."
"Why is that?" he asked, curious and a bit disappointed. (Although he told
himself he shouldn't be too disappointed; after all, how many people are visited
by an angel?)
"Well, Everett, it's because that's the way life on this earth is...
humankind had its opportunity to experience paradise on earth, but lost it... so
I can only give you two imperfect choices."
"Which are?"
"The first, would be to become female. You will have a rich, fulfilling
life... in many ways it will be all you've dreamed of and more. But it will be a
relatively short life. I can't tell you why, except that's your destiny if you
live your life as a female. If you choose this option, you will be aware that
you were once male... but will not know that your time is limited."
"What's the other choice?"
"You can remain male. Your life won't be exceptionally happy or unhappy,
but it will be long. And I can also take away some of the intensity of your
longing to be female."
"Can I have some time to think?"
The angel placed a hand on Everett's shoulder. "Of course, dear. Of
course."
Ending one--54 years later
Everett Kent sat on the terrace of the retirement home where he had lived
for the past six years. He really didn't have to be here, because of mental or
physical infirmity. In fact, his doctor said he was in fine shape for a 79-year-
old. It was more a case of simply not knowing where else to go or what to do.
When Everett had chosen to remain male, the angel had made good on her
promise. He remembered that he had wanted to be a girl, but the longing no
longer seemed as intense. He couldn't believe that had happened more than half a
century ago!
He couldn't help but wonder if he had made the right choice. The angel had
been right; his life seemed to have been a long but unexceptional one. His
marriage hadn't totally lacked love, but the flame of passion had been all but
absent. He and Sheila had never had children, and their few friends weren't
surprised when they divorced after 29 years of marriage. There had been no
conflict; it was as if their union had simply run out of gas.
Everett's career had followed a similar path. He had advanced to a middle
management job in his mid 30s, and stayed there for the next 25 years. Once, at
a party, he was asked what he did for a living. "I shuffle papers," he said with
a sly grin. The person he was talking to laughed; so did Everett, on the
outside.
Had it really been 54 years? Where had the time gone? Had he made the
right choice? He would always wonder...
Everett picked up the newspaper and went searching for the crossword
puzzle.
Ending two--20 years later
The suburban church's sanctuary held at least 300 people, but it wasn't
enough. Every pew was filled, and folding chairs had been set up in the back,
and in the aisles. But it still wasn't enough. The crowd gathered for Evelyn
Kent Silverman's memorial service overflowed into the halls.
Seated in the front center pew were her family; her husband of 19 years,
Martin; her daughters, Melanie, 18, and Amber, 16; and her son, Scott, 15. It
was clear they were united by great sorrow, and by great love. Evelyn had died
of breast cancer just five days earlier. Although they thought they had been
prepared for her death, she had been battling the disease for almost three
years; the awful finality of it was still proving to be a lot to bear.
Still, they were drawing strength from each other, and from the warmth and
love they felt projected by the hundreds of souls surrounding them, and from the
look of compassionate kindness on the face of the minister standing at the
pulpit in front of them. The Rev. Scott Thomas had performed the Silverman's
wedding ceremony and had baptized each of their children, but he never thought
he would preside at one of their funerals.
The Rev. Thomas took a long look at the sea of faces surrounding him, took
a deep breath, and began. "Friends, we gather here today to celebrate the life
of Evelyn Silverman. Even someone who never met her would only have to step into
this sanctuary today to know how much she was loved; how many lives she touched
for the better.
"Even though we know that a loved one is going to an eternal paradise,
it's still very hard for us to say good-bye. It takes an act of faith, and it's
all the more difficult when someone, such as Evelyn, is taken from us when it
seems like her work on this earth is far from finished."
Scott put his hand on his father's shoulder; he appeared to be doing his
brave best to fight back tears. That was more than his sisters could do. They
held each other tightly as they sobbed quietly.
"I still remember the young woman who joined this church right after she
moved here, 20 years ago," the minister continued. "I was a brand-new pastor
myself, at that time, and was glad to see a wide-eyed, fresh faced eager young
woman who wanted to embrace the church and the community. Before I knew it she
was teaching Sunday school, organizing pot lucks and rummage sales... and
marrying the choir director."
The Rev. Thomas looked straight at Martin, who despite his pain, was
smiling. He was thinking back to one of the happiest times in his life. His
romance with Evelyn had been something out of a 1940s movie, he thought. Picnics
and long walks and rowboat trips and country fairs. Within just a few weeks,
they knew they were meant to spend the rest of their lives together, and on
bended knee, he proposed.
"I was lucky enough to perform their wedding ceremony," the Rev. Thomas
went on. "Of course, in my position, you hope that every marriage is going to
last," he said with a rueful smile that brought a few scattered chuckles. "But
you know that the reality is otherwise. But when I first sat down with Evelyn
and Martin, I knew this was a match truly made in heaven."
He went on to recall the arrival of the three Silverman children, and had
observations on how their mother's influence had shaped each of them.
From there, he reflected on her growing role as a community volunteer and
leader, which had broadened as the children went off to school. The minister
talked about her efforts to clean up an abandoned neighborhood park, to start a
neighborhood watch program, get a kid's recreational soccer program going...
"This list could be twice as long, and it would still be just a list, unless we
consider the love of family and community than animated everything she did.
Evelyn loved being a wife and mother, and in some ways, saw herself as a
surrogate parent to all of us."
He paused. "Not long after Evelyn slipped away to eternal piece, Martin
told me that it seemed like Evelyn somehow always knew that her time would be
short... that it seemed as if she packaged as much into 20 years as much as some
people do in 20 lifetimes. I had to agree. It may be a clich?, but I find
Evelyn's life to be proof that we cannot measure the quality of a life just by
its length.
"Yes, we all wish that Evelyn could be here to see her children grow into
adulthood, become parents themselves, and grow old at Martin's side. It leaves
us feeling cheated that this isn't going to happen." This was the moment when
Scott's brave mask finally cracked, and he dissolved in tears in his father's
arms. "Though her body is dead, her soul did not die. She lives, and will
continue to live in the hearts of all of us. Let us pray..."
Rowan
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