"To wear a mask for your entire life. A cruel masquerade. Yes, I understand."
"A Masquerade. That's exactly it. Like a mask you can't remove". I layed my head back down. "Are you going to kill me now? Because I've got to work tomorrow if you're not and it's getting kind of late."
"Kill you?" He queried. "No, no I won't kill you. In fact, you should consider yourself... fortunate. I believe I can help you. But I must warn you, it comes with a grave cost. Some might consider a curse, though it makes no difference to me. It's all I have to give."
I smiled, fairly certain at this point that I was almost certainly hallucinating. "I know salesmen are weird but this... Look, I know all about therapy and hormones and stuff. I could by hormones online if I wanted to, but that doesn't solve my problems and insurance doesn't cover it. I'd hardly call medical bills a curse, just a pain in the ass."
At that it was his turn to laugh "Medical bills. It's not quite that simple. But all you have to do is say the word. What is it to you, after all, it's simply trading one curse for another. Simple enough".
My girlfriend had warned me about eating before bed causing strange dreams, but I had opted for hotdogs at midnight anyway. It had to be a dream. Maybe not the years of gender identity struggles, but definitely the creepy salesman in the dark hotel room. All of it would be over in a few short hours and my summer would progress just as miserably as I expected. "Whatever, dude, I'm going to sleep" I informed him "If you're going to do something, just make sure I don't wake up in the morning".
He slowly got up from his chair, almost gliding over to the bed. "As you wish. Just relax and everything will go swimmingly" He assured me as he knelt over me. "Oh, and one more thing. Just try not to scream." He laughed "Of course, they always do".
And before I could move, he was upon me
"A Masquerade. That's exactly it. Like a mask you can't remove". I layed my head back down. "Are you going to kill me now? Because I've got to work tomorrow if you're not and it's getting kind of late."
"Kill you?" He queried. "No, no I won't kill you. In fact, you should consider yourself... fortunate. I believe I can help you. But I must warn you, it comes with a grave cost. Some might consider a curse, though it makes no difference to me. It's all I have to give."
I smiled, fairly certain at this point that I was almost certainly hallucinating. "I know salesmen are weird but this... Look, I know all about therapy and hormones and stuff. I could by hormones online if I wanted to, but that doesn't solve my problems and insurance doesn't cover it. I'd hardly call medical bills a curse, just a pain in the ass."
At that it was his turn to laugh "Medical bills. It's not quite that simple. But all you have to do is say the word. What is it to you, after all, it's simply trading one curse for another. Simple enough".
My girlfriend had warned me about eating before bed causing strange dreams, but I had opted for hotdogs at midnight anyway. It had to be a dream. Maybe not the years of gender identity struggles, but definitely the creepy salesman in the dark hotel room. All of it would be over in a few short hours and my summer would progress just as miserably as I expected. "Whatever, dude, I'm going to sleep" I informed him "If you're going to do something, just make sure I don't wake up in the morning".
He slowly got up from his chair, almost gliding over to the bed. "As you wish. Just relax and everything will go swimmingly" He assured me as he knelt over me. "Oh, and one more thing. Just try not to scream." He laughed "Of course, they always do".
And before I could move, he was upon me
