What Pegman Saw – The Crossing

“What Pegman saw” is a weekly challenge based on Google Streetview. Using the location provided, you must write a piece of flash fiction of no more than 150 words. You can read the rules here. You can find today’s location on this page,  from where you can also get the Inlinkz code. This week’s prompt is Tolchester Beach, Maryland, USA.

The crossing

Jim drove towards the water, parked and sat in darkness. The far side of the estuary was spangled with lights.

He gulped bourbon from his flask, then stripped, folding his clothes neatly onto the seat. “See, Mom?” he slurred, not knowing whether it was a sneer or a lament.

Then he waded into the water and swam towards the far shore.

It’s five kilometres and he was not a strong swimmer. He would swim until exhausted and then quietly let himself slide under…

The water wasn’t cold, not at first anyway, not as cold as his loss. He swam steadily, his mind floating free. This wasn’t such a bad way to go.

A slap of water roused him. His limbs were shuddering, but still moving. Orange street lights! Close!

His left leg cramped.

Only one hundred yards to go.

His head was submerging.

Every stroke was agony.

He made it.

What Pegman Saw – Finding Out

“What Pegman saw” is a weekly challenge based on Google Streetview. Using the location provided, you must write a piece of flash fiction of no more than 150 words. You can read the rules here. You can find today’s location on this page,  from where you can also get the Inlinkz code. This week’s prompt is Baltimore, Maryland.

Peabody Institute of John’s Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland  © S. Kalugin Google Maps

Finding out

“Honey, what are you doing?” asked Laura.

Jeff turned from the mirror, his face scarlet.

“Mom! I didn’t hear you come in!”

“Come here, hun.”

Jeff hesitated. Laura’s dress hung loose on him, and he tottered on her high heels.

Laura sat down and patted the place beside her. “Sit beside me, sweetie.”

She hugged him.

“Honey, I love you,” she said.

Then she asked “You’ve borrowed my clothes before, haven’t you?”

Jeff nodded.

“Is it like that TV programme we saw?”

Jeff nodded again.

“Mom,” he blurted, “I feel like I’m a girl, not a boy.”

“Do you have a special name, sweetheart?”

Jeff looked at his toes. “Myleene”

“My, that’s a pretty name.” She drew breath. “You want I should take you to Johns Hopkins, like the girl on the TV?”

“What about dad?”

“Don’t worry. I’ll talk him round.”

She hugged her son again, her heart breaking.

Author’s Notes

Johns Hopkins Hospital pioneered gender reassignment surgery in the USA. However, in 1979 they stopped carrying out such surgery, taking the view that gender dysphoria was a mental illness and should be treated as such. They maintained this policy for 38 years, only changing it in 2017. They now offer a range of medical treatments for gender dysphoria, including surgery.