The Vault is where I’ll be posting snippets of things I’ve written.  Stories that came to me in a flash, just to leave as suddenly as they came.  Some I spent more time building the world than writing the story.  Others just petered out after one scene.

My first addition to the fault is Jack’s Journey.  The story of Jack takes place in the early 1900’s.  The world is still dominated by men.  Jack is a girl who has been brought up as a boy.  She’s lived her whole life like this.  The story centers on her discovery that being a woman isn’t half as bad as she was brought up to believe.  The only bit I ever wrote was the prologue where her mother forces her into the role of a boy.

Prologue

“Honey, I know you don’t understand right now, but believe me. You have to do this. It’s for your own good. One day you’ll understand” Her mother was looking tired.  The dark circles under her eyes were getting darker day by day.

“Mom, why can’t I go to the swimming hole with the rest of the guys?” Jack’s voice was starting to become wheedling.

“Jack, I’ve told you why.  It doesn’t matter what the other boys do. You’re body is different from theirs and they must never know that.” She could hear the fear in her mother’s voice.

“Why am I different mom? Why can’t I be like them?” The puzzled sound was back in her voice.

“Baby, you will have so many more options when you’re grown up. Do you still want to be a farmer one day?  Or maybe a merchant?  If the other boys find out your different you’ll never be able to do any of that”.