WARNING: WEIRD SHORT STORY WRITTEN BY AN EVEN WEIRDER GIRL
"Son, I have to tell you something."
"What is it, mom?" Bradley looked up from his cereal at his mom, who was sitting the breakfast bar chair. She looked unnaturally tense and fidgeted under his stare.
"There's something you should know about your identity. About your history and heritage." She exhaled nervously. Hopefully, he would take it well.
"Yeah sure mom, after I finish eating my cereal."
His mom suddenly slammed the palm of her hand against the breakfast bar counter. "This is a serious matter! We are going to talk in the office now."
Bradley gulped. Talking in the office really did mean it was something serious. He had only been in there two other times. The first was when he was born (but Bradley didn't remember this) and during the second visit, Bradley's mother told him she and his father John was getting divorced.
Bradley sat uncomfortably in the wobbly chair, swiveling around nervously. His mom sat directly across from him and they were only separated by a wooden office desk. He wondered what might have happened to prompt this visit to the office. Perhaps she found out he broke her favorite vase? No, that matter is too trivial for the office. But then again, the vase was her favorite...
"I'm a male."
Bradley blinked. "Oh, well this is a bit shocking," he murmured. "But mom, you know I love you no matter what. I don't care if you identify as a female or a male. I love you unconditionally."
"Bradley, that's so sweet of you to say, but what I mean is I'm a male." His mother was beginning to frantically pace around now.
"Yes, you are transgender and I'm a supporter of the LGBT community. I'm even wearing rainbow underwear and socks right now. In fact—"
"You don't understand what I'm saying! I mean I'm literally a male!" With that, Bradley's mother pulled down her pants to reveal testicles and weirdly enough, a small pouch.
"What the—"
"Sweetie, I was born a seahorse and so was your biological mother. I wasn't in love with her and she wasn't with me. Mating was just a duty to us. But then your human father came into the picture. We were living in his brother's aquarium and when I first laid eyes on him, I knew it was love at first sight."
"What the actual fuck?"
"I know this is a big shock to you but please let me finish explaining. Anyway, the only way John would notice me is if I was a human. So I went to Curry, a weird seahorse who lives in the pineapple decoration on the bottom of the tank. Curry was rumored to be a witch and she was one! She said she could turn me human but I would have to give up 1,999 seahorse babies for this transformation. I wasn't willing to but it was the true love we were talking about!"
Bradley scratched his head. "Mom, are you sure you're not high?"
"Yes, I'm sure. In the end, I sacrificed my 1,999 babies to become a human. But you, my special baby boy, were the two thousandth baby. When I was transformed into a human male, I was still pregnant with you. However, Curry was a rather inexperienced witch seahorse so my transformation was not quite complete."
She, or rather he, pointed to the pouch. "You matured in here and I gave birth to you from this pouch. I was rather relieved to see you were born a human because if you were a seahorse, I didn't know how to explain it to other people. John and I began dating soon after I gave birth to you. I swear it was love. We were so happy together." Bradley's father began crying.
"I don't know what went wrong. I found him in bed, cheating on me with another human woman. I guess he cheated on me because I refused to have sex with him. I was too scared to show him my abnormal genitals because frankly, he wouldn't have believed me even if I did explain I was a seahorse."
His son wanted to bang his head against the desk. Why did his mom, dad, seahorse person reveal everything the night before his fifteenth birthday? Now he was going to be in a bad mood on his birthday. Bradley felt cheated. "Why did you lie to me for nearly fifteen years? You had plenty of chances to tell me the truth."
"I know and I'm truly sorry. I wanted to forget about my past life as a seahorse and just move on. But last night, Curry appeared in my dreams. She said on the night of your fifteenth birthday, at midnight exactly, you will have a choice."
"What kind of choice?"
"If you choose to return to your mother and your seahorse relatives, all you have to do is go to the tank they reside in and dip your hand in the aquarium water at the stroke of midnight. Curry will change you back to your natural state as a seahorse. But beware, this change will be permanent and you will suffer the consequences of your choice."
"What about you?"
Bradley's father/mother/seahorse dude smiled wistfully. "I've already made my choice long ago and I can't change them no matter how hard I try. Now, it's time to make yours." Bradley and his father sat in silence for a few moments. Finally, his seahorse father got up from his chair and walked to the exit. He paused and looked back at his son.
"Choose wisely, for midnight will come faster than the blink of an eye."
What do you think Bradley chose?
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