My Little Mermaid

[Mary Beth Sanford]

My Little Mermaid



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Ariel, the mermaid, was one of Disney's characters Ms. Grimes explained as she showed Mark the costume.  Helen wanted to put it up on Ebay and thought it would sell better if someone wore it for the pictures she would need to post.  No head shots, just the body, she promised and Mark, given his build, was perfect.  



That was what made Mark laugh.  Mark had no breast, obviously, and he was thin which, without showing the head in the picture, would give the illusion of a young girl.  His smooth body, from the waxing at the beginning of the swimming season, would also help with that minor deception.  



Helen would take the pictures outside, in front of the pond, perhaps under the willows.  Ten minutes of embarrassment at most, twenty counting the time it took to put the costume on and take it off.  Mark shrugged at the risk but if it made Helen happy, why not.  No one would see him, no one would know.  



It was a cute costume, carefully made.  A nylon underskirt, taffeta overskirt and more taffeta cut circular to look like a mermaid's scales.  Below, at the feet, she had fashioned a petticoat of chiffon, organdy and netting to represent the fins.  A girlish costume with a halter top that looked like sea shells for the bra cups.  



Mark wore a set of white flats, Helen's, and did so only because he wouldn't have to paint his toes or so she threatened in a light hearted way.  The panties couldn't be avoided because they were sewn into the skirt.  A very tight skirt given that it was actually designed for a young girl about half a size smaller than Mark.



Helen posted the digital images that evening when she put the costume up for bid and by that following day there were six raising the price to $39 dollars.  It had cost Helen almost $20 to make that outfit so she was profitable within hours.  



That was what gave her the idea she told Mark but when it sold for three times what it had cost her, by weeks end, she went to the fabric store and Mark for his efforts would see his rent reduced a bit.  It wasn't much but every little bit helped.



Mark wasn't thrilled at the idea of dressing as Sleeping Beauty but Helen's excitement over making a little side money allowed him to ignore the fact he would be modeling another costume.  That too helped, the fact it was a costume.  Although, costume or not, it was still a gown and while that was bad enough there was the slip as well.



It was a bridal slip, floor length and fit him perfectly, as did the dress.  It was meant to since he was nearly the exact size of a twelve year old girl that had yet to reach puberty.  He wore those flats again and knee length nylons for the shimmer when he held the skirt up to show off the underskirt.  



This time he stood in front of the large trellis outside, between the flowering vines of her blooming Wisteria.    Thankfully, he mused, there were no panties so he wore his swimming trunks.  Actually, his swimming trunks were skin tight and stretched smoothly under the slips.  That was what he noticed as he swished into the back yard for more pictures.



Taffeta satin and nylon organdy were remarkable fabrics Mark mused smiling.  He wore lipstick this time and the only reason he even considered wearing the make-up was because Sleeping Beauty's costume had a high stand up collar.  Mark's face, at least to his nose, would show Helen had said twisting the gleaming gold tube of waxy pink open before she drew it over his lips.



Helen made nearly four times the cost on that second gown and by the time it sold she had finished the soft yellow satin version of Bell's dress from Beauty and The Beast.  Mark couldn't explain why he wore the wig this time since it really wasn't necessary, although Helen argued that the pictures were better doing so.   Besides, she'd argued, the makeup hid his features easily.



Snow White's dress followed a week later and Mark wore his first pair of heels, albeit short heels, a week after that for the Cinderella gown.  He also wore his first pair of pantyhose since he had to raise the skirt for that bridal slip.  It was pantyhose or a garter belt with thigh highs, Helen had noted and that garter belt was too lacy.



Mark had joked that he was wearing a dress every week now although noting that sooner or later Helen was going to run out of Disney's Princesses.  That saddened Mark a little and he wasn't sure why but those sessions beginning at Helen's vanity were becoming oddly exciting.  A little more so for that Cinderella dress because there were bloomers.  



Satin lined in nylon bloomers, Mark noted happily, when he walked across the yard to pose in front of Helen's prize roses.  Helen took a number of pictures then cursed softly that she had failed to put in fresh batteries and they would have to take them over again.  Mark didn't mind, he said, meaning it.  He found himself reluctant over changing out of his outfit but didn't dare say anything as he swished back into the house.



It was curiosity over the images that drove Mark to Helen's posting on Ebay and he couldn't get over how girlish he looked in those pictures.  What caught his attention and made him gasp wasn't the images but the wording that Helen had put there with the description of the dress.



"I am continuing to clean out my daughter's closet.  She has outgrown her dress-up phase and this is her last costume dress.  Like her previous dresses, this one is from the Disney store and is in mint condition.  I will be posting some of her fancier dresses over the next few weeks including a couple that she wore for pageants.  Happy bidding."



The rest of the posting was the description of the dress, slip and bloomers  Mark noted.  He wasn't sure what to do about what he'd found out deciding to wait to see what might happen next.  He also wanted to peer into Helen's sewing room.  According to that posting, she wasn't sewing those dresses but buying them and that was odd.



It was even more odd when Mark had that opportunity.  Rose was at work when Mark went into the sewing room only to discover a half dozen new dresses and none of them costumes.  Fancy dresses, special occation for sure and two of them definitely meant for pageants.  Below those dresses the two pair of shoes he had worn and next to those a pair of Mary Janes in black patent leather.



Those Mary Janes fit him perfectly as did those other two pair and that drove him to experiment with Helen's shoes.  According to Helen, those shoes he had worn were hers, only hers, the ones in her closet at least, were too big.  She had purchased those shoes specifically for him as she had those dresses and why, Mark wondered, had she done that.



It wasn't just the dresses or shoes but those panties.  There were two unopened packages of seven each that Mark was sure were meant for him.  One filled with Disney's Princesses in soft pastels, the other a set of colorful day-of-the-week panties.  There was also a Barbie nightgown still with the tags and he was sure that would fit him.  He shuddered a little before leaving that room.



Mark decided to play dumb and it wasn't long before Helen said something.  She was thinking of making a couple of regular gowns to sell.  Something fancy for perhaps a wedding, she wasn't sure, she said but ask if Mark would still be willing to help her.  Mark could have said something then but he caught himself.



He caught himself for his own sake he realized.  He had listened intently allowing Helen to say enough so he could confront her with what he knew.  Only he realized, that if he did say something, it would all end.  He had been Ariel,  Sleeping Beauty, Bell, Snow White and Cinderella and now, perhaps, a flower girl.  Even better, he realized, a pageant princess.



He risked just a little when he mentioned the wigs.  Both of those he had used were costume wigs, he noted and perhaps something more real might be better.  It was the look on Helen's face that made him smile.  She agreed immediately saying she would look for something when she went out shopping.



Mark had seen Helen happy before this, lots of times, but nothing like the state she was in just then and perhaps for that reason he decided to risk the rest.  Mark paused, thought through what he was about to say carefully before haltingly saying it.  Helen caught Mark's look asking him what it was that he was thinking.  Clearly she worried because it was on her face.



Truth was, Mark noted, Helen could save a lot of money if she wasn't reselling those dresses she was buying for him to wear.  Even better, he noted,  he could wear them more than once.  Besides, he also said, he missed his Cinderella outfit.  The look on Helen's face said it all.  Surprise, shock then utter joy as she moved quickly to where he was standing to hug him.



It had come to her when she was taking pictures she said.  When Mark wore that Ariel costume that first time.  How beautiful he looked even without the makeup and hair he was pretty.  She was beside herself, she noted, driven by an odd urge to see him in other girlish things hence the costumes.  



Helen was hoping, as the weeks passed, she noted, that she could ultimately get him into real dresses if she added them over time.  Mark sat and listened nodding on occation in agreement.  He admitted that it was the slip first, then make-up that had turned him so quickly although those bloomers over the pantyhose helped a lot.  Rose laughed nodding her understanding.



Slipper satin and nylon is a deadly mix, she said to Mark's own laugh.  Mark confessed that he'd gone on Ebay and found the listing and her reference to him as her daughter.  That drove him to sneak into her sewing room and that led him to the rest of his things.  That was some of what made him say what he said and yes, when Helen asked, he had seen the panties.



There was a long silence between them before Helen noted that it was Saturday and in those day-of-the-week panties Saturday was pink.  Mark, sharing the look on Helen's face, nodded and easily followed when Helen took his hand.  It was different dressing with panties, Mark noted happily.  



They were on Ebay a few hours later but this time shopping.  Helen wore her vintage baby doll set while Mark wore his Barbie nightgown.  Mark was also wearing a pair of his Disney Princess panties since his day-of-the-week pair, that pink pair, didn't last past Helen's first touch not too long after she dressed him.  



It was Helen's look that caught Mark's attention as he tried to focus on her computer screen and not her hand resting on his knee.  "No way,"  Mark said when he realized what she was looking at.  



"Mark, honey, they are training pants, not diapers," Helen said as she clicked on the Buy It Now button.





The End



Hugs

Mary Beth