Tomâs mother went to answer the door. Outside was an attractive young woman. âMrs Gordon?â she enquired. âYes, thatâs meâ his mother responded, clearly curious what this unexpected call was about. Tom approached behind her, similarly wondering what this nice young lady wanted. Then they noticed a cameraman who had been off to the side of the door. He came around behind the woman and focused in on Tom and his Mum.
âIâm Martha. You made an application to the âMake a Wishâ TV series.â âYesâ, his mother answered, growing increasingly excited. Tom knew nothing about this. âWell, we have decided to ⌠grant your wish!â She spoke the last three words as if they were a catchphrase. Tom was aware of this popular show but never watched it.
âOh my goodness!â his mother was beside herself. âAnd your wish was?â Martha prompted her. âTo have a daughter!â Tom frowned. What? Martha continued âand today Anna Gordon you will have a daughterâ. She then looked at Tom. âAnd you will have a sister!â Tom gave a fairly weak smile supposing that they expected him to be happy about this. But heâd never particularly wanted a sister â a brother to play football with maybe â but a sister, pah!
They were bundled into a limo to be driven to the TV Studio. His mother knew how this worked. They would record pieces like the doorstep surprise and then further pieces in the studio and on location, depending on what the wish was. Martha was in the seat opposite them. âAre you excited to have a sister?â she asked Tom. He looked at his mother as if to ask âdo I have to say yes?â She frowned at him. âYouâve always wanted a little sister!â âSince when?â he disagreed. âI remember you saying you wanted to have a little sister!â she protested. âWhen I was three maybe!â he scoffed.
His mother was disappointed. âWouldnât it be nice to have one now though?â Tom gave a look of incredulity. âNo! Flouncing around in pretty dresses, playing with dolls? Nah! Girls are stupid!â Both his mother and Martha frowned. Tom realised belatedly that this wasnât the best audience to air his views about girls. âThatâs hardly a very progressive view of girls nowadaysâ, Martha was clearly cross with him. Tom was a little put out by that â he liked to try to please pretty young women. What was Martha? Twenty? He wasnât the least bit put off by the fact that he was only 12.
They arrived at the studio and Tom was told to sit in the waiting area while his mother was taken into the studio area by Martha. A few minutes later she came back through the doors accompanied by a young girl who looked a bit peeved. âSorry about that but you will still be paid and weâll find you another opportunityâ Martha told her. Then Martha looked over at Tom. âCome along then.â
He was led into a dressing room. His mother was in a chair in front of a mirror having studio make-up applied. Tom was motioned to get into another of the chairs. When he did, it was swung around away from the mirror. Martha stood in front of him. Two very attractive make-up ladies flanked him. Tom smiled at them, eager to make a good impression on them. Martha was still looking rather pissed with him so he thought heâd lost his chance there.
One of the two women started to remove his t-shirt which took him by surprise. He noticed, hanging on a clothes rail behind Martha, was a jacket and white shirt with a tie slung over it. There was also a pair of trousers there and then various costumes. He supposed that his t-shirt and jeans werenât the look the show was going for and they wanted him to wear something more respectable.
The other woman reached for his belt. He wasnât at all sure he wanted to undress in front of all these women but they were very attractive when they smiled and they seemed very pleased with Tom when he cooperated.
He sat in the chair with his hands cupped over the front of his briefs. The chair was pushed back towards a sink and they started washing his hair. âI suppose I always liked him to have his hair a bit long since I didnât have a daughterâ, his mother observed. Tom made a face. He hated going to the barbers, that was all.
He was a bit puzzled at the smell of some of the lotions â they must be conditioners, he presumed â that the women were working into his hair. One of them started smearing make-up on his face. This didnât particularly worry him as he knew enough about TV to know that everyone needed make-up to look presentable on the TV screen. He did wonder what all the pulling at his hair was about but he still had his back to the mirror so could see nothing.
A plastic cap was put over his hair and he was quickly steered towards one of those enormous hairdryers which was promptly lowered over his head. He was aware that some of the male football TV programme presenters had fashionably big hair so wasnât too fazed by this.
Before he was freed from the drier Martha came over and sat beside him. âYour lips are so dry, do you never use chapsticks?â Tom frowned and shook his head. That was another thing he associated with silly girls, but again, he needed to look his best for TV. So he let Martha apply it.
Just as the drier was finally taken away, one of the make-up ladies reached for the clothes rail. But she didnât take the shirt and jacket as he expected. She reached behind that and took out a pink dress, with puffed sleeves and a heavily flared skirt. She walked towards Tom. His jaw dropped.
His mother, Martha and the two make-up ladies stood between him and the door. Martha removed his plastic cap and as he looked in the mirror a bundle of curls unfolded down to his shoulders. He saw also that the chapstick had obviously been a pink lipstick!
âWe had planned for that girl you saw leaving earlier to be your motherâs daughter for the show and your sisterâ, Martha explained. âBut after hearing your views about âstupidâ girls, we decided to change plans. You are going to be your motherâs daughter and maybe youâll learn to appreciate girls!â
âNo!â Tom protested. But there were four of them. They got the dress on him and buttoned it up the back. Two of them held his arms while Martha pulled white opaque tights up his legs and under his skirt. His mother pulled pink ankle socks with white lace around the top over his feet and quickly buckled pink t-bar shoes with a two-inch heel over them. Martha meanwhile was tying two thick pink ribbons through his curls in a complex weave before tying big bows on top.
They let him go. He was appalled. He looked in the mirror and stood with his arms hovering above the heavily flared skirt â as if he would be further contaminated by touching something so sissy. But eventually his urge to try to push it down took over. The dress was very short on him. âThe dress was meant for that girl who is only 9 years old. I thought it mightnât fit him but it does â just about.â Martha gave a satisfied smile.