A Beautiful Metamorphosis

Alfred stopped at the underground parking lot of the BEB Building. The 77 story building was a former radio station by a Voice of America affiliate. It once broadcast military news content intended for US bases around the world. They have since vacated the building after moving to Okinawa, and it was later sold to a private corporation. When the recession hit, portions of the lower floors were converted to office rental space, and some of the upper floors were sold as private residences. The building looks old and grimy. Remnants of the VOA logo were still etched on the building entrance.

"Why am I here?" Alfred asked. The voice did not respond.

He asked for a new question.

"What is it that I will find here?"

Again his watch was silent. There's clearly something wrong, and it might have something to do with what he did not bring along from the car.

He went back to the car and grabbed the items he bought. His watch made an approving sound.

He entered the ground floor and went inside at a waiting elevator. He selected the stop at the top of the building. The watch began to speak to him again.

"You might consider wearing the dress, Alfred.".

"But where would I change? Here?" The top floor was empty.

"You can see the stairs on your left. Down below is a bathroom on a private penthouse. Go there. You can find everything in there for your next journey. Make yourself… gorgeous."

Alfred went toward the stairs on his left.

The penthouse below is wide open, and an old 80s song plays in the background. He looked around and saw that the penthouse is not empty. A ladyboy wearing a fitted body hugging exercise outfit was inside dancing in front of the mirror, gyrating to Olivia Newton John's 'Physical.'

When she saw him in the mirror's reflection, she stopped her dancing and struck a kicking pose by gently lifting her left leg to her face. She looked at him intensely, stretched her legs some more, keeping a minute or two in that position. She then turned the boombox player off. She pulled a dry towel hanging on the wall and slowly patted the sweat on her arms and forehead. She walked towards him and threw the towel on the floor. Her face got the semblance of a black Hollywood legend.

"I am expecting you would come any day of the week. What you will do shall come in four mystical journeys: Air, Water, Fire, and Earth. The choice is yours. "

She held his hand and led him in front of the huge mirror and stood from behind.

She whispered to his ear as she gently massaged the muscle on his shoulders.

"Have you realized the thought that this world is so unfair? And that the weak's role is but to suffer. Peer inside the mirror. Can you see your mother? Look how pretty she is. How young and naive. Look… at how she suffered from this...evil man. Blood on her face. Black marks all over her arms, legs, face, and body.

All came from the hands of this... sadist man. She...pregnant..vulnerable...it is you she carried in her womb. Perhaps you won't know the pain but see how she carried it all. How brutal he is to her. Whipping her without mercy. She could have died from that terrible whip. How can a man laugh out loud at someone else's suffering? Can you feel yourself getting angry? You have been angry ever since you were inside her womb. You felt her pain from the blood vessels that constricted the umbilical cord and, for a brief moment, suffocated you.

You were even angrier as a bruised child yourself when that tear first began to fall. How could he? How can this man be so heartless and not feel any empathy?

Your mother became his slave, and you- a punching body bag, a speck of dirt, a rag, and anyway she wanted out -that horrible man wouldn't allow it. You learn to accept those facts and begin to conclude that perhaps she deserves it. You thought you deserve it too. Or maybe, she was waiting for the right time.

Somehow she became this fragile, bruised woman. A slight touch on her skin would trigger her intense body spasm. She learned the boundaries of how a heart can beat this much and excite those muscles in her face, the crease in her brow, and the grip in her hand-of a dagger she raised from behind the shadow.

Then one night, you heard the echo of a bullet when it ricochet inside the barrel of the gun—this man, heartless and proud, standing on two feet with his weapon on hand. You watched your helpless mother bathe in a pool of blood that escaped from inside her skull.

How can you not be angry? Alfred. You deserve this moment of reflection. In fact, this is the reason you are here. And you had come at a perfect time when everything had happened. You don't need to worry about tomorrow. It is done. You have to play the part so you can release that hate."

Alfred became emotional. A tear fell in his eyes. He can clearly see his mother on the floor as if the past were projected on a blank screen like a movie reel. The ladyboy gathered in his hand the towel and wiped the tear in Alfred's eyes.

"Hush. I can make you beautiful. Like your mother. Come."

Alfred sat in front of the vanity mirror, and the ladyboy spread on the table her makeup kit and began to paint on Alfred's face. She brushed a clean earth tone on his supple skin. Then broadened his lips and painted it a glorious reddish tint. She made his eyes glow by lining his eyelids with black eyeliner. She then took the wig and put it on his head. Alfred looked at himself in front of the mirror. He looked different. Someone beautiful and striking. She undressed Alfred, and he looked beautiful even in his nakedness.

"Let me put you on the dress you bought."

Alfred wore the dress he bought at the department store. It felt good in his skin. No one can say he wasn't gorgeous enough. He is stunning to look at every angle.

"This is your new skin. Be proud. Make yourself comfortable in it." Alfred felt proud. He felt strong, even like he acquired the power to subdue anyone who would do him harm.

The ladyboy went out to get something and came back, holding a bucket of bladed weapons.

"Choose your weapon, Alfred."

Alfred spread his arm and let the watch lit up to the weapon of its choosing. It selected a round pointed tool with four rounded holes in its handle. He tried it on, and it fits all his fingers.

"You are ready, Alfred. Find the man that killed your mother."

Alfred's watch lit up, and it danced clockwise then counterclockwise and made a grim echo sound.

"Come, this is the time. Remember, this mystic journey is about ending it in water.

The ladyboy held his hand and pulled him back to the top floor. It was almost nighttime, and the wind on top of the building was chilly. When they reached the edge of the building, Alfred saw how tiny the cars below.

"What are you waiting for, Alfred?" the ladyboy said.

Alfred had no idea what to do.

"The mystic journey is about...water," he repeated.

The words kept on ringing inside his head.

The watch lit up again and made an echo sound. It then spoke to him.

"Alfred, Jump!"

It is literally a 150 meters jump below.

"You gotta jump, Alfred. " The watch repeated the order.

Then Alfred felt the ladyboy's hands pushing him from the top of the building.