transgender · ftm · family drama · coming out · anxiety · supportive · slice of life · emotional · domestic setting · identity
The train carriage sways, a monotonous rhythm carrying us further from the city's electric buzz. Through the window, frozen fields stretch out under a heavy sky, each one a seamless expanse of white. I pull my coat tighter, the wool rough against my chin. My mother hums a tune I almost remember; my father scrolls silently on his phone, its glow the only light on his face. The taxi that meets us at the station brings us to a house that stands like a beacon in the gathering twilight — strings of warm bulbs trace the roof, and behind the frosted panes, shadows shift and merge to the soundtrack of muffled laughter. As we approach the front walk, I lean close to my father, my voice a threadbare whisper. 'They don't know, do they? About... me.' He doesn't look at me, just lifts one shoulder i…