The morning sun shone vibrantly through the curtains in Morgan's room. Its warm rays caressed the soft features of the boy. Morgan let out a groan, smacked his lips and attempted a few times to open his eyes. It was no use and Morgan snuggled back under the soft blankets until the call of nature nudged him awake.

Still half asleep, he climbed out off bed, put on his fluffy, knitted socks and shuffled towards his bedroom door.

His mind filled with the soft chirping of garden birds and human silence and Morgan savoured every precious moment of it.

Today will be a good day, he thought as he turned the doorknob, a smile lingering on his sleepy lips. Today will be the day I tell my parents.

He opened the door and was met with a deafening yell. His entire family screeched in his ears. "Surprise!"

The sudden sound in combination with the shock of seeing every thinkable family member so early in the morning - from his demonic cousins whose favourite pass-time was haunting him to the harsh, carved out facial features of his grandmother with her eternal strict gaze and firm hmf that sent him straight to damnation - made Morgan fall backwards.

He landed on his butt and as he lay there, he stared at his family in a daze. Flashes of light captured his horrified expression and giggles filled the air as his dreadful cousins pointed their phones at his pants.

As a deer caught in headlights, Morgan patted his pants and covered the damp spots with his hands, but the flashes of light kept going and the giggling turned into demonic laughter.

Morgan leaned forwards until his upper body covered his legs and his head was tucked away between them. "Stop," he screamed. "Stop," he cried, "please, stop."

His father ushered away Morgan's demonic cousins while his mother asked the elder family members with their ever disapproving faces set in their stone features to give the birthday boy some space.

His grandmother spat. "He should be a man right now. Not such a pathetic little boy. For heaven's sake, Daisy! He's already 12. Stop babying him."

"And you should have a bit more compassion, nana. We can't have everything we want, especially not if what we want is outdated and horribly toxic. Let Morgan be who he is without all the judgement. Now give my boy some space."

"Boy? By the tears that child is crying, you'd say it's a girl!"

Daisy glared at nana. "What's wrong with being a girl? You have been one yourself and so have I!"

"He's the firstborn of my first son. Morgan better be a boy and man up."

"Morgan can be who he wants to be and he will remain only child as long as your horrible misogynistic views remain outdated. The only one who should human up is you."

Nana hmfed. She turned her back to Morgan and his mother and puffed off. "Frederick! Your wife is being horrible to me. Fix it."

As nana trotted away, Frederick's voice carried through the hallway. "I doubt Daisy would be horrible to you, mother, if you haven't started it first. Now whose dreadful idea was it to startle my boy so damn early in the morning?"

When the last of the other family members had dissappeared into the kitchen, Daisy kneeled down. She reached out her hand. "Come, Morgan, let's go clean up your oopsie. I can only imagine how scary it must have been to be greeted by nana's horrible face so early in the morning."
Daisy looked Morgan up and down. "You are a boy, right?" She watched Morgan's reaction as a hawk.

Morgan swallowed down every mention of boy, he and man, but the don't be a girl screeched through his mind on repeat. How many times had he already heard it?

Don't be a girl.

Be whatever you are,
but don't be a girl.

Do whatever you want to do,
but don't be a girl.

It was always don't be a girl, don't be a girl, don't be a girl.... It drove Morgan crazy, especially because deep down inside he might have been one? He wasn't yet sure - how could he if he wasn't allowed to explore it? - but Morgan knew, he just knew, that he might not be one hundred percent a he. He might even not have been one percent a he.

Morgan looked away. A lump formed in his throat. "I-"
He sighed.

Another day, another lie.

Morgan nodded. "I'm a boy."

Daisy's features softened. "Great. Now let's get you cleaned up."

< | 🌈🎪| >

All cleaned up and changed, Morgan dreadfully spent the morning alongside his family.

His cousins giggled whenever he walked past and pointed their phones as if they were guns, ready to record every embarrassing moment Morgan might have during the rest of his birthday.

Nana gave sly remarks whenever Morgan was within range and she talked a bit louder whenever she thought he might not hear her. Her voice was laced with disgust whenever she commented on his quiet movements, soft features and gentle character. She kept using the word girl as if it was the worst thing one could be, not giving a damn about her daughters and daughters-in-law bustling around.

With every huff from nana and every giggle from his cousins, Morgan moved around even more quietly, searching for a safe haven, a place where he could escape his tormentors, but nana's voice and his cousins' phones followed him wherever he went.

The light slowly faded in Morgan's eyes until he could take it no more.

He put on his shoes, sprinted through the kitchen, slid open the ceiling to floor window and ran. He ran as fast as he could and as far as he could. He ignored his family's shouts, jumped over the fence and ran into the forest near his home.