Act 1, Part 1
Exposed
Note about Fame Fame Fame:
The main character is Shirley, and this story is inspired
by Shirley Temple. I got the idea when I saw a video on
YouTube with a woman who was totally convinced that Shirley
was a boy! I do not believe this in any way. It did give me
an idea for a story.
This is not a historic piece and resembles in no way
the Shirley Temple’s life in any way. You can say this is
written in an alternative universe. This includes some of
the inventions and clothes being worn.
And now the story:
I loved when mom tucked me in at night. She would make sure I
was comfortable and read me a Bible story and then kiss my
forehead and tell me how much she loved me. Mom was the most
important person in my life and my brother and I was the most
important thing in her life, besides her religion. She was a
very religious person. This could be seen in her high morality
and all the pictures of Jesus in our house. She wanted to
raise us with good values. She also had a lot of pride and
wanted us to be a success in life. She expected a lot from us.
She did not want us to waste our life. This means we had to
look good, and we had to be very polite. It also meant that we
had to make others happy in how behaved we were.
As for Dad, he was a busy man, always working at a bank. When
he came home, he sat in his chair and read a newspaper,
complaining about how he hated his job. He was not a dad that
sat down with us and played or even asked how we were. He
never came into our room to tuck us in bed. I was always sure
that he loved me; however, he was just tired of his job and
maybe his life. He did not have the energy to be with us. I
used to always think how well he knew us, as he hardly ever
spoke with us. I think he was a bit disappointed that he
failed in his life dream. He was a photographer and always
wanted to take pictures of major events around the world and
be famous that way and he was now stuck in a bank. Looking
back, I didn’t think a lot about my dad, except for someone
that always looked sad and did not know what to say to me.
Then we had Kieran, my brother. He was cute in many ways, but
my mother had no hopes for him. He was 14 and yet he was
treated like he was a special needs child. He may not have
been the smartest, but he was so kind and was a saint. The
reason why he was treated like he was handicapped was that he
wet the bed and wore diapers. This does not mean he was a bad
boy, but he had a problem when he slept!
Then, there was me. I was a 10-year-old boy. I had sandy
coloured curly hair, but it didn’t look like a mop. The curls
were more like long wavy hair with some curls. Mom loved the
curls and she never wanted my hair cut, so I had long hair
that went down to my shoulders. I was happy playing and doing
things like every other child would have done. I loved singing
and going to Church. I also loved dancing. I would listen to
some of mom’s records and try to dance. I loved dancing so
much, that mom took me to dance classes. Mom was not like
other moms that got mad if their daughter made the wrong step.
The one problem I had was that people thought I was a girl.
With my long hair and angelic face, which had dimples…, people
thought I was a tomboy. When I told them I was a boy, they
laughed!
What else do you need to know before I tell my story? This was
the year 1934. Most people were depressed, as there was no
work for millions and people and many did not even have food
to eat. It was dark times and the worse thing is people did
not have hope. That must be the worse sickness a person could
have… not having any hope! My dad had a good job, so I didn’t
live in poverty and knew very little about how children around
me were living. I didn’t notice how dad worried about losing
his job. I was just a happy 10 years old. We also lived in a
remote part of Hollywood. The only other child I was seen was
my brother. Mom wanted to home-school us, which meant I never
had friends. She never let us out, as she thought we would be
kidnapped like the Lindbergh baby was kidnapped in 1932.
One night, I was told to get changed for bed. There was some
good music on the family radio, so I took off my clothes in
the sitting room. Before I knew it, I was standing there
naked, with no shame at all. Mom started to panic and close
the curtains and told me to put some clothes on. This made dad
get mad as he told me that I looked like some slut and did I
have no shame? I didn’t understand what the big problem was
and why they were mad, so I started crying while putting on my
pyjamas. I tried to get a hug by sitting on dads lap. I wanted
to say I was sorry but he pushed me away. I walked over to mom
and she hugged me while she gave dad a bad look. She explained
that being naked was private. If someone walked by the house,
they could get a heart attack if they saw my body. I still
didn’t understand but her hug was nice.
Then she changed the subject and said she had a present for
Kieran and me. She put two packages on the table. I wanted to
tear mine open; however, she said that we can open them
tomorrow, as she was taking us to the beach. This was a day
that dad had off, and despite this, he told mom that he
planned washing the car. Mom smiled at him and said that could
be done when we get home. I was excited as I loved going to
the beach. My tears were gone and I was now so excited. I
looked at the small package. It was small, so it couldn’t be a
bucket and shovel. I was not born with a lot of patience. It
was time for bed and mom helped us say prayers and read a
story for us. Needless to say, I could not sleep.
The next day we packed a picnic in the car and Dad reluctantly
drove us to the beach. Despite that he was in no mood to take
us there, we all sang in the car as we slowly drove to the
beach. I loved it as I could smell the sea air coming closer
and closer. Singing put us in a better mood; even Daddy was
beginning to smile more.
When we came to the beach, we found a place that was not
crowded. We had our picnic basket, blankets, a huge beach ball
and of course the two gifts. Kieran opened his package first
and it was bathing pants. They were black and went down to his
knees. No one seemed to mind when he was changing. Daddy was
already in his old-fashioned swimming clothes, where he had a
top and half his legs were covered. Mom was wearing her
swimsuit which had a skirt. I was impatient and wanted to see
where my package was. Mommy gave it to me and I ripped it open
in a few seconds.
It was girl's panties! Yes, you read it right. They were white
panties with flowers and a little red bow on the front. I gave
them back to mom and told her they were not for me. This made
mom turn white and explain another woman was buying clothes
for her daughter. The salesman gave me her the other woman’s
package. I told mom I was not going to wear girl’s panties.
She tried to persuade me to wear them as I had nothing else.
Dad asked could I not wear my own undies. This annoyed mom as
he was suddenly being a dad to me. She said I would need them
going home. Dad said that I could wear panties on the way
home, as at least they would be hidden. Dad was so wise. I
would have done that.
The battle was not over. Mom wanted to be the wise one, or as
Dad was thinking, she just wanted to be right. She told me to
wear the panties or to go naked. That was not much of a
choice, as being naked was forbidden.
I cried as I put them on. They were tight and showed a lot!
Dad must have thought the same, as he said it showed too much
skin. Mom said to stop complaining. This made dad sigh and
continued reading the newspaper. I felt like crying but mommy
gave me a hug and said no one will notice.
Kieran and I rushed down to the water and splashed around in
the water. We had lots of fun. I was better at splashing than
Kieran was, so this made it all the more fun. I noticed that
Daddy put down his newspaper and was looking at us with a
weird smile on his face. I didn’t mind as it was fun being at
the beach. When we got out Dad was still smiling as he asked
mom did she think that white panties were a good idea, as they
became see-through?
After we ate lunch, we were not allowed in the water. Kieran
was building some sand castles. I read a comic book while I
laid on the beach ball on my tummy. I rolled back and forth on
it while I read the comic. I was in my own world and it felt
relaxing while rolling back and forwards over the ball. Daddy
joked to mommy that I was mating with the ball. This annoyed
mommy as she told him not to be so rude.
I just continued to read the comic, when I heard someone say
hi. I turned around and seen a man standing there with a huge
portable camera. He took a picture of me and said I was a
sweet beach princess. I was going to protest but daddy started
asking about the camera. The man explained that it was a
portable one, but it was heavy. Then they started getting
technical, so I got back to looking at my comic.
Daddy asked if he could try it. That was fine. Daddy took a
picture of me on the ball. He was doing what he loved, taking
pictures. I looked at the photographer and he had a weird look
on his face. He told dad he was lucky to have a daughter like
me. I sighed.
Later, Dad looked like he was bored. I could not understand
why he just laid down at the same place all day. Daddy then
called me over. He pulled me on top of him so I was lying on
my tummy looking down at his face. He whispered that I was
pretty. I didn’t know what to say and even if I wanted to say
something, I couldn’t as he kept talking. I just stared into
his eyes as he said I should not be ashamed as no girl on the
beach was as pretty as me! His breathing became weird as he
praised me and his hand was rubbing my bum. I felt like I had
butterflies in me and to be honest, I didn’t want to be there,
as his breathing was so hard and strange and he was speaking
to me so strange. I could also feel something poking me in the
tummy. I tried getting off, but he held me there. It was only
until mom said it was time to go home that he let me go.
In the car, mommy was telling Daddy that it was strange to see
him giving me a hug as he usually never gave his children the
time of the day. Daddy didn’t respond so it was mommy doing
all the talk on the way home. I didn’t listen anymore to them.
The next day, I woke up and rubbed my eyes as I sat down to
eat breakfast. Everyone was quiet. I asked mommy could I go
out and explore and see if I could find some friends…
Mommy said how could I think of such things at a time like
this? Then she was mad at dad, she asked how my dad could go
to work when there is a crisis? He just shrugged his shoulder
and left the house telling my mom that she was overreacting.
This left me thinking what they were fighting about. Then
Kieran showed me the newspaper. It was a picture of me on the
beach ball. The headline was “Beach Princess”. At first, I
smiled, thinking I was in the newspaper. Then I heard mom
saying that everyone could see how little I worn. Then they
would see me lying on my tummy and everyone could see my bum.
The newspaper called me Princess! I could feel my heart
beating fast.
I was not allowed to go out and play. Mommy was going around
feeling sorry for herself and wondering how many people saw
the picture. Daddy told them that no one would know it was me,
as my face was not showing. The worse thing they would say is
a girl was humping a beach ball! This did not help the
situation as it made mommy cry and feel so ashamed.
I believed in Daddy when he said it would be forgotten a few
days later. Then this would be all over.
I learned at 10 that life can be unpredictable.
Mommy had a friend that was a priest. His name was Father
Sullivan. He often came and visited us. He heard Mom was
depressed about the pictures and the attention it got, so he
came to visit. He was very nice to her and told her that she
was a good mom. She raised her two children as good Catholics
and we were behaved, smart and would be good when we grew up.
He mentioned that it is now a fact that I was nearly naked in
a newspaper. This was not planned so she is not a bad mom.
His hand was going through my curls. He told me I was a
cherub. I thought he was creepy as his hand went through my
hair.
What is a cherub?
Then it was my turn, he told me that I had to pray for
strength for those that did not like the pictures of me. He
said God make me look so pretty, just like a girl for a
purpose, and I should never be ashamed how God made me. Was
this supposed to help me? He just said I looked like a girl!
When the priest went, at least mom was in a better mood.
Daddy came home soon after and was delighted to see mommy in a
better mood. He had a big pack with him. It was one of those
huge cameras. It was the same one that the man had at the
beach. Mommy was mad as it cost a lot. Daddy told her it was
an investment. He told me that picture gave him an idea. He
could take pictures of me and sell them. Everyone thought I
was cute and they may as well earn money on how cute I was.
This upset mom and said we should wait for things die down.
Daddy told her she was silly and it could make me famous.
Daddy called me over and told me to sit on his knee. I have
never done this before so it was very weird sitting on his
lap. He asked me if I wanted to be a model. He explained he
would take pictures of me and said that people would pay to
see them. I asked what about Kieran? This made Daddy laugh as
he said I was the cute one. At the same time, his hand was
rubbing my bum and I could feel something hard poking me. I
was so confused. Why was Daddy rubbing my bum and why would
people buy pictures of me?
I didn’t know what to say. Dad told mom that we would be
meeting an agent in a few days. He would open the door to
Hollywood
I was confused but forgot everything when Kieran wanted to
play a game.
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2017 Alexander Temple
