Donna Anne’s Halloween
by: Lisa Elizabeth in conjunction with Donna Anne
I had done it! I had won the costume contest at my school. It had been wonderful and I was very happy when I had gone to sleep last night. Now it was morning and I woke up in my bed holding on to Raggedy Ann. Today was trick or treat day! I knew I couldn’t wear the bridal dress again. I had promised Joanne, my cousin, that I would only wear it for the contest. I decided to get up and have breakfast and talk to mom about this.
"Morning dear. Did you sleep well?" Mom asked as I sat down at the table.
"I slept fine Mom. Can I ask you a question? What am I going to do for tonight? It’s trick or treat and I don’t want to ruin the dress from Joanne." I queried.
"Why don’t you call Jeff and see what he’s doing? Mom said.
"Good idea!" I went to the phone and called Jeff. "Hi Mrs. Grant, this is Donnie. Is Jeff up yet? Okay I’ll wait. ... Hi, Jeff? ... Donnie. ... Yea it was great last night!... You make just as pretty a girl. ... I’ll ask my mom. Mom? Can I go over to Jeff’s?" I asked.
"Let me talk to his mother first." I handed mom the phone. "Hi, Jessica, .. Lois .. I think the ‘girls’ should get together today, what do you think? ... I see, I’ll wait ... Okay? ... Let me ask Donna. Donna? Janet Lynn would love to spend the day with you and go Trick - or - Treating with you tonight. Is that okay?" Mom asked me straight forward.
"What? I mean Yea! I mean Donna? Okay? I’ll go change and be right over!" I yelled as I raced for the bathroom to shower and become ‘Donna Anne’ for the whole day. This was going to be fun!
I came out of the shower and into ‘my’ room and went to look in the closet. What to wear, what to wear? Sometimes these decisions were really tough! I looked through my clothes four times! Finally I decided to wear a simple blue shirt with a lace collar and a blue denim skirt that mom had bought me. ‘this will look good with white tights and my Mary Jane’s ‘ I thought. I went to get dressed and remembered my bra was in the wash. "Mom? How can I get dressed my underwear is in the laundry!" I called.
"Check your drawer Donna, I bought three bras for you. There should be two more in the drawer, still in packages." Mom called back.
I looked in the drawer and sure enough there were two more bras. One a pale pink and the other a light blue. Since I had a blue shirt I chose that one for today. I put it on and then placed the pads in place. I slipped into a pair of white panties and my white tights. Then I put on my shirt and skirt and half slip. After everything was tucked in and pulled into place I sat down and clipped in my fall. A few minutes of brushing and I was ready to go see Janet Lynn. I slipped on my Mary Jane’s and went to see mom for ‘inspection’.
"Very pretty Donna. Please be home for lunch. We need to talk about your costume for tonight." Mom said as I left the house.
I was half way to Jeff’s house when I realized that this was the first time I had been out alone as Donna Anne. It was strange walking down the street in a skirt while my neighbors raked leaves and said hello as I passed. Normally they didn’t look at me at all when I passed. Maybe it was just the beauty of the fall day? I don’t know, but it was nice.
I walked up to the front door and rang the bell at Jeff’s house. Janet Lynn answered the door. She was dressed in a skirt and casual blouse too. If we looked in the mirror. we would have looked like two of the girls in our class at school. "Hi. Can I come in?" I asked.
"Sure! You look nice this morning Donna. " Janet said. " Come on in to the kitchen, mom wanted to see you." We walked into the kitchen together.
"Good morning Mrs. Grant." I said.
"Oh, good morning Donna. You look lovely this morning. Did you sleep well? I thought you might be awake all night from the excitement." Mrs. Grant smiled.
"I was up a little late, you know? Kind of reviewing the day in my mind." I said.
"Janet? Why don’t you two go visit in your room. I have some chores to do and we’ll see you at lunch time." Mrs. Grant stated.
"I have to be home for lunch, Mrs. Grant." I told her.
"I know dear, your mom told me. Actually, Janet asked to go over to your house for lunch, it’s all arranged. Now SCOOT! Both of you." Mrs. Grant pointed to the stairs.
Janet and I ran up to her room giggling as we went. When we arrived we sat on her bed and discussed everything that had happened from when we decided to be girls for Halloween to our day at the salon for our final makeup, hair and nails.
"Donna, I just love being a girl. I’m not sure I ever want to be a boy again!" Janet stated.
"It has been fun. I like it too, I noticed on the walk over here that everyone smiled at me when I passed. That was different. But, I don’t know, there are some fun things about being a boy too!" I said.
"Well if I became a girl all the time, you could probably beat me at basketball!" Janet teased.
"Let’s play your Atari!" I said to change the subject. Jeff set up his Atari on an old black and white tv his parents gave him and we started zapping aliens. It wasn’t long before we were both tired of doing that. Normally we could play for hours, but today it just didn’t seem right to be zapping aliens while wearing a skirt.
"Can I see your costume?" I asked Jeff.
"It’s here in the closet." Jeff said and opened the closet door. What a surprise! Not only was the costume there, but about one third of the closet was filled with ‘girl’ clothes! Skirts, blouses, dresses, camisoles, a coat, and sweaters were all hung neatly in the closet. On the floor were four pairs of shoes. All this beside the outfit Janet had on! I was totally amazed and I think my mouth hung open. "I told you I wasn’t sure I wanted to be a boy again, right?" Janet asked.
"Yea, I believe you now that I see your closet! Where did all these clothes come from?" I asked. "Some of these are really cute."
"I decided three weeks before you to be a girl for Halloween. Mom and I went to get some things to see how I would look as a girl. Well, needless to say I look pretty when dressed as Janet, at least Mom says so. When Mom saw how good I looked, she said I needed to learn to be as convincing a girl as possible for this costume to work. So for over a month now I have been ‘Janet’ as much as possible. I’ve gone shopping a lot and to church and to dinner with Mom and Dad. Mom even had me take ballet twice a week to learn to be more graceful! I’ve basically lived as Janet except when you came over or when I was at school." Janet explained.
"You really enjoy being a girl? I find it fun also, I just haven’t been as into being Donna Anne as you have as Janet. I did the shopping thing a couple of times too. The only ‘dinner’ out was when I met you at ‘Taco Bell’. There were times Mom and Dad said I should let ‘Donna’ rest and just be ‘Donnie’ for a while. Those are the times I came over to play with you. We’re about the same size, can I try on your costume? Maybe I could have Mom help you try on mine?" I suggested.
"Sure, although you will have to speak with an Irish accent while wearing it!" Declared Janet.
She took the costume off the hanger while I took off my skirt and blouse and half slip. I let the long green full slip slide down my body and arranged it so it hung properly. Then Janet helped slide the dress over my head and it fell into place. I looked in the mirror and it fit nicely.
"It’s not quite the right color for you, Donna. I think I have a dress in here that would look much nicer on you. Let’s see. . . Here it is!" Janet said as she took out this very pretty ‘Rose’ colored party style dress. It had a rounded neck and a tiered skirt with little cap sleeves and a built in sash to tie in the back.
I carefully removed the green costume and hung it back up. Then took off the full slip and hung it back in the closet too. I slipped the ‘Rose’ colored dress on and used my half slip under it. It did look much nicer on me than the costume did! "Janet you have so many nice things here we should have a ‘fashion show’! What do you think?" I asked.
"Okay! I have wanted to model some of my things for someone other than my Mom and Dad!" Said Janet excitedly. So we did just that! We spent the entire morning trying on skirts, blouses, sweaters and dresses. Then we would try to walk up and down the hallway as the Paris fashion models did. We giggled a lot and laughed even more when we tried to stick out our ‘hips’ and put on the classic ‘bored duck’ expression of the fashion industry. We put combinations together for each other, some worked, some didn’t! But we were ‘fashion models’ so we would do our ‘cat walk’ anyway. All too soon Mrs. Grant came and knocked on Janet’s door. It was open but I thought it was nice that she knocked.
"What have you two been up to? There’s a lot of laughing going on up here!" Exclaimed Mrs. Grant. She was smiling as she spoke.
"We were just doing a ‘Fashion Show’ for each other, Mom. Donna and I would pick out an outfit for each other and then we would walk the hall as our ‘runway’! Said Janet.
"Well, I really hate to break up all this fun but Donna’s Mom called and said lunch will be ready in half an hour. I think it will take the two of you that long to hang up all these clothes! I’ll call your Mom back and tell her you two may be a few minutes late. now get busy girls!" Mrs. Grant left to call my Mom while Janet and I hung all the clothes back in the closet.
We were still laughing and kidding each other about our ‘Supermodel’ fashion show as we came down the stairs to go to my house. We stopped by the kitchen so Janet could say good-bye.
"Bye Mom (kiss), Bye Dad (kiss). See you later!" said Janet.
"Bye Mr. and Mrs. Grant. I’d like to thank you again Mr. Grant for helping me last night at the contest. I think it really helped me be convincing." I told them.
"You’re welcome Donna. You made a very pretty bride. Will you be wearing that outfit for Trick-or-Treat tonight?" Mr. Grant asked.
"No. I promised my cousin I wouldn’t get the dress dirty so I have to come up with something else." I told the Grant’s.
"Run along now, Donna’s Mother is waiting lunch for you two!" Mrs. Grant shooed us out the door.
We walked down the sidewalk talking and giggling about our fashion show all the way to my house. When we walked in Mom said to wash up because lunch was ready. We were still laughing about the morning as we sat down to eat.
"What’s so funny, girls?" Mom asked.
"We put on a fashion show of Janet’s clothes! It was a lot of fun and I think we looked pretty silly at times trying to walk like the models do." I told Mom.
"Well you could continue the show here if you like." Mom suggested.
"Donna, could I try on the bridal gown? I know you said you had to be careful, I just thought..." Janet got quiet.
"Mom, what do you think?" I asked.
"I don’t see why not! It’s here and you’re not going to go out in the mud in it. After we clean up from lunch okay?" Mom smiled.
"Really? That’s great! Thank you Mrs. Jones." Janet was very excited.
We finished lunch and helped Mom clean up the dishes. When that was done Mom said we should dress Janet in the bridal gown first. That way we would have the afternoon to do what we wanted.
We went into Donna’s room and took the gown and slip out of the closet. Janet disrobed to just her bra and panties. I helped her put on the slip. Mom handed her a pair of white tights, she slid off her black ones and put on the white ones easily.
"Let’s do your hair and makeup first." Said Mom. She proceeded to set Janet on a chair and put her hair in a simple ‘up-do’ she called it. Mom had swept the hair off Janet’s neck and piled it on top of her head. Then she took the curling iron and made long curly tubes all around the sides and back. Then she had Janet relax as she put on foundation, powder, eye shadow, eye liner, mascara, blush and lipstick. Not as professional as Karri and Janice but Janet looked very nice. When Mom was done I gave her my sandals and she put them on. Then came the dress! It slid over her hair easily and zipped right up! Mom clipped the flesh colored panel together and pronounced Janet ready. "You look lovely, Janet" Mom said.
"I feel wonderful! No wonder you won the contest! You can’t help but feel completely like a girl in this dress!" Exclaimed Janet. I handed Janet the bouquet and Mom placed the veil on her head. Then we spent the next half hour teaching Janet that slow halting step that brides use coming down the aisle. Mom got out the camera and took a dozen pictures of Janet, for her Mom, of course.
"Well, I think that is enough practice at being a bride for one day!" Said Mom. "Let’s put the dress away and then you two can get on with whatever you like!"
Janet looked sad as she removed the dress and slip. Mom also used cold cream to remove the makeup and helped take her hair down and brush it back out. Then she left us alone.
"Since your still half dressed let’s have a second fashion show!" I said.
"Okay, let me see your closet!" Janet was smiling again.
Now I don’t have near the number of girl clothes that Janet has, but we managed to try on ALL of them. We were getting better at our ‘runway walk’ too! It’s just trying to look bored, with your hip stuck out. It still made us laugh!
We had finished our show and were just sitting on my bed listening to the radio and talking when Mom called us. "It’s getting close to Trick-or-Treat time! Have you decided on a costume Donna?"
That’s Right! I couldn’t wear the bridal gown, I promised Joanne I would keep it clean! "Oh, Janet, what am I going to do!" I was panicked.
"Why don’t you go as you are?" Asked Janet. "You could have your Mom do your makeup so you look like you were made-up for today. I have that green jumper at home. I’ll wear that and we’ll go as two ‘girlfriends’!" Janet seemed happy with that.
"Okay, you go change. I’ll get Mom to help me and we’ll meet at five." I said.
Janet went into the kitchen and said good-bye to my Mom and Dad. Then she left to get ready for tonight.
I had a light dinner with Mom and Dad and then told them what we planned to do. Mom said she would help do some light makeup so I looked like I was older. She called Janet’s Mom to make sure they were trying to achieve the same look. We then went to Donna’s room and Mom sat me down. She started with foundation covering my face with a thin layer. Then a powder to ‘set’ the foundation. She brushed away the loose powder and then started on my eyes. She reached into her purse and took out some eyeshadow. I closed my eyes as she wiped my eyelids and then wiped another time between my eyelid and my eyebrow. Mom used her finger to blend between the two like Karri had done. Then she used the eyeliner above my lashes and a gray eye pencil below my lower lashes. Finally she applied mascara and combed out my lashes after it was on. Mom used a coral blush on my cheeks and blended it in. Then she took a coral lipstick and had me coat my own lips. I had gotten pretty good at this from touching up my lips during the contest last night. I blotted my lips twice just like Mom had taught me. Then I looked in the mirror. I looked like I was twelve or thirteen! Definitely not nine!
"Thank you Mommy! I look older don’t I!" I stated. I was very happy with the way I looked. Mom had done laundry today so my favorite outfit was clean. I grabbed the Pink blouse and gray jumper and quickly got dressed. I slipped on my Mary Jane’s and I was ready to go.
Just then the door bell rang. Dad called up that Janet and a young ‘princess’ were here to see me. Mom and I came downstairs to Janet in her green jumper and white blouse with makeup similar to mine and a young princess complete with hat and veil waiting for me.
"This is Katie Winslow from next door to me" said Janet. "Katie’s Mom asked if we could take ‘Princess Ariel’ with us. Mom thought it might look as if we were just two girls taking a younger sibling out."
"That’s a great idea! Katie do you know who we really are?" I asked.
"I know that Janet is really Jeff. But I don’t think I know you." Katie said.
"Tonight I am Donna Anne. But if I take off my makeup and change my clothes I’m really Jeff’s friend Donnie. Do you remember me?" I asked.
"You’re Donnie? Didn’t you spray me with the hose during the summer?" Katie asked.
"On that really hot day in August. Yes I did. I think all three of us got pretty wet that day didn’t we?" I laughed.
"Well tonight you’re Donna and you’re Janet!" said Katie, pointing to each of us.
"All three of you girls be careful. Have you got a flashlight? Everyone has a ‘goodie’ bag? Okay, now go!" Mom was just being a Mom with all the checking she was doing.
Our town does Trick-or-Treat early. That way the little kids aren’t out real late. Katie was happy to have someone other than her Mother take her around. We started at the Wilson’s next door to my house. When Katie rang the doorbell Mrs. Wilson answered.
"A Princess! How pretty! And two young ladies to escort you. The two of you look wonderful. I can’t believe that’s you Donnie! You’re very pretty." Mrs. Wilson gushed.
"How did you know?" I asked.
"Your Mother just called and told me. I told her I would keep it a secret but it just came out. I’m sorry. Is this other young lady a boy also?" She asked.
"Yes Ma’am. Jeff Grant is my name. Tonight I’m Janet and this is Donna, do you know Katie Winslow our princess?" Jeff responded.
"Pleasure to meet you all. You two look so much like girls! I just can’t believe it! I’m going to call your mother back and compliment her on your costume. Now run along and have a good time." Mrs. Wilson shooed us off and closed the door.
We went from house to house for the next hour and a half with everyone praising Katie for her costume and telling Janet and I how nice it was that two ‘older’ girls would escort a younger girl around. All the praise made us feel good. Finally Katie was getting tired so we took her home. Mrs. Winslow thanked us for taking Katie. Katie told her Mom that only my next door neighbor knew we were boys. Everyone else thought we were girls.
We said good-bye to Mrs. Winslow and Katie and left their house. We were just chatting about all the people who thought we were really girls when we heard a whistle. As we turned around to see who whistled there stood Dracula, a Hobo and a Clown!
"What are two lovelies as yourselves doing out on a night like this?" Asked Dracula. "You could get a bite on the neck, if you aren’t careful. Ya-ha-ha!"
It was a bad accent and Janet and I laughed. "I think you should practice your accent!" I told him. With that we turned back around and headed for Janet’s house.
The three boys ran past us and turned around to block our paths. "This is a toll booth. The cost is ‘one kiss’ in order to pass." said the Hobo.
Janet and I looked at each other and giggled. "Should we Janet? Or should we turn around and go home the other way?" I asked out loud.
"Well we wouldn’t want to be chased all over by these three, would we? Let’s do it and maybe they’ll leave us alone!" Janet responded. " Line up boys!"
The boys stood in a line across the sidewalk and Janet and I kissed each one on the cheek! then we walked past them and continued on to Janet’s door.
"Goodnight boys! Pleasant dreams!" Janet said and we both waved as we went into Janet’s house. As soon as we were inside we started laughing. Talking about the look on their faces when we kissed them and what they would think if they knew we were really boys too! Janet’s Mom came in to see what was so funny. When we told her she giggled too.
"Are you going to tell them Monday?" Mrs. Grant asked.
"I think we’ll wait to see if they brag about it first." I said. "If they don’t say anything, we won’t either."
"I think that’s a great plan, Donna. If they brag, we’ll let them know they were kissed by two boys. And to think they turned red just now!" laughed Janet.
"Since it’s after nine why don’t we call your Mom, Donna. You could spend the night here and go home in the morning?" Mrs. Grant suggested.
"GREAT!" Janet and I shouted at the same time! We looked at each other and laughed some more.
Mrs. Grant called my Mom and got the okay for me to sleep over. Janet and I ran upstairs and changed into night gowns. We left our hair on but cleaned off the makeup like we had been taught by our mothers. Janet had some extra slippers, so I borrowed a pair to go with the white night gown she gave me and we went down to watch some tv.
It was a great slumber party! Even with only the two of us, we watched scary movies, ate popcorn and chatted all about taking Katie out and those silly boys and their ‘toll booth’. Eventually we fell asleep on the couch dreaming about all the excitement we had been a part of the last three weeks.
Lisa Elizabeth and Donna Anne
© 2000
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