The Man Test

by Jennifer White

           

Bruce looked at his girlfriend Laura's picture, and grinned. He felt like he was on top of the world. Not only was she really hot looking, she was also great in bed. They got along great, and now they were going to become engaged. There was just one snag; her family. He was going to have to visit them for the weekend, and pass their traditional test they gave to men who wanted to marry into their family. They called it "The Man Test", and now he was going to have to go through it.

"What is this test all about?" he asked Laura, as they drive north towards her parent's quaint little cottage, out in the country.

"Way back, generations ago, a girl in my family was married of to a man who was abusive to her, and there were all sorts of troubles with him. Ever since then, if a man wanted to marry into our family, he has had to come to spend a day with her mother, sisters, and other female relatives. They test him. If he passes, he can marry into the family. If he fails, then...."

"So what is the test? What do I have to do?" asked Bruce.

"I can't tell you. I'm sworn to secrecy. If I told you what you had to do, you'd be able to cheat, and that would undermine the whole reason for the test in the first place. This is "the man test". You are going to have to pass it by yourself."

"I thought you loved me" he said.

"I do!" she replied.

"Then give me a hint. I don't want this to go wrong."

Laura smiled and turned towards him, putting her hand on his knee.

"Honey, just do what you think is right. This is a test of *you*, and I'm sure you'll pass with flying colors."

"If you say so" he replied, putting his hand on hers.

They drove on past the city, past the suburbs, to where the traffic thinned. Farms sprawled across the rolling hills, and only the occasional farmhouse and barn dotted the horizon. Laura directed Bruce to take the next exit. He drove for three miles, to the end of the pavement, and onto a dirt road that headed deeper into the woods. The bright sun shone through the gaps in the leaves. Squirrels darted to and fro, and they even saw a deer eating grass by the side of the road.

Laura knew the roads like the back of her hand, and directed Bruce towards her parent's place. Left, two rights, left again, up the hill, then one last right turn before they arrived at the family's property. A wide meadow opened up before them, with an idyllic looking little A-frame cottage set next to a stand of pine trees. Bruce pulled up to the driveway, and they got out, stretching their legs after the long trip.

The air smelled so clean and crisp compared to the city, but there was a slight chill, foreshadowing the start of fall. Bruce saw the wood pile, and decided he would spend some time chopping wood for them, to show them that he wasn't averse to doing hard work. That might help them with their "man test", whatever it was. He took the bags from the car, and carried them towards the little house.

Laura's mother and father were there, eager to greet their little girl, and to meet Bruce. He wanted to make a good first impression, and he knew that this would be an important occasion. After moving the bags inside, they sat down to talk with her parents, Joanne and Jack. The smell of a home-cooked meal filled the house, as Joanne stirred the food simmering in the pot on the stove. A wood fire burned, giving off a wonderful smell.

Bruce knew already that he liked her parents, and he loved their place. He could picture himself and Laura coming up there for long weekends, eventually bringing their children (once they had them of course). He would teach his son how to fish, hike in the woods, and so on. He was so comfortable there, and everything seemed so perfect.

At night, he was amazed how many stars you could see in the sky. Away from the lights of the city, there were so many of them! He stood outside with Jack, smoking a cigar, talking sports and politics. He was careful to ask Jack questions before expressing his political opinions. Fortunately, there were of a similar philosophy, so all went well. In fact, Jack called in to Joanne, asking her to pour them both a glass of his best scotch, a 30-year old bottle he had brought back himself from a trip there.

"Are you sure?" asked Joanne. "There isn't much left."

"That's okay" he said. "I want to share some with Bruce."

Bruce couldn't help but to smile. It was clear that he had won Jack over already. Now he just had to pass the test for the women in the family, and there would be no obstacles left. He would propose to Laura right there and then. He had the ring hidden among his things. By the time they left on Sunday, she would no longer be his girlfriend; she'd be his fiancee.

* * *

On Saturday morning, after Laura's mother Joanne cooked a hearty breakfast for everyone, there was much commotion. First of all, Jack was going to take Laura off to see an old friend of hers. And at the same time, Laura's two sisters arrived. Lisa was a year older than her. She had long golden hair, and while she wasn't quite as pretty as Laura, she was still quite beautiful. She was a little shorter than Laura, a little less perfectly shaped, slightly smaller boobs, and in every way, just a hair inferior to her sister. But if Laura wasn't standing right by her, she looked wonderful. It was only in comparison that she suffered.

The second sister, two years younger than Laura, was Annie. She was tall and thin, with auburn hair that she wore up. She moved with grace and poise like Laura, and she seemed to have supreme confidence in herself. She wore far less makeup than her sisters did, her face providing a natural glow all on its own. She had been the baby of the family, but she had never been spoiled. She had grown up on the farm with her sisters, and had done the same things they did; riding horses, helping with the harvest, taking ballet. But she was the smartest of the three. Currently, she was at the university, attaining her master's degree.

After introductions and a half hour of talk, Laura told Bruce that she was going to head out with her dad for the day, to go and visit his brother, who was her favorite uncle. They left, and now Bruce was alone with Laura's mother, and her two sisters. It was time for "the man test" to begin.

"I know that you intend to propose marriage to my daughter" said Joanne. "I think you're a nice young man. You seem to be charming and polite. But as Laura has already told you, we have a family tradition that goes back countless generations. If you are going to marry my daughter, you must first pass a test."

"The man test" said Bruce.

"Exactly" replied Joanne. "Now if you were in fact to be married to my daughter, it will be important for you, as her husband, to be sensitive to her needs as your wife. She told me that you've never been married before. If you are committing to spend he rest of your life with one woman, you are going to need to learn how to assess her moods, deal with her emotions, and all of the other differences between a man such as yourself, and a woman, like her."

Bruce nodded. That all sounded reasonable so far.

"I listen to her" he said. "I've read books on relationships, because I want us to have open communications between us."

He hoped that would impress Joanne, but she acted as if he hadn't said a word. She just continued on.

"And so, in order for you to learn how to meet her needs, you first need to understand *how* she feels. If you are to be in touch with her inner self, you need to know what it is she experiences, and what she feels. There is only one way to do that."

"And what is that?" he asked.

"Spend a day living as a girl."

Bruce blinked. He must not have heard her right. Should couldn't have just said what he thought he heard!

"We will help you transform yourself" said Lisa, the older sister. "We'll dress you up, put you in makeup, and help you get in touch with your feminine side. Every man has one, you know, whether you'll admit it or not."

"Once we've transformed you," said Annie, "We'll teach you how to act like a woman. You'll spend the day with us, doing girlie things."

"And at the end of the day, we'll know if you've passed the test or not" said Joanne.

Bruce was in shock. They wanted to dress him up as a girl? And have him spend the day that way? What kind of test was this? Suddenly, he smiled. He had it. They were trying to either scare him off, to test if he really loved her, or else they were trying to see if he was the kind of man who would rebel at a woman telling him what to do. If he said 'no', either way he'd fail their test, and he'd lose the opportunity to marry Laura.

He decided that he'd go along with their stupid little test, so that they wouldn't be able to say that he didn't truly love her. And they wouldn't be able to say that he was too resistant, and wouldn't listen to what she wanted. It would be a humiliating day, having to dress up as a girl, but he'd just deal with it. Better to have one day of embarrassment now, and then spend the rest of his life with his dream girl!

"What do I need to do?" he asked.

"Go take a shower" said Joanne.

"I already did, this morning" he replied.

The sisters both giggled, covering their mouths.

"Then you'll take another one" said Joanne. "And this time, you'll shave off all of that body hair. You won't make a very convincing girl if you are all hairy. Go into the bathroom next to my bedroom. Use the soap and shampoo in the pink bottles. You'll find a brand new pink shaver there on the counter for you."

Bruce nodded. He didn't like having to shave his legs, but he didn't want to fail the test, right from the start!

"When you've dried off, you'll find a pair of pink panties sitting on the counter. They are for you. Put them on, and come into the bedroom. We'll be waiting for you, *Carla*."

"Carla?" he asked.

"Yes Carla. That is your name, now that you're becoming one of the girls."

Bruce shook his head as he walked down the hall towards the bathroom. They were going to call him by a girl's name now too? This was pretty awful! What kind of test was this? He decided that it couldn't be all bad though. Jack seemed like he was a real "man's man". And he was married to Joanne, so he had passed their little test. If Jack had done it, he could do it too.

He sighed, and stepped into the shower. He lathered up with the shampoo, which gave off a strong floral scent. Then he used the pink soap, which also smelled strongly of flowers. He took the pink shaver in hand, and started on his legs. One stroke, and it was immediately clogged up with his hair. He rinsed it off, but some hair was still stuck in there. He groaned. This was going to take a while.

By the time he was done removing the hair from his legs, chest, and under his arms, there was no more hot water left. Perhaps he should have done it in a bath! Or used some of that hair removal cream. But as he dried off, he smiled to himself. They wanted for him to know what Laura went through when she shaved her legs. Now he would understand. That wasn't all bad.

But it was difficult for him to get up the courage to put on the pair of pink panties left on the counter, right where Joanne said they would be. The trouble was that he had never worn panties before. And these weren't just any pair. They were silky and shiny, with light pink trim. The front of them was just a little triangle of material. The sides were so high cut that it was almost just a thin strip of elastic with the pink scalloped trim. And behind, they tapered down to just a thong. He felt ridiculous with them on. They covered up so little of him!

Bruce wrapped the towel around his waist, so he'd at least have some privacy. He looked at himself in the mirror, not used to seeing a smooth hairless chest on his body. It had been so long since he was a young boy, and had been that hairless! And having smooth hairless legs was freaking him out. He kept telling himself it was all right, and it was just a test.

"There you are, Carla" said Joanne, when he arrived in the bedroom. He was dismayed to see that the sisters were both wearing just their bras and panties, with Joanne herself half-dressed.

"Why do you have a towel on like that, sis?" asked Annie.

"It's just us girls here" said Lisa. "It's not like mom hasn't seen us all in our panties before."

"You're shy about letting us see your panties" said Joanne, "But you have no qualms about going around without a bra on? No daughter of mine is going to go around with her boobs hanging out like that. Put your bra on, honey."

Now Bruce felt upset. They were calling him "Carla", and acting as if Joanne was his mom, and he was one of the three sisters! They weren't acting as if he was Laura's boyfriend, and they were dressing him up. No, they were acting as if he really was a girl! Lisa handed him a pink bra, and he fumbled to get it on.

Without a word, Joanne came up to him, holding two large *things* in her hand. They looked just like breasts. She slipped them into Bruce's bra cups, and now it appeared as if he was stacked. Just like Lisa and Annie, not to mention Joanne. Her generous bust size ran in the family.

"I've laid out some clothes for you, girls" said Joanne. "Its time to get dressed up."

Bruce saw Lisa and Annie go to their piles, leaving one for him. On the top of his pile was a pair of pantyhose, just as there was for the sisters. He watched how they rolled up the legs, slipped them over their feet, and pulled them up. He did the same, feeling for the first time what it was like to have the stretchy nylon covering his smooth legs. He pulled the control top up, and it came almost to his belly button.

Next, each of the girls put on their skirts, and he did likewise. His was blue denim, with a stretchy elastic waist. He pulled it on, and it felt quite tight on him. Then he watched as Lisa and Annie put on their tops. His top was a pink tank top, with embroidery on the front, along with a section of lace covering the v of the neck. It seemed so frilly and so "girlie" of an outfit. And he was wearing it!

Next, he put on the pair of black boots on the floor by his pile. They came up almost to his knee, leaving only about an inch or two of leg showing below the hemline of his skirt. The boots had such pointy toes, and spiky three inch heels. He stood up, feeling unsteady, as if he might topple over at any moment. How did women manage to stand in heels, let alone move with such poise and elegance? They were really trying to make a point to him he decided. And he got it. Women's shoes were uncomfortable, and hard to walk in! He'd never look at Laura in heels again, without appreciating how hard it was for her!

As he stood there, Joanne came up to him, and without a word, she put a blonde wig onto his head. He shuddered. It felt so weird to have long hair falling down to his shoulders, tickling him with every small movement of his head! In the mirror, he could barely recognize himself between the outfit, the wig, and the large fake breasts in his bra.

"Lets do our nails now!" said Annie, sounding excited. She sat down by her mother, leaving Bruce to sit down next to Lisa.

"I'll do yours first, sis" said Lisa. "Then you can do mine."

Lisa first glued on fake nails, then filed them until she was happy with the shape. They seemed so long on Bruce's hands! He felt so intimidated as Lisa began to apply the first primer coat, followed by two coats of hot pink nail polish. After allowing the final coat to dry, she applied a sealer as well. Now the long nails on Bruce's hands were bright pink, and long.

He felt clumsy as he tried to hold the nail file, and do Lisa's fingernails. And when he tried to apply the polish itself, his long nails made it hard to grasp the white bottle top with the attached brush. Everything was different when you had long nails! Another lesson they wanted him to know, he supposed. He'd never look at Laura the same, as she did things with ease, even with her long nails.

"Be careful not to chip your nails, Carla" said Lisa. "If you do, you'll have to touch them up yourself."

"I'll be careful" he said.

In his current state, his voice was quieter, and with much less confidence. He felt helpless and out of his element. His softer voice also made it seem a little higher in pitch. Just like a girl, he thought. He couldn't wait for this ordeal to end! He didn't say a word as Annie put a necklace on him, a couple of bracelets, and then clip-on earrings.

Now it was time for the girls to do their makeup. Bruce just sat there, as Joanne told 'her' how pretty 'she' was, as she began by putting on foundation. Joanne spent a lot of time on Bruce's eyes, adding eyeliner, eye shadow and mascara. She brought out his cheekbones with expertly applied rouge, then went to work on his lips. First she outlined them with a pencil, then applied hot pink lip gloss, until his lips looked full, moist, and luscious.

They passed around a bottle of perfume, and just like them, Bruce put a few puffs onto himself. Now he looked so different, with the makeup on his face really making it hard to recognize himself. He sat there as Lisa played with his hair, then put a hair band in, keeping it out of his eyes. Bruce didn't protest. He didn't try to stop it. He just went along with what they did to him, proud that he was passing their little test. He was learning so much about the secret inner world of women he thought, somewhat dulling the shame and humiliation of letting Laura's mother and sister dress him up as if he was a girl.

"Carla! Don't let mom see you sitting like that, with your legs apart" hissed Lisa. "Cross them at the knee, like this!"

Bruce crossed his legs. He wasn't used to sitting in a skirt! He blushed as he realized that they could have been looking up his skirt, as he sat there the way he normally did! He would have to be careful. There were so many new things to worry about, now that he was dressed up as a girl!

"All right girls, we have our chores" said Joanne. "Lets get to it!"

Bruce spent the next hour helping Annie and Lisa, as they cleaned the house. He wondered why they had all got so dressed up with all the makeup and jewelry, before they started cleaning. When Laura cleaned, she wore something she didn't mind getting dirty. What lesson were they trying to teach him now, he wondered?

Just as he was setting the table for lunch, Bruce heard the sound of car wheels on a gravel road. He shivered as he thought of how it was going to feel as Laura and Jack returned, and saw him all dressed up as Carla. It was almost a relief when the door opened, and it was someone else! A man. He smiled, as Joanne came over to greet him. They kissed, on the lips, and smiled.

"Harvey, it's so good to see you" she said. "You have great timing. Annie, Lisa, *and* Carla are all here."

"Come say hello to your 'uncle' Harvey" he said. He wasn't really their uncle, just a very close family friend.

Lisa came over first, and kissed him. On the lips. Then Annie did the same. Now it was clearly Bruce's turn. He didn't want to kiss a man! And not on the lips at that! But what if he said "no"? What were they trying to test him on now? To see if he could fool Harvey into thinking he was a girl? All of this flashed in his mind in a moment. Lisa gave him a nudge forward. Bruce held his breath and closed his eyes, as he felt the quick peck on his lips. He felt sick, and his knees felt like they would buckle. He had just kissed a man.

"Carla, would you be a darling and serve the drinks?" said Joanne.

"Sure, no problem" replied Bruce, glad to get away from "uncle" Harvey! He went to the kitchen and prepared the iced tea. It had been sitting in a jar, right in the window so the sun could shine on it for hours. He poured the jar into a pitcher filled with ice, using a strainer to keep the tea bags from getting in. Then he poured the tea into tall glasses full of ice, with a freshly sliced lemon perched on the rim. He put the glasses on a tray, and took them around to everyone.

They ate lunch together, with many stories of old times being exchanged. Bruce was fascinated, listening to things Laura had done was a girl. He felt like he was learning so much about her, that it almost made it all worthwhile. After lunch was done, the girls cleared the table, as Joanne and Harvey moved to the livingroom.

"You should sit next to uncle Harvey" said Lisa. "Blink your eyes at him, like your flirting. He likes that."

Bruce didn't like it one bit, having to sit next to a man he had just kissed! Lisa mouthed the words "go on", and he reluctantly batted his eyelashes at Harvey. Harvey smiled, and started talking more to Bruce, than to anyone. He felt so embarrassed and so sickened, to be flirting with a man! How was he ever going to live this down? And what in the world could they possibly be testing him on now? He didn't understand, and that just made him feel more upset.

To make matters worse, Harvey put his hand on Bruce's knee. He didn't know what to do! He felt a sense of panic come over him, and he couldn't think. He couldn't decide what to do. He felt so helpless! And at this worst moment, in his dire moment of need, something even worse happened. Laura walked in the front door, with her father Jack.

Bruce looked up helplessly at Laura.

"Hi Carla" she said, smiling. She came over and gave Harvey a kiss. Bruce used that moment to stand up on his wobbly feet, and to go to the kitchen to get a drink of water. He needed to do something to get away from Laura's "uncle"! As soon as he was out of the room, Laura went over to her mother, with a helpless look on her face.

"Mom..." she started.

"I'm sorry honey, but he didn't resist at all. He even let Uncle Harvey kiss him, right on the lips."

"But mom, he's not like that! We can't do the next step!"

"I'm sorry dear, but you know the family rules. He seems like a nice young man, but he failed the man test. And you know what that means. I know it hurts inside that you're going to lose him. But better to do this now, then to have him discover this part of himself after you're married, with a house, children, and all."

Laura hung her head, as her mother handed her an MP3 player with headphones. She took a deep breath, and tried to look normal as Bruce returned to the room, teetering in his heels. He would get good at walking in them, now that he had failed the test.

"Carla" said Laura, "I have a really cool new song I wanted you to hear."

"Sure" replied Bruce, as he let her put the headphones onto him. She gave him a kiss in the cheek as she pressed play, and sat back to wait and see the results.

Bruce was nodding his head in sync with the rhythm of the song. But after a minute or so, Laura saw his face go blank, as his eyes began to stare ahead into space, not seeing. His mouth hung slightly open, his breathing becoming a regular pattern. The hypnosis had begun, and he was now in a full trance, his mind quite open and receptive to suggestion.

The words were flowing into Bruce's head now, altering his thoughts and his memories. The soft voice told him that he had *always* been a woman on the inside, and that all of his life he has aspired to becoming a *real* woman. The voice told him that he *was* a woman already in many respects, and that he could not bear another moment to be a man.

The soft voice made him believe that the voice he heard in his own head all the time was *her*, a soft, feminine sexy woman talking. He was that woman. He was female. He was not a man, he was a *woman*. He had *always* been a woman. He was dressed as a woman, because that is how he has always wanted to live his life. The voice told him that he would never dress up as a man again. He was a woman forever now. *She* was a woman forever.

"I just can't believe that he never pushed back" said Laura.

"Sorry dear, but no matter what we threw at him, he just did it, without question."

"But maybe he was just trying to please you, and made a good impression!" said Laura, as she stared at Bruce's blank face.

"Remember what I told you about your father" said Joanne. "My mother got him as far as shaving his legs."

"But I wouldn't let them put me into panties" chimed in Jack. "When they handed me the bra, I laughed and stormed out of the room."

"If your Bruce was a real man, he wouldn't have let us feminize him like that. He would only let us go that far if he had it inside of himself already. I'm sorry Laura, but he just wasn't enough of a man to be your husband."

Laura looked helplessly to her father for support.

"I tried my best to help him" said Jack. "I left a wood pile for him, so he could see that I did manly work around here. I had a cigar with him, and I even gave him a drink of my 30-year old scotch. What could be more manly than that? When your mother and your sisters started to work on him, he should have realized that *I* passed their test. Did he really think that I would have let them do that to me?"

"It just shows that he was too weak to make a good husband" said Joanne.

"But why do we have to make him go through this hypnosis? Look at him! That thing is reprogramming his mind!"

Laura was crying now. She cared deeply for Bruce, and she knew what the sounds going into his ears were doing to him.

"It is for his best" said Joanne. "If we just told him to go, he'd be heartbroken and sad that he had just lost you. But now, you can still be a friend. Its just that he will be a *girlfriend* to you from now on."

"I thought he was going to be the one for me" sobbed Laura, as it sank in that she had lost Bruce forever.

"Don't worry" said Lisa. "You'll find another man. A *real* man."

"At least this way, you've gained a new best girlfriend for life" added Annie.

"Remember" said Joanne, "Way back in our family's distant past, a woman was married to a nice man who *she* thought was 'the one'. They had a nice life together, with five children. And one day he left her, for another man! She swore that her family would never suffer as she had to. She invented the man test, and our family has always administered it since then. And now with modern technology, we can even reprogram a man who failed the test, so his feminine side can be brought out right away. Imagine how you would have felt if one day you came home and found him dressed up in your things. Or with another man."

Laura nodded. Her mother was right of course. If Bruce really was a man on the inside, he would have resisted. He would not have let them put him into skirts and panties. He *was* too soft inside. Every man has a feminine side of course, but his was far too strong. Laura needed a real man, not someone who would let himself be feminized like Bruce did. She decided that her mom was right, and he was better of becoming a woman now, instead of years into their marriage.

"You know that once we take the earphones off, he'll idolize you as his ideal woman. He will want to *be* you" said Lisa.

"Will he remember that we were going to be married?" asked Laura, as her mother wiped away her tears.

"No" she replied. "He'll just remember that he came her to be feminized. He'll think that it was all his idea. You need to get used to him being Carla. She is a woman now on the inside. She wasn't really ever a man. You need to think of her as a woman now."

"I'll try" said Laura, as she sniffled, then blew her nose.

The sound file had played all the way through now. Lisa took the headphones off of Carla's head. Joanne walked over and snapped her fingers to bring Carla back to consciousness.

"Hello Carla" she said. "How's my young lady doing?"

Carla opened her eyes, looked up at Joanne, and smiled. Her new life as a woman had begun.

  

  

  

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