Most people are lucky. They're born either male or female, they die that way, they know who and what they are the whole way, and dammit, they're happy with it.

Some people, though, are not so lucky. They're born male or female... but they don't feel that way. Oh, they might not realize it, at first, but eventually they come to realize that they don't feel right the way they are. They might be male, but feel as though they should be female... they might be female, but feel as though they should be male... but either way, they feel like one gender born into the other gender's body. They're called male-to-female transgendered or female-to-male transgendered. Some go through operations so that their outer body better matches who they feel they are on the inside... others want to, but can't afford it.

Then there are a few like me. I have no idea if I'm unique, or if there are others, but... I'm not male to female, or female to male... I was born in a single-gendered body, and for years now – years – I've felt as though I should be both. I feel like a hermaphrodite. Is there a term for that? Would even other transgendered people accept me? I honestly don't know.

But I do know this. I know I don't feel right in a single-gendered body, and I know that I'm completely comfortable with the idea of being both male and female. I think, perhaps, I've finally figured out who I am on the inside... I just hope the world can come to accept that.

It's times like these when I think of a certain famous quote: "Speak your mind, even if your voice shakes." It's been a long road, but I think, perhaps, I have it figured out now; who and what I am. I'm a herm, a feminine-looking herm, and I don't give a damn if you think that's sick and twisted, because it's who I am. I just hope my parents are among the few who think it isn't so sick and twisted.

Tail high, no matter how hard it may be.

Chakat Swiftrunner