"Hello!" Tom heard his mother call out as she always did upon returning home. "Could you come down and help us with the groceries?"

"Uh oh!" Tom exclaimed. My folks are here! You can’t stay here – how will I explain you to them?"

"Don’t worry Tom, you don’t have to – in fact, I don’t want you to! I’m here just for you, not for them. Besides, I don’t intend to make a spectacle of myself while I’m here!"

"That’s fair enough!" Tom responded. "I’m having a hard enough time accepting your existence – I’d rather not drag my parents into it as well!"

"That’s a wise choice, Tom!" the voice responded. "You better go downstairs and help them out before they get upset."

"But what about you?"

"Don’t worry about me, Tom, I can take care of myself!"

"Glad to hear it hon. Why don’t you stay in my room while I help them out, okay? I’ll shut the door so no one wanders in on you."

"Good idea. I’ll be waiting for you!"

"Can’t wait to get back to you, hon!"

"I can’t either!"

Tom’s mother was now becoming edgy. "Tom, get down here and help us!"

"Coming!" Tom responded. He then closed the room to his door and quickly descended along the long spiral staircase, which spanned two floors to the ground floor, where his father had left several bags of groceries on the lower stair. Tom picked up two bags and carried them into the kitchen. His father followed with another two bags. Once Tom brought the bags into the kitchen, he made his way down again to bring up another two bags while his Dad brought up the remaining bag. Then he and his father proceeded to unpack the groceries and put them away. Margaret was out with her friends as usual, relieving her of the chore, much to Tom’s dismay.

Once Tom and his Dad finished putting away the groceries, Tom was instructed to return to his room to study while his Mom fixed dinner. Tom rushed back to his room, where his new love lay waiting. He quickly opened the door to find her now lying inside his bed, with the bedspread removed. What he saw amazed and delighted him beyond words – the blanket and sheet revealed the shape of a beautiful female body inside, while Tom’s pillow still held the impression of her head. As Tom quickly turned his attention to this vision, the impression on the pillow disappeared and the front of the body’s form rose up. Tom then heard the voice say, "Care to join me in bed?"

Tom had never felt so excited in his life! "Sure!" he exclaimed with a great deal of enthusiasm. "Should I get undressed?"

"That might help!" she responded.

"What about you? Are you, uhhhh, wearing anything?"

"No I’m not – hope you don’t mind!"

Tom felt his heart racing like mad! He’d never even seen a naked woman before, and this was no exception! Still, he had reservations about undressing in front of her. After Tom removed his shirt, he was reluctant to remove anything else.

"Don’t worry Tom, there’s no need to be embarrassed – I know what you look like underneath your clothes!"

"You do?? But how?? Have you been spying on me?"

"Not exactly Tom, but I’m part of you, so I do know everything about you, including what you look like! There’s no reason to be bashful about your physique – I think you’re quite handsome!"

"Really? That’s sweet! I never thought so though. Are you sure you’re not just telling me that to make me feel better?"

"Not at all, Tom! I see you the way you see yourself, more or less. Do YOU think you’re not attractive?"

"No, I like the way I look actually! But I never imagined any women would find me attractive!"

"That’s your problem, Tom – you lack self-confidence! Through years of torment and humiliation, you’ve been conditioned to believe that nobody desires you, but that’s simply not true!"

"Really?? Gee, I wish someone had told me that earlier!"

"Well I’m telling you now, dear! In any case, there’s no sense in living in the past – you’ve got to keep moving forward!"

"You can say that again, hon! Okay, give me a minute to get undressed."

"I’m not going anywhere!"

"Good! I’ll be with you in a minute!"

Tom quickly finished getting undressed, then he hesitantly started to crawl into his occupied bed. Once he was inside, he felt her invisible hands caressing his chest.

"There, that wasn’t so bad, was it dear?"

"No it wasn’t! Still, I must admit I feel pretty strange! This is the first time I’ve ever been in bed with a girl, you know, much less an invisible one!"

"I know, Tom, but don’t worry. You’re doing fine! Just relax, okay? You don’t have to do anything – just lie next to me like you’re doing now."

"That’s fine! You can probably tell that I’m very excited now though, can’t you?"

"Of course dear, and I’m glad you are! But I don’t want you to make love to me yet. Just hold me in your arms like you were doing earlier, okay?"

"Okay hon, but it won’t be easy to hold it in!"

"Well do your best, okay?"

"Okay."

Tom continued to hold his dreamgirl in his arms while dinner was being prepared. Then about half an hour later, he was startled by the call of his mother.

"Tom? Come down and have dinner!"

"Shit!" Tom said to his fantasy, "I gotta get dressed quickly!" He then called out to his Mom from the closed door, "I’ll be down in a minute, Mom!" He then threw on his clothes as fast as he could and ran downstairs about two minutes later to eat. As he left his room, he told his fantasy not to move again and that he’d rejoin her after dinner.

Tom sat down to a helping of his mother’s hideous pot roast and cabbage. Tom never cared for his mother’s cooking, but there was little he could do about it. Being a serious career woman, Tom’s mother had little time to concentrate on her culinary skills, which she felt weren’t that important in any case, at least as far as her family was concerned. Tom reluctantly ate what he was served.

"How was school today?" Tom’s mother asked.

"Fine."

"Just fine? That doesn’t sound so good! What happened?"

"Nothing Mom, please leave me alone okay?"

Tom was always irritated by his mother’s constant prying, and this was no exception! Besides, he now held a secret he would never divulge to her!

"Have you found a date for next week’s school dance yet?" she asked.

"No I haven’t Mom – please leave me alone, okay?"

"What about Michelle?"

"She already has a date with Joe."

"Oh, I’m sorry to hear that Tom! Well there’s other fish in the sea, you know!"

"Yeah, who?"

"I don’t know Tom, but there’s got to be other women who’d like to go out with you! What about Barbara?"

"I don’t like her Mom!"

"Why not, Tom? She’s crazy about you!"

"Yeah, well I don’t think she’s that pretty, and she has a horrible nasal voice!"

"I don’t think you can afford to be that picky, Tom! If you set your standards too high, you won’t find anyone!"

"Well maybe I don’t want just anyone Mom! Please leave me alone, okay?"

"Okay Tom, have it your way! Be miserable, if that’s what you want!"

"I wouldn’t be so miserable if you’d just leave me alone for once in your life!!!"

At this outburst, Tom’s father, who was usually very quiet, now interjected.

"You don’t talk that way to your mother, Tom! You apologize to her this instant!"

Reluctantly, Tom said, "Okay Mom, I’m sorry."

"You’re forgiven, sweetie!" she responded, and then came over to hug him. Though Tom responded with equal affection, privately he was still resentful of all her prying and nagging.

Tom then resumed eating her dreadful meal. After a few minutes, Tom found he could not completely contain himself regarding his new love, but he knew he couldn’t divulge her secret either. Finally, he announced, "Actually, I did meet a girl today!"

Tom’s parents both turned to him in amazement and delight. "Good for you!!!" his Mom said. "Who is she?"

"Well I didn’t get her name yet."

"What?? You HAVE to learn their names, Tom!"

"Well I didn’t get a chance to ask her."

"Did you talk to her?"

"Yes I did, Mom, and she was very nice!"

"Well that’s good! What does she look like?"

For a minute, Tom was at a loss for words. He certainly couldn’t tell her she was invisible! Thus, he improvised.

"She’s incredible, Mom! She’s about 5’4" with long blonde hair and a beautiful body!"

"Wow!" Tom’s Mom exclaimed, "sounds like she’s just your type!"

"She is, Mom!"

"What did you talk about with her?"

Tom was becoming increasingly irritated by his mother’s prying. "I really don’t think that’s any of your business, Mom!"

"You’re right, sweetie! In any case, I’m glad you met someone. Maybe you can ask her to the dance!"

"Yeah, maybe."

"Well you don’t have much time, sweetie! You know what they say, ‘Faint heart never won fair lady!’ "

Tom was tired of hearing this from her, as well as all her other words of wisdom. "I know Mom! I’ll ask her when I’m ready, OK?"

"OK sweetie!"

Tom quickly finished dinner, then he washed the dishes, as he and Margaret were instructed to every night. Once he was done, he asked his folks if he could be excused to do his homework.

"Could you please take out the garbage first, sweetie?"

Reluctantly, Tom responded, "Yes, Mom!" He then carried a paper bag full of pot roast remains down to the back of the house, where the garbage cans sat. He opened one of the cans, which was already filled to the rim with the trash from earlier in the week and squeezed the full bag in as well as he could, then did his best to seal the lid tight. Then he made his way back upstairs to rejoin his sweetheart. On his way up, his Dad told him. "We’re going out tonight, so you’ll have the place all to yourself, at least until Margaret gets back. Think you can handle that?"

Tom was overwhelmed with excitement! At last, freedom, and a chance to be alone in his folks house with his invisible dreamgirl! "Yeah, I’ll be fine!" Tom responded, hardly able to contain his enthusiasm.

A few minutes later, he heard the remote contol to the garage door open, his parents drive out, and the door close again. At last, a chance to be alone with his sweetheart!

Tom quickly returned to his room. Much to his surprise, he found his dreamgirl was now lying on top of his bed, but she was no longer naked – she was wearing his mother’s clothes!

TO BE CONTINUED