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The Home That Love Built
A new universe from Catherine Linda Michel

Consider this an introduction to my dream of a place where abused,
impoverished, cast out T-girls could go to and be respected, helped,
and loved. It's been my dream for many years of such a place, and I
thought I'd write about it.

I will set the scene...the place, and it's purposes. I'll supply the
initial players...the staff as it were. YOU supply the stories. Tell of
how you'd feel about finding out there was such a place...what you'd do
to get there...why you'd need such a place...what you might be able do
to help out with such a place, once you got there.

You can use pure fiction, or your own experiences, or a mix of the
two, to tell your story. My purpose is to supply, in fiction, a place
I'd dearly love to build, in real life, but I'd like YOU, the readers,
to fill the empty house and make it a true home.

Chapter: One.

It was just an old, rundown motel. Crumbling due to disuse and
neglect, it sat sadly, as the border for a large parking lot full of
potholes. It must have been quite a place in it's heyday, but now,
after ten years closed, it was just another city demolition project.
Well, it was until I saw it anyway.

Me? Oh, sorry. Let me introduce myself. I'm Cathilynn Michel. Yeah,
that's right. THE Cathilynn Michel who won the 480 million dollar,
record breaking jackpot, lottery drawing. Oh, you must have heard all
about it. It was all over the news about the Transsexual who won the
lottery, and how some people were all up in arms about it?

Well, anyway. After all the furor died down, and after I had made
certain my family and friends were taken care of financially, I began
working with a contractor friend who knew my dream, and had the skills
and talents to find, renovate and build it. He had located this old
motel, just off the main road and almost overgrown with various kinds
of flora. When he first showed it to me, I looked at him like he was
crazy, but he told me of it's history, and how well it was originally
built. He said he could rebuild it to suit my needs. The cost? You
don't wanna know...trust me.

Well, I had it appraised, I put in a bid, and I waited. For three
long months, I waited! Finally I got a notice from the city asking me
to appear in front of them with a business plan and proof of my ability
to renovate the old dump...er, I mean, motel. I had anticipated this
and had everything ready for them to look at. My costs, the available
money, my business aims, community impact...That was a tough one. How
would the community react to what I had in mind? A home for unwanted,
abused T-girls?

Well, it was touch and go for a week or so, but the simple fact that
I was underwriting the whole cost of everything seemed to make the
difference and, finally, they granted all my permit requests, and it
was off to the races! For weeks, heavy equipment tore up some parts of
the old place, dug around some other parts, and generally made a mess,
but soon, out of that mess, some order began to show itself.

Gradually, my vision began to take shape. 30 rooms, each bigger than
a standard motel room, more like efficiency apartments, began to take
shape. The pool area, a singularly disgusting mess when we started, was
dug out, expanded, and rebuilt, with warming pools around it, and a
jacuzzi at each corner of the almost Olympic sized pool. Changing rooms
with showers were built onto what used to be a dining room of some
sort, and laundry facilities were added in to the whole scheme of a
water based level. A retractable roof covered part of the pool area so
natural sunlight could be let in.

I had wanted this for so long. A safe place for misused T-girls to
come to and be safe, and respected, and loved. A place where they could
continue their educations or learn trades. A place where they could
take classes in all things female and feminine. A place where they
could be safe. I had talked to other girls, friends of mine from my
online excursions and writing, who had the same idea, but didn't have
the means to make it real. Finally, I had those means, and I meant to
make them count!

I had invested a quarter of the original winnings, once family and
friends were taken care of, in safe, long term yield, stocks and bonds.
I had set up a 20 year annuity with another quarter share. There was a
set amount to be used in furnishings and other necessities, with a big
chunk of money being readied for transportation costs, and other things
like clothing and food.

Part of what I hoped to be able to do with this place was draw some
of the girls who had talents, to help the ones we'd be rescuing. I also
wanted to offer the girls training in whatever they wanted to study,
via scholarships, which they would repay after graduating and finding
jobs. Oh I know I was dreaming big, but what's the point of dreaming
small?

After ten long months, the place was nearing completion. All the
wiring, plumbing and all that stuff, was done to and mostly above code.
The entire complex was fitted with sprinkler systems and fire escapes,
and everything was tested and retested. I had wireless, high speed
internet installed in the whole place, with safeguards to prevent
outside snooping, and a state of the art security/surveillance system.
Each apartment had it's own heat and air conditioning controls, as well
as kitchenettes and bath facilities, and of course, there were main
controls for the general areas.

I sat in my car, as the last workman finished his work on the new
sign. THE HOME THAT LOVE BUILT, it would proclaim, in soft, pastel neon
colors, when it was lit. My dream, my vision, my hope for the future of
so many girls, finally real and ready to open. I cried softly while
sitting there, envisioning the lives that would be changed, made
better, I hoped, as they passed through this place. All the times my
friends and I had talked about a place like this online, never really
believing that one day, it would be real.

Oh sure, there were still the issues of staffing, rescue squads to
be set up, transportation costs to be allowed for, and many other final
details, but the base was now here, ready to begin it's mission. I had
already contacted some of the ones who shared this dream with me.
Hopefully they would throw in their lot with me and be my
partners...equal partners.

So I sat there, crying for a bit, then dried my tears of joy, put my
car in drive and drove into my parking spot. I used my new remote
control to turn on the outside lights and light the new sign. I got out
of the car, locked it up and entered my own little apartment, stopping
before I went in and facing the sunset.

“It's ready, girls. Very soon the word will go out and I hope you
will come to us for whatever help we can give you. Here, there will be
respect, love, and help. No longer reviled, humiliated or beaten.
Welcome, all of you...welcome.” I turned and went inside, to start the
ball rolling.

I had phone calls to make and people to contact. The sun might be
setting outside, but in my heart, the sun was rising on a bright
future, filled with hope.

THE RULES.

NO MAGIC.
NO SUPER SCIENCE.
NO FORCED PARTICIPATION OF RESIDENTS BY ANYONE!

What I need from anyone who wants to write in this universe is
truth, reality. Write your story as if it were YOU coming to this
wonderful place. Use your real life story, or make one up, but I want
real feelings, real hopes. Some of you will, no doubt want staff
positions. They are available, although most of the everyday staffing
will be filled by the residents of the home to help them pay for their
stays, although NO one will be turned away for lack of means to pay. We
will have to, of course, be somewhat selective since there are but 30
rooms to fill. Double occupancy of each apartment might be a
possibility, if it proves necessary. The most needy, the ones most in
danger, the most deserving will be given first shot at residency.

Custodial, culinary, security (I hope, although there probably
should be a full staff member at the head of that), swim and exercise
instructors, drivers, therapists, anyone with a health care background,
day and night managers, all those and more. No doubt as time goes by,
more positions will be suggested by you.

Please understand, I WANT your input! I WANT your stories! I want
you to get personally involved in something that, if it can't be done
for real, at least we can do it virtually. Maybe, someday, when one of
us DOES win a big lottery, they will use these stories as a sort of
pattern to help set up a real place of love.

More will follow as it comes in, or as I think of it. For now,
please submit all your stories to me FIRST, before posting them, so I
can try to maintain timelines and continuity. You may email them to me
at Cathy_t_99 at Yahoo dot com for now. Later on I will try to set up a
separate email address that will be strictly for stories written in
this universe.  Please include "Story for your universe" in the subject line.

WELCOME, EVERYONE. Help me make this something wonderful, and full of love.

Huggles 'n love,
Catherine Linda Michel