Frank Hughes: A Woman Like No Other

Frank Hughes was a woman like no other. To begin with, she frequently wore trousers. Who ever heard of a woman wearing trousers? Secondly, she had very short hair. Who ever heard of a woman with very short hair? Nobody in the town had ever heard of such things, but they were a tolerant bunch and therefore she was allowed to go about her business without interference and was even liked by some.

Rumours had followed that perhaps she was a woman who loved other women, mainly on account of her trouser-wearing and short hair, as well as her fondness for pipe smoking, gambling and swearing. These rumours had even gone so far as to place her in a relationship with Jim Kelly, the firewoman, although they had been dampened somewhat when Frank Hughes was seen laughing heartily the day after Jim Kelly was killed in a fire at the fire station, when all the fire crews were out extinguishing other fires. Who ever heard of a woman who loves other women laughing heartily the day after the woman she loved was killed in a fire at the fire station? Nobody in the town had, that's for certain.

It had become such an accepted fact that Frank Hughes was not only a woman, but a woman that didn't love other women, that nobody batted an eyelid when she got a job as a train driver, grew a beard and announced her intention to take up Greco-Roman wrestling. This was a hobby that developed into a passion for Frank, and after several weeks of intensive training she was about to take part in her first bout at the local leisure centre. There was only one other lady wrestler in the area and that was 'Hairy' Harry Carter, a fearsome character who worked as a doorwoman at 'Rusty's' nightclub in the neighbouring town.

It was a wet November night, and due to the paucity of night-time attractions in the town, a fair crowd had gathered at the leisure centre. They saw a fearless battle, and Frank more than held her own in spite of her inexperience. However, late on in the bout, as she executed a particularly complicated clinch, a little chap and a pair of hairy conkers popped out at the side of Frank's lycra wrestling outfit. The referee couldn't help but notice and she was disqualified on the spot, with 'Hairy' Harry Carter declared the winner by default.

"Well I never!" said folk in the town later. "Frank Hughes was a man after all!" And this was true. Unless she was a woman who had become a man. But who ever heard of a woman that became a man?