Mike Penner wrote a story last week. It got a reaction sports writers dream of.

There were more than a half-million Web hits the first day. He received 1,000 e-mails from all over the world. The BBC, ESPN, Good Morning America, they all called hoping the Los Angeles Times sports writer would recount the story.

No, he is not the real father of Anna Nicole’s baby.

Mike Penner is actually Christine Daniels.

“I was scared to death about coming out as a sports writer,” she said.

Oscar Madison, transsexual. Not exactly what you’re used to, eh?

At best, people become incredibly curious about your personal life. In the middle, they snicker and tell Corporal Klinger jokes. At worst, they think you should be banished from society to await an eternity in hell.

So why did Daniels tell the story?

“I don’t have to keep pretending to be something I’m not,” she said.

That charade almost destroyed her. You have to live it to understand, and most of us are lucky enough to be clueless.

We don’t know what it’s like to walk by a women’s restroom, see a female silhouette and burst into tears. Or spend countless nights staring at the ceiling wishing the pain would stop. Many of us think like one of the Web site postings Daniels’ story triggered.

“You are what your are. Deal with it.”

Deal with it? Daniels tried for 49 years.

She remembers walking home from elementary school and being ridiculed for carrying her books next to her chest. Boys, you see, carried them by their side.

Daniels learned to never follow her first instinct. Or should it be Penner learned to never follow his first instinct?

If it’s confusing to write about, can you imagine what it’s like to live? Something happens in the womb that wires the brain female and the body male, or vice versa.

If you want a real explanation, you’ll have to refer to the scientific studies. All I know is nobody would choose that kind of life.

“It was utter hell,” Daniels said.

Every day, she waged a secret war. She started losing badly about two years ago.

“I had a hard time even presenting myself as Mike,” she said. “I was on the verge of crying the entire day. You want to jump out of your skin and start screaming. I couldn’t focus, couldn’t concentrate.”

That made it a little tough to be happy, much less write on deadline. Last December, Penner began hormone treatments and dressing full-time in women’s clothing. She worked mainly from home, but knew she’d eventually have to let the world know.

There may be jobs where being a transsexual is no big deal, but sports writing isn’t one of them. She considered quitting or moving to one of the paper’s other departments.

Penner used to get hate mail for picking the wrong football team. What would it be like for picking another sex?

“What I thought would be the worst day of my life turned out to be one of the best,” she said.

Of 1,000-plus e-mails, four have been critical. Women are welcoming him to the club. One person wrote that it’s not like Daniels did something crazy, like write a column praising Barry Bonds.

“Now this is the real me,” Daniels said. “For the first time I feel like a whole person.”

For the first time, the story has a chance to end the way we all dream of.

Living happily ever after.