Magic is lost on youth. Everything is possible at the start. It requires some aging to realize we are not able to leap tall buildings in a single bound. Of course later if you know what you’re doing this isn’t out of the realm of possibility.
Now the first time I stumbled upon a waterhole where folk were skinny dipping I was not well prepared. First off I was shy. Second I was with a new romantic interest. She wasn’t as shy and was fast about the business while I remained tortured about what to do.
Of course in my imagination I had figured I’d just be tickled pink to take my clothes off in front of all of God’s good children and enjoy a good dip in the nude wearing nothing but my birthday suit. I’d prepared for this event in my mind. Thought it would be darker than the light of the middle of the day. Thought we might have been drinking a little, you know, get the chance to approach the thing, build up some momentum, and then plunge right into the affair without a second’s hesitation.
Then, was a long time ago, and I was young and fully clothed… a wild one… and somewhat less wild if the definition of wild included going naked. People seemed to all be looking at me and that was probably because I was looking at all of them. Now, I wasn’t interested in looking at everything, but by nature and curiosity my eyes seemed to want to get a good look now and again when I could at things I might have not had so much chance in my life to get a good look at.
Now looking around I noted that there was a great variation in the natural human anatomy. There were different shapes and sizes to things. I was kind of surprised to learn that in the light of day in the middle of the woods next to a swimming hole that the human body while it looked as it should wasn’t necessarily in all cases and from all angles particularly fetching. I’d say a lot of times it left something to be desired
Of course I finally had worked up the courage to take off my shoes. Took at least a quarter of an hour just to do that, and then I got my shirt off, that was easy enough, and my pants. I’d been in some kind of deep contemplation, lost in my thoughts so completely I’d found the best place to rest my eyes was on my new romantic interests bosom. This provided me with something I could do to keep my mind off of what I really didn’t want to do.
Wasn’t too long before my mind began to wander and I had come to see my new romantic interests bosom in a more positive light, in fact I’d say it was an inspirational frame of mind that overtook my whole being. Next thing I discover is that my mind has decided to communicate with my body sending out signals to places that until now had been not part of the situation, places I’d guess we might describe as remote yet important.
My romantic feels had migrated from my heart to some distance south below my belly button and well north of my knees. It might not have been the best spot, but it was an honest one. I reckoned it was going to be complicated and I was going to have to do some explaining unless I leaped into that swimming hole just as soon as was humanly possible. The romantic interest, she swam over to me, put her arms around me, and hugged me, looked me in the eyes, kissed me, and then she shook her head and must have laughed for what seemed like about as long as it took me to get into that water….
HIGHWAY HOME THE FIRST NOVEL
Leslie leaned back and stretched out on the blanket and put her arms up and closed her eyes and relished the warmth of the light on skin. The beads of water on her skin twinkled in the golden afternoon light. She shimmered as if dressed in sequins. Noel admired how serene and aglow she appeared. She had a smile that looked as if she was lost in a world of wishes that had come true. He tossed his arms up near his head and reached for Leslie’s hand nearest his and tangled his fingers into hers.
Highway Home Copyright © 2009 by Dana Smith
