It was already dusk. Deep darkness enveloped everything around. The blissful silence was broken only by the sounds of the nocturnal animals, which only now were waking up to life. There was a specific smell of trees in the air. Despite the late hour, the forest did not seem scary, on the contrary, it gave the impression of a peaceful oasis open to visitors of all kinds. However, in one place it was evident that time did n...

George was from a very protective family. In his family, there were a few rules, like no TV and no phone calls during dinner. Those were moments for sharing about the day, at school for him and his siblings, and at work for his parents. Another rule was that dinner was being eaten all together, around the table, between seven and eight, and everyone had to help his mother. His parents checked his notebooks and homework ev...

In August Nora asked me to meet her in a park near her Maspeth house, something we had never done before. I was sitting on a bench when she came up and stood in front of me. Her outfit was surprising; she had a white blouse, a dark blue skirt that went below her knees, white ankle socks, and brown shoes. She said nothing, so I just looked her over. Her hands were folded in front of her. Finally, I said, “What are you supp...

Last night I went to the pool late and ended up having a threesome in the showers. Usually, I go to the pool during the day.  It feels warmer, I get some work on my speedo tan, and in the middle of the day, the pool is generally quiet.  Yesterday (Friday) I was busy with work all day and time just got away from me.  The pool closes at nine pm and just before eight pm, I decided to go for a late-night swim.  I really wante...

It’s a warm summer's evening when I exit the gym to the outside pool area, it’s dark out but the pool is illuminated by the fluorescent lights under the water. I’m the only one here and It’s so peaceful, the only noise coming from one or two birds chirping in the distance. I step into the water watching it ripple as I move further in, the temperature cooling down my heated skin. I duck my head under the water and run my h...

On Tuesday night I went to a Masters Swim Squad training session.  This was the second time I've gone along and I'm enjoying it.  Most of the people are in their forties training for triathlons and I've been the youngest guy there both times.  While I don't think I need much motivation to get me to the pool to do laps, the training is different to what I do when I train on my own. The first week I thought I was getting hi...

Swimming was my new pass-time. My wife and I had installed an in-ground pool in our back yard with the proceeds from my third book sale. The book was doing well in some circles. Not well enough to buy a new house, but well enough. Of course, after the pool was installed and the landscaping finished, my wife, Elizabeth (Bess for short,) wanted to have a party. She invited friends, but also some of the upper crust from town...

It was Memorial Day weekend of 1978. Kelly and I would graduate from high school in just a few days. I was camping with my family and our family’s good friends. Their oldest daughter, Rachel, was a year younger than me. The previous summer I had popped her cherry, with Kelly encouraging Rachel to have that happen. Kelly couldn’t come with us this particular weekend because she was stuck working at the grocery store deli....

Gemma jumped out of bed, completely naked, and threw open the curtains to look out of the hotel window at the beautiful view over the sparkling blue water. She was really looking forward to going for a swim in the sea today. The hotel receptionist had assured her that it was quite safe.  She turned back to the bed and pulled off the covers, for another beautiful view. Her boyfriend's firm body was illuminated by the sun s...

It was July seventeenth and the day of our group’s annual picnic. Ever since we’d graduated from college ten years ago we’d had a summer picnic. The first one had been to blow off steam the weekend after we’d learned that we’d passed our exams and would be graduating. We had started out as twelve but, as some moved to other cities, our numbers had decreased. This year besides me, Janet and her husband Greg, Jim and his wi...