So picking an excerpt for this story was a little hard. There's a lot of interesting information about Buddhism, this spiritual retreat, and the main characters. The story has a bit of romance, some drama (they are teens, after all) and a lot of struggling to the end. Will it be a happy ending? Well, the story is short so I hope you'll give it a chance. To help you decide, I've picked an excerpt that gives you both a taste of the characters and the world they are immersed in for the week. 

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"So ... ummm ... they told me at the registration desk that you've been to a few of these things. This is my first time, so I don't really know what I'm supposed to be doing," he said, blushing again.

"No problem, dude. I've got you covered," I said, trying to sound cool, but probably failing miserably.

"Thanks," he said, finally managing a small smile.

"So what're you doing here anyway?" I asked.

"My ... uhhh ... therapist thought it would be good for me," he said.

I wasn't about to ask him why he was seeing a therapist, or why said therapist thought he should come to a Zen meditation retreat. I mean, there were certainly much gentler forms of Buddhism. Zen was more like basic training in the military. But I'd just met the kid and those kinds of questions seemed a bit too personal for the time being. Although, I admit that I was definitely intrigued. I'd learned to read people pretty well over years of practicing, and I could see in his eyes that he had issues. It would be kind of cool to be his mentor for the week, and learn a little more about him.

We still had quite a while until the evening sermon, so I told him to change into his uniform, and offered to give him a tour of the monastery and teach him some of the basics. He didn't say anything, just nodded in reply. As he started slowly stripping off his clothes, I noticed how perfect he looked, especially the way his briefs hugged his small hips, and his cute little bubble butt. I had to will myself to keep my desire under control. I was supposed to be learning how to control my desires, not bone up at the first piece of eye candy I saw. As he unpacked his things, I noticed that he didn't have any long underwear or warmer clothes to wear underneath his uniform. He was definitely going to freeze his cute little butt off over the next week!

Over the next few hours, I led him on a walk around the grounds, showed him where the showers and dining hall were, and then took him to the main monastery. There I taught him how to properly make prostrations in front of the Buddha, the rules of etiquette when meeting with the roshi, and the basics of meditation, such as the correct sitting positions (either seiza, the traditional Japanese kneeling position, or the cross-legged lotus position), proper posture, counting your breaths to slow down the mind, and some of the basic principles and aims of Zen. He listened intently the entire time, which made me feel even better.

He seemed a little overwhelmed by all of the information I was feeding him, but I assured him that he could ask me questions anytime, except for during meditation periods and meal time, when we had to remain totally silent. I didn't think he'd have any problem with the silent part, because he'd barely said anything since we started our little tour.

I also taught him to read romaji, which is the romanized spelling of Japanese, which we needed to know for reciting the scriptures. Although we had English translations, too, we did all of our chanting in Japanese. He seemed to get that part down without much trouble, though, and I even tried to impress him with my poor pidgin Japanese skills. At least my Japanese was better than that asswipe, Vic's, who should've spoken better Japanese since he was a resident here full-time. His Japanese totally sucked, although he acted like he was an expert. I hated when he acted all pompous and tried speaking Japanese with me. It irked me when he called me "Nicholas-san." I didn't let anyone call me by my full name -- even the roshi called me "Nicky."

 

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