GWood

Chapter 12 In a moment of modesty, I reach for a second towel and drape it over a shoulder and cover my chest and the upper part of my stomach. Then I wrap the wet towel around my waist and hold it closed with a hand because it's not quite long enough to tuck in and stay there by itself. With the free hand, I open the door about a foot and look out. I'm kind of puzzled when I see Chad standing there with a bottle of chocolate milk and a huge banana that's been peeled down about halfway. C

Chapter 11 After a while, the images that had shredded my emotions begin to fade, changing from a vivid color to a lackluster black and white before fading completely away to a gray nothing. As my overactive imagination shuts down from this latest episode, I slowly begin to get back in touch with my surroundings. I still hold on to Chad but relax a little, letting go of the death grip that I have on the back of his jacket. As I do, I hear him sigh and take a deep breath as he continues to h

Yep. For Chad, who's gay with only one other male in the universe, that thought probably doesn't even enter his mind. Chapter 25 will cover this some also, but other things are going on at the same time.

Chapter 10 To be expected, the hike downhill has been mostly easier than compared to what it was going uphill. However, it has also taken longer than I hoped to get to where I want to be. I'm tired, pretty much on the edge of exhaustion, and not back to the cabin yet. At a little after four in the afternoon, I'm only back to Echo Cliff, still 1300 feet in altitude above the cabins. As I look at the canyon below me slowing being enveloped in the afternoon shadows, all I can think is that I'

Chapter 9 (s) I should have known better what such memories would do to me on this part of the hike. Earlier today, the faster heart rate was needed to power my push up the side of the canyon, but this afternoon is a totally different story. Exertion to move the body downhill is much less than going uphill, so the faster heart rate can now power other parts of my body. In my case, this means I am now sporting a fairly good woody. Of course, not having any kind of sex, not even sex with Ros

Chapter 8 (s) After a few minutes of relaxing, I stand and put on my daypack. At the same time, a new peace washes over me. Although I'm not happy with the situation, I sigh as I realize that letting Chad go is the right thing to do. Besides, there's nothing I can do about it now--the time to repair or change our relationship has already passed. Our intense but short-lived relationship is now an NTB, an acronym that a group of us in college had defined as "Not To Be." But the relationsh

Chapter 7 The scenery on the hike back down this part of the mountain seems to be whipping by quickly. I was already back to treeline, and what had been a thirty minute hike up the mountain was a ten minute hike back down. Since I am now in a pissy mood (literally), I find an out-of-the-way spot and take a leak, covering the large patch of ground with my yellow stream. After I am done I think, 'Angry? Just piss all over everything.' Finally reality sets in and I think, 'What a way to reme

Chapter 6 The hike on this section hasn't been too difficult, but it has been tiring because of the distance. I'm finally at treeline, so all the trees, actually all vegetation, has pretty much disappeared from the landscape. What's left of the terrain really does look like a moonscape, pock marked, barren, and lifeless. It's about noon, almost two hours since the last stop, so I stop for a short break to figure out why I'm now about an hour behind schedule. As I look at the map, I find I

Chapter 5 I find myself groaning as I bend down to pick up and put on the daypack. Although I've drunk a good portion of the water that was in the pack, there's still more to carry. However it and all the other "essentials" are getting heavier by the moment. I think of the remaining two hours to the summit, in addition to the four I've already put into this hike. If Chad had been here, I would have fed off his energy on the remaining hike to the top. But without him, I feel almost powerle

Chapter 4 I'm finally at the saddle point between Charleston Peak and Griffith Peak. I glance down to my watch and see that it's about 10 a.m. Although I've been hiking for about four hours, I'm about thirty minutes behind schedule. Hopefully I can make up some time on the "flatter" sections of the next four miles and 1,500 feet in altitude to the summit. But it seems that I'm never sure about what really lies ahead. As with most people on a hike like this, I walk to the other side o

Chapter 3 (s) At this point in the hike, I'm about two-thirds of the way up the switchbacks that connect Echo Cliff to the saddle point between Charleston Peak (my destination) and Griffith Peak. The sun is up more since it's about 9 am, and I can see more and more activity in Kyle Canyon below. It's been a struggle to get this far, especially being alone on the side of a hill where there isn't too much to see. But I don't have too much farther to go to get to the saddle point. As I contin

Chapter 2 (s) I finally get to my first waypoint in the hike. Echo Cliff is a spot on the south trail that juts out from the side of Kyle Canyon. It's about 1,300 feet up from the canyon bottom and the little town of Mount Charleston, Nevada. The view is nice, not great, but still nice. I take a few pictures and look at my watch to see that I'm about an hour and a half into my climb, which is a little behind schedule. The really steep part is coming up, so I stop for a few minutes to drin

Chapter 1 Unlike on the East Coast, in this part of the country where the street lights are few and far between, I can see everything around me in the brilliant, bluish-white moonlight and starlight of the pre-dawn darkness. And because the humidity is much lower here, I already know that it's going to be one of those unusually clear and haze-free days, something that I know I haven't seen in a long time. I'm standing on the side of a road staring up the side of a canyon. It's not straight

Opening Notes Fantasies are a good thing. They provide some fun in our sometimes boring lives. A good fantasy can also provide some hope that life could be better than it really is. So in general, I highly suggest that everyone have a good fantasy every now and then. However, when a fantasy becomes an obsession and the obsession makes us to do something stupid, then good situations, good friendships, good relationships can be badly damaged or destroyed. That's where I am--teetering dange

Relationships may end....

Chapter 7 - Monday and Beyond Monday started early with the birds chirping outside the window. The sun hadn't risen yet, but it was getting lighter outside every minute. The rains of Sunday had moved on and Monday was going to be a bright and sunny day. I quietly got up to go to the bathroom, hoping not to disturb Chad because we still had about an hour before the alarm was to go off. While there, I washed my mouth out with mouthwash. As I crawled into bed, Chad surprised me and did

Chapter 6 - Sunday Sunday morning's weather was rainy, chilly, and dreary, but it provided the cloud cover to help me stay asleep longer than usual. I had gotten up at my usual 6 am to take a leak but was still so exhausted that I crawled back into bed and fell back asleep almost immediately. I thought I felt Chad do the same, but I wasn't really sure of anything at that hour. At about 8:30 am, I finally woke up. Given that I had slept for about ten hours, I thought I'd be well rested

Chapter 5 - Saturday Evening On the way back to the master bedroom and the shower, I hadn't noticed that Chad had lagged behind some. As I got to the bedroom, I turned to talk to him, only to see that he was about ten feet behind me. As he entered the room from the dark hallway, I could see the shit-eating grin on his face, a grin that said "gotcha" all over it. Chad said, "Nice, REALLY nice outline and ass, too." I immediately knew that he had gotten me back for my comments about his

Chapter 4 - Saturday Afternoon While Chad slept, I did some minor chores. I pulled some steaks from the freezer and put in the fridge so they could start thawing for Sunday night's dinner. I got soup out of the cabinet and set on the counter so that I'd be ready for lunch or an afternoon snack depending on when Chad woke up. Then I went to the one bedroom that I had converted into a study and tried to do some work. My brain wasn't into it because I was really thinking about how good the

Yeah, the start is somewhat predictable, huh? Hopefully you won't find the whole story that way. Let me know if you find any unexpected twists or surprises in it. That'll let me know how well I've written it. :-)

Chapter 3 - Saturday Morning I always hate the first few Saturdays in November after we "fall back" from Daylight Saving Time, and this Saturday was no different. What used to be a leisurely sleep on a Saturday morning was now interrupted by birds chirping and sunlight an hour earlier. On any other day of the week including Sunday, this would have been a welcome event, but Saturdays were my day to sleep late. Unfortunately, because I had been getting up regularly at 6 am for work during

Liked the surprise ending, but found it to be something of a tease. I know a full story isn't the intent of the prompt, but this could be made into one, couldn't it? And maybe our pets know more about what really goes on around us than we do....

I definitely agree. Cheating is not what I intended when I asked (3). I really intended for the "fidelity" of the relationship to be maintained; most relationships are monogamous and that's what I'd want too. But I've wondered every now and then what it would be like to have an "approved fuckbuddy" in a (male) next door neighbor while staying married to my wife. (Hmmm, and I think I've got a topic for another story in the future....) [Yes, and many will think I'm just plain screwed up, too.... ]

Let me simply say that I have lots of camping and backpacking experience in the mountains of southern Colorado, northern New Mexico, or near El Paso, Texas. On the 'con' side, it can be painful (think blisters), exhausting (hours to get up the sides of mountains), and sometimes scary (in thunderstorms or too close to a bear, or when you get lost or low on food). And weather is always a problem (we Americans are getting too used to the indoor temperature range of 65-78). However, when you get to the top of that mountain or cross that stream in an area where very few get to go, all those worries are completely forgotten. On tops of mountains, you can see for miles and miles (I've seen as far as 85 miles), and the sunsets/sunrises are even more spectacular because you actually get to see the sun on the horizon (yeah, beaches are a good alternative). Backpacking through massive forests in the fall (oh my God the colors...) or across that special little stream/river is also special, especially when you get to see the wildlife in and around it. (Of course, there's a least one of you reading this who's thinking about shooting Bambi. To that I say "Shame on you!") But the two things that stick in my mind are these. First, standing on top of a mountain near El Paso at sunset and seeing a light in a little town that seems to be right below you--but in reality, it's nearly 30 miles away. It was then I realized that the only man-made light within a 30-mile radius was the flashlight I was carrying. Second, on the top of that same mountain, gazing up at the stars and realizing how small and insignificant we really are in this vast universe. While some may not think this way, standing there made me realize how special we humans are here on Earth--we have a full range of sensory inputs (and emotions and thinking abilities and ...) that very few others are in our universe probably have. So, would I do it again? HELL YES!!! I'd love to lose about 40 pounds of fat and add 30 pounds of trail-tested muscle, and spend March through October backpacking the Appalachian trail (all 2181 miles of it) or the Pacific Crest Trail (all 2,663 miles of it). But why am I not doing that now? Well, probably like most people, I really need a job to support me and my offspring. But through all the hub-bub of daily life, I still have those quiet, but spectacular, memories of times spent backpacking. If you don't those memories, you should get some. But always go with a group and make sure you keep your food separate from you when you're sleeping.... If you want more info on what to buy and where to go, check out your local camping/backpacking store. I recommend REI (www.rei.com), but other stores are good too. And, no, I'm not a salesman at REI.

Okay, everyone who's in a relationship has, at least once, woken up in the morning and wished that he or she were in a relationship with someone else. For those of us who are bisexual, another situation can also occur: we can wake up in the morning and wish the gender of our partner was the opposite of what it is. So here are my questions for bisexual folks: (1) How many of you have experienced the second situation above? (2) As a follow-on to (1), how many of you have "straight days" and "gay days?" (3) Maybe you already do, but if you don't, do you wish that you had an understanding partner (of one gender) and a good friend/neighbor (of the other gender) that could fulfill your needs/fantasies? Sorry that I can't really include you totally gay or totally straight folks in these questions, but feel free to comment if you wish. And, please, none of this "you bisexuals can't figure out what you want" stuff. I'll go first. I'm in a committed opposite sex relationship with a wonderful woman (and in no way do I want to jeopardize that). However, there are days when I wish for a man to wake up to, usually in that situation where I'm the bottom. So the answer to (1) is a yes. Also there are days when all I can think about is my wife and what I'm going to do to her when I get home from work, and there are days when all I can think about is doing the same thing to some good-looking guy (or having it done to me), usually on the kitchen table or on the deck. So the answer to (2) is also a yes. As for (3), yes is the answer, but that's not are realistic option for me. Folks here on the East Coast are far less tolerant of such "deviants." So what about you?