Mark Ponyboy Peters

Opening night was finally here, and from the other side of the stage curtain we could hear the hum of the auditorium filling up with people as they found their seats and chatted excitedly amongst themselves. We could also hear the sound of the last minute tuning of musical instruments coming from the band, who were set up directly in front of the stage, in an enclosed area between the cast and the audience. Ben and I were standing in relative darkness in the stage wings, just near the contr

‘You know I love you, don’t you?’ Guy whispered to me, as I lay with my head on his lap, his fingers gently stroking my hair. We were sitting on the blanket by the creek, listening to the nightlife and the frogs along the banks. Suddenly everything seemed to be getting all too heavy for me. I sat up and looked out across the water, watching the reflections of the city lights dancing on the rippled surface. ‘What’s wrong?’ he asked, anxiously. I turned to face him, and took his han

Thank you!

Thank you so much!

I just froze, but then I realised that it wasn’t my father. It was Jason. The little prick must have climbed in through the window. ‘It’s none of your damn business,’ I replied. ‘And what the fuck are you doing in here anyhow?’ ‘So? Where have you been? Dad tried knocking on your door when Ben rang you. When you didn’t answer he just reckoned you must have been asleep . . . anyhow, that’s what he told Ben. I figured that you mustn’t have been in here, though. Looks like I know you bett

Yup! LOL

Thank you everyone for your very thoughtful comments! I love that so many of you are so invested in this story and the characters ... ultimately that's exactly the type of response us writer types like to see and hear, so thank you very much!!!

I didn’t know what to say to that. Mum, Dad and Jason were all staring at me waiting for an answer, but there was no way I could give them one. No way at all! In the end I just pushed my chair back from the table, got up and left the room. As I lay down on my bed, I knew what they would be thinking. He can’t defend himself. Or worse. He won’t defend himself. So therefore, he must be gay. He simply must be. ‘Fuck ‘em all,’ I said aloud. ‘Fuck who?’ I suddenly heard Jason ask f

@Paladin thank you for your comment, and no need to apologise. I do agree in some respects, particularly the part about people using their supposed 'phobia' as a defense ... and hasn't that been done to the death in the court system??? BUT ... I have seen reactions in people which I can only describe as 'fear', even if whatever they were actually fearing may have been difficult to identify. It wasn't just bigotry or hatred, I don't believe. Yeah, I know, it's all totally irrational, but the fear expressed in those reactions sure seemed real enough to me. I guess we all deal with these things differently and react to situations differently. Just not sure that completely dismissing 'homophobia' works, that's all.

Thank you 🙂

@Summerabbacat @Mancunian @chris191070 @centexhairysub @Paladin @Al Norris @weinerdog @VBlew Oh wow! Thank you to everybody for your comments and thoughts on this chapter. This one certainly seems to have stirred up a few feelings. I won't reply to every comment, but perhaps a few general comments for background might be in order, just so you know what I was influenced by. Yes, I went to a Catholic high school, forty+ years ago, in a rural town, where bigotry and homophobia were always pretty close to the surface (and still are). Quite a bit of what I have written about in these stories is a reflection of my own experiences and those of people I knew. Write about what you know, right? So having said that, despite what we all feel NOW, or what we know NOW, forty years ago many of the experiences I have described and included in my stories were commonplace no matter where you lived. Parents who are homophobic, parents who think the arts aren't for "their" kids (lest those kids might be -- shock, horror -- queer!), schools who champion sports instead of the arts . . . do I need to go on? We may not have liked it, but that was life. On a personal note, my father may not have been quite as outspoken as Tim's father, but I know that (at least back then) his feelings weren't that dissimilar. He may not have verbalised his feelings all that often, but he still made sure he got his point across. I'd like to think that he mellowed a little in his later years though. Since then, times have certainly changed and attitudes have definitely mellowed, I feel. I doubt any of us would put up with all that crap in this day and age ... we wouldn't stand for it, as there is so much support available these days ... but let's be honest, all those years ago there wouldn't have been too many places in the world where this wasn't the norm, and how we dealt with things back then was the only way we knew how at the time. Hopefully you'll notice some changes in attitude as the story continues! Thanks very much for your interest!!!

‘So, why didn’t you tell me you could sing?’ Guy asked as we drove across town and back to his place. I simply shrugged. ‘You never asked.’ ‘Fuck me!’ I raised one eyebrow at him and smiled. ‘You know what I mean, asshole,’ he said, as he gave me a sharp jab in the shoulder. ‘And what about Ben? Can he sing?’ ‘Trust me. You don’t even want to hear him try. This whole thing was nothing but blackmail. He dared me to try out for the show, or he’d tell Tom Jackson that I was

I'm not going to give away too many secrets @Summerabbacat

‘So, let me get this straight,’ I asked Ben, while still being highly embarrassed by his having walked in on me and Guy. ‘You’re not gay? And we don’t turn you on?’ ‘Nope. And nope. Well, not sexually anyway,’ he said, while shaking his head. He was still leaning against the doorway with his arms folded across his chest, and all the while he was grinning at us like a madman. ‘You’re telling us that seeing us like this makes you hot, but you’re not gay? What are you then?’ Guy asked him

Thank you kind sir. And yes, I'm sure many of us have memories of favourite places from our younger years! 😃

And horny! lol Ben won't give away all his secrets here, but be sure to read the next story in the series. That is all 🙂

I was first to reach our corner the following morning and waited for about five minutes before I finally noticed Ben approaching. As usual he was dawdling along with his school bag over his shoulder, his white school shirt hanging out over his grey trousers, and looking as if he didn’t have a care in the world. ‘Good morning,’ he cheerfully said as he reached me. ‘Morning to you too,’ I replied. ‘You do any better yesterday afternoon?’ I shook my head. ‘Fuck it. You pair

We had our second rehearsal for the school musical the following afternoon after school, and the only word that comes to mind, which accurately describes it, would be . . . chaos! We all thought that Snowy had bitten off more than he could chew in dreaming up this idea of a modern rock musical and so too, it seemed, half the school faculty was thinking along those lines as well. One by one they popped into the school hall to check on our progress, with their snide remarks and quiet sn

Yes, yes and yes. 🙂

Thank you! ❤️

"When was this written?" Errr ... yeah. About 20 years ago!

The telephone rang that night and I barely lifted my head off the pillow for long enough to hear it being answered. I hoped to God that it wouldn’t be for me. Dropping my head back down into my pillow, which was still damp from the tears of fear that I had cried when I had arrived home, I remembered the sweating and the cold panic of just a few hours earlier. It was something the likes of which I had never before experienced, as far as I could remember. And it scared the shit out of me

OH DEAR!!! LOL 😅

I guess that's just the kind of guy he is!

Thank you @Summerabbacat. All the musical references were designed to add some fun to the story, and hopefully bring a few happy memories back for some of us "oldies" LOL I think the Chrysler Sigma and Mitsubishi Sigma are exactly the same vehicle. If my memory is correct, Chrysler were bought out by Mitsubishi, so there was just a badge switch. There were lots of similar deals with the various car brands ... Ford and Nissan had some models that were the same vehicles but with different badges. Also, Ford and Mazda had a similar deal as I recall. Back in the 80's I worked in the auto parts industry, so I knew some of this crap ... can't remember much of it now though! haha MP