Short Stories - 2. Who am I?

Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction. Any similarities to persons living, dead, space aliens, goats, or others are purely coincidental. There may be sexual content so if this, in any form, offends you, please cease reading. Also, if you are not of legal age to read this, please don't.

Copyright © 2008 by hh5

Who am I?

By HH5

I woke up from my dream. I was all warm and flushed. I rubbed my face and eyes when …

“Morning, honey”, came a very familiar voice. I took my hands away from my face and turned towards the sound. And then, I stared at him with my mouth open. He came over and put the breakfast tray on my lap. He smiled at me and kissed me. I blinked. He walked away and began to take off his clothes. Despite my puzzlement, I admired the strip show. Seeing his natural tanned muscular body got me all hard. He blew me a kiss and disappeared into the bathroom.

I heard the shower running. The shock and puzzlement that I pushed aside came back. Can this be??? … How can this be? I knew I had to be dreaming and yet I smelled coffee? I’d never smelled coffee in a dream, before. I looked down at the breakfast tray and saw my favorite morning breakfast Omelet and toast. My hand was shaking as I sipped the coffee, and then ate the food. All the while, I was trying to understand how a dream could be so realistic. For, you see, I knew this was a dream. I knew it was a dream because Carl was dead. He died three months ago. Oh, I thought, I hope this isn’t a dream. I do miss him so.

Carl came out of the shower with just his towel wrapped around his middle. He sat beside me and asked,”… so how did you like your breakfast, Honey?” I was so deep in thought that I was startled. I gasped as if I seen a ghost,”… Jeepers … Jesus … Is that really you, Carl?”

Carl’s brow furrowed. I knew that look. He was worried, “Who would I be, Honey?” He looked at me, expecting an answer. I didn’t respond. “What’s the matter? You got me worried.” he said.

I was dumb with disbelief, “… You can’t be here!!! … You’re not real!! … I’m going crazy!!”

Carl looked disappointed, even shocked by what I said, “What do you mean I’m not real? ... Honey, you’re scaring me … Please, won’t you please tell me what the matter?” My mind and my mouth were frozen; I couldn’t say anything.

Carl reached out, and hugged me. It helped. In a few minutes, my breathing had slowed to normal, and I was no longer trembling. Finally, I was able to talk. What I said surprised me as much as it surprised Carl. “Carl, you died three months ago … We were on a train. I went to use the restroom … Four youths found you asleep. They set you on fire … I heard screams. I rushed out and saw you burning … It was horrible … There wasn’t anything I could do … The train conductor rushed over to see what had happen and called the authorities and the EMS …” I broke down and cried.

Carl, of course, didn’t believe me. I think he thought I was back in one of the bad dreams that I had so often, dreams that plagued me not only at night, but sometimes, during the day. “What?? … Oh, come on, honey … I am very much alive … You can feel my arms.” He grinned.”And see you ate all of your favorite breakfast. Who do you think made that?”

I answered, “You did, of course. And … thank you. … But?“

If nothing else, I managed to tell Carl how confused I was. He held me, and crooned over and over, “… Take it easy, honey … Just don’t say a thing … I’ll just hold on to you” Carl stayed with me until I fell asleep. He fixed the covers over me and kissed me on my lips. He sat next to me and sighed with a worried look. After a long while in thought, he got dressed and went to the living room.

I awaken when the telephone rang. I could hear Carl talking to someone, “Hi mom … Yes he was up … Yes he ate … I made his favorite … No … Please don’t mom ... I just got him calmed down … he’s asleep … ok … talk to you later … love you … bye”

I walked into the living room and asked Carl, “… Who was on the phone??”

Carl looked up in shock, “Honey … It was your mom … you didn’t have to wake up … I was going to let you rest for a bit”

I didn’t respond but I started to cry. Carl hugged me until I calm down, again. He rubbed my back and then kissed me on my cheek.

When I had stopped crying, Carl asked, “Honey you remember how we first met?”

I sighed and struggled to pull the images from my long term memory, “Uh … yes… of course I do … I was in a chat room … you notice I was looking at you profile … we started chatting, but you … you were afraid …“

Carl picked up where I had stopped, “Yes, I was afraid … I was afraid to show you my face to you on the webcam … Just like you’re afraid to look at me right now,” he added. He was right. I was afraid to look at him. I was afraid that he wasn’t the person I had grown to love. More important, I was afraid that I wasn’t the person that he had grown to love.

Carl continued, “… Look … I know you had a rough time with Tony and then Chris... and … I’m sorry that it took us years to finally meet …”

I got a bit irritated, “They were not what you think … I was just … I don’t know … just helping them out … but they turned out to be real jerks …”

Carl interrupted, “… and they made your life a living financial hell … I know …” Carl paused to let that memory bite into me. It did, and I started crying, again.

Carl continued,“But in spite of all that, you still helped me through … my problems … you help me salvage my life …”

Carl knew I was happy that I’d been able to help when I could, “Yeah,” I said. ” I guess I did …”

“So let me help you,“Carl offered. I couldn’t say anything. I was frozen, hugging Carl and trying to remember, to understand.

Carl spoke,“Honey, do you remember how you got here?”

I thought for a long while. Images flashed across my mind, but they were all mixed up, not in order. “No,” I said,” I don’t know ... Carl, I’m frightened!!”

Carl hugged me, again. “shhh … Take it easy … Take it easy, Honey … slow it down ... Think about it. Tell me what makes sense”

I started to recite what I was seeing as those images flashed across my mind, “I left New York … I went to Florida to start over … “

There were some unhappy images, some frightening ones. “Things didn’t go very well … there was something wrong with the economy…Mom lost money…her retirement… financial crises crashed the economy …”

I saw people at an office. They looked … sorry for me, but happy that they weren’t me. I was carrying a box of stuff out of office,”I lost my job … I had to move in with my mom at her place. “

I saw Carl’s face on the webcam and heard him pleading, ”You needed help to get a job in the UK … I helped …”

I saw web pages’ flashing across the screen. I saw my hand hitting the laptop screen, “I was having a tough time finding a job …”

I saw Mom, opening the front door…signing for a large envelope. I saw her give it to me. I opened it. Inside was an airline ticket, a birthday card, and a letter,”you send over a plane ticket for me, you wanted me to come visit you in the UK for my birthday … my mom blew up at me … that’s all I remember…”

Carl took over, “You wrote me an email telling me what happen … I called you on your cell … you got mad at me for wasting money when chatting or emailing was cheaper … I just laughed … You ask me why I was laughing … I told you this was important phone call … You said okay … we talked for a while … I convinced you to come here in the UK … your plane left Orlando as scheduled … but …”

Carl paused. I pushed, “But what? … What happen after I got to the UK?”

Carl said, slowly, “You didn’t get to the UK … Your plane went down just short of reaching Gatwick airport … it went down in the Atlantic … you were badly injured … you were in a coma for months … your mom and I talked to each other a lot … she and I got to know each other … she asks me how are you doing … I told her about you … I offered to bring her to the UK so she can be with you at the hospital … she declined … she said that she was too old to travel … you came out of your coma just a month ago … you’ve been staying with me since then … but you’ve not really been yourself, until today.“

I was silently trying to digest all that Carl had said. Without thinking, I asked, “I hope I wasn’t a pain in the butt …” Carl knew I was a proud man who would not have wanted to be a burden on him, or anyone.

Carl smiled, and then answered, candidly, “Of course you were … But not in a way I wanted.” He was still hugging me. His hands dropped several inches, and he squeezed my butt cheeks to issue a strong hint.

I blushed as if no one had every touched me there, before. But I knew it, he had. “Carl!! … Are you getting naughty??” I said.

Carl innocently replied, “Oh, Honey … that was a joke … You’re my pain … but you’re also my pleasure … I’ve been taking care of you … Is that alright? … Do you understand?” He did it again! He squeezed my virgin butt again.

I relented and answered, “Oh, all right”

Carl was very pleased until I questioned, “What honey? …”

Some more images flash across my mind flashed. It was funny images, “Did you remember to clean your spotted dick today??”

Carl blushed with pleasure as he figured out my embarrassing joke. “Oh very funny, Honey … just you wait until I get my Dutch loaf in you!!”

I remembered the joke, and instantly replied, “But, don’t you know I’m a vegetarian.”

Carl hugged me tighter and kissed me. He sighed, “Welcome Home, Honey … Welcome Home!” He immediately picked me up and took me back to the bed room to show me how much girth his Dutch loaf has.

Ouch!! … He found my sweet spot!!! “uhhh, Carl, Is my name Honey??”

Ouch!! I laughed in pleasure, “Oh, Carl, dear … Can we watch Fifty First Dates?”

Carl squealed,“Again?"

I replied,“What do you mean by “Again?” I haven't seen it yet? Honest!!"

Ouch!! Carl’s making sure I remember I saw it, Ouch!!