Men in Paradise - 20. Chapter 20 - The Harvest

Canada and the US each have their own October and November for Thanksgiving celebrations in North America. In Britain, ever since pagan times, thanks have been granted for good harvests. Traditionally, the Harvest Festival is held near or around the Harvest Moon. The Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival. In Iran, Mehrgan was held in Persepolis in a lavish style at the harvest festivals in Asia. Festivals in various regions of India are Makar Sankranti, Thai Pongal, Uttarayana, Lohri and Magh Bihu or Bhogali Bihu in January, Holi in February-March, Vaisakhi in April, and Onam in August-September. In the fall, Jews celebrate Sukkot's week-long harvest festival. Observant Jews build a temporary hut called a sukkah and spend the week living in it, dining, sleeping, and praying. In West Africa (especially in Nigeria and Ghana) and other African countries and beyond, the Iri ji (Yam) festival is performed, symbolizing the end of a harvest and the beginning of the next work cycle. Therefore, the New Yam Festival is a celebration depicting the importance of yam in Igbo people's social-cultural life.

Justin's PoV

Things were getting out of my hands in Paradise.

For the third time in a week, I did it with Afridi. Unbelievable for two straight boys left alone on an island doing stuff that would have been unimaginable in the real world.

If you are going to judge me based on what we were doing, then allow me to say that you are not the one living on a deserted island.

Yes, I would have hated it, laughed at it, and even ignored it back home. I would have been certainly uncomfortable doing 'gay sex'. First, I would have never put myself out there in a situation with other boys.

Going down on Afridi was an exploration, desperation. I started doing physical stuff out of curiosity with him and then the sexual frustration added fuel to that. Going down on him was an experiment I wanted to find out how far I could go with a boy like him. But then I started liking him too, and it turned into an act of passion out of love and brotherhood. And it left no boundaries I was not willing to cross for him.

I have never been physically attracted to other boys in the past. I never looked at them that way, not even a glance. There were occasions I would have just peaked at my friends in the restroom or shower for comparison and self-acknowledgment. But I don't remember ever having a hard-on for another boy until I met Afridi.

I never knew neither had time to think about what just transformed at that time with him. Might be, I had that sexual fluidity to adjust for circumstances like that. But as days gone by, I was comfortable connecting with him both physically and emotionally.

If you think I am a bisexual, then so be it...who cares anyway!

I wasn't sure how Afridi felt about it though. Once, I asked Afridi if he was weird about all the things we were doing. He just rolled his eyes and moved on. He was so casual about everything like a typical teenager. So, I decided not to raise that subject ever again.

I understood that he never had sex with other boys before. I realized it during our first time, he was clueless and his whole body trembled every single fucking time. In the beginning, he avoided talking to me or looked at my face the next day. But then, he got used to the sex, and he started behaving like nothing happened the night before that.

Nevertheless, I knew he would do anything for me. He made that quite clear from the beginning. And I have understood that he was more than willing to cross a line with me that no straight boy would ever be dared to do for anyone.

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A couple of nights before, he sucked me off in return. I was surprised by it. I never expected him to return the favor to me...but oh boy, he returned the favor very well indeed.

His lips were amazing, his mouth was warm and wet. And when he kissed, it was incredible.

I watched his angelic face when he took my full length into his mouth. He was slightly hesitant in the beginning when my dick went in, but then he acted like a pro, he even licked it and squeezed my balls. And then started pumping my dick with his mouth. My dick was having a hard-on of its life.

When I was nearing my climax, I took a glance at his pretty face one more time, I couldn't do it to him. I pulled my cock out of his mouth and jerked off to finish myself. And finally kissed him as a token of gratitude.

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The previous day, I have asked him 'if I can fuck him'. Initially, he was reluctant and unwilling. He sneered at me.

He replied instantly "'You will tear my ass with your big tool, No way dude".

I knew it was a terrible thing to expect from a straight guy. It could be called 'Consensual rape'. Nope, such term makes no sense at all. But I was a straight guy until I was cruelly left alone on that island. In the past, I dreamt of boobs and pussies, but never even thought of a cock. So, I transformed into a full-blown gay guy in a matter of six months. I liked Afridi a lot and I decided to go ahead with whatever came to my mind.

So, I was persistent, I wanted to take it to the next level with him. I thought that is the natural phase of our evolving relationship. I wanted a union with him, something that would go beyond and explore things. I wanted to feel complete with him. I wanted to explore things with him and leave no stone untouched. God, I was infatuated with him so much which even surprised me at times.

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On that evening, we were jogging at the beach and playing with Captain, the weather was always pleasant in Paradise. Lately, we were having a regular breeze in the evening and showers in the morning.

I enjoyed jogging with Afridi and Captain during that time. We played a lot on the beach and talked about many things. It was also the only time where I got to spend alone time with Afridi.

But he was not himself that evening. Unusually quiet and disturbed as if he was preoccupied with thoughts.

Suddenly Afridi stopped me, and he looked me straight in the eye,

And asked me out of the blue 'Will you promise me... You will be slow and careful if I say ' Yes?'.

'Yes,' my mind screamed.

I punched my arm like a triumphant.

I looked at him, my eyes were letting him know how much I cared about him. I guess he understood what I meant, he just nodded his head and started chasing Captain again.

I just stood there, having an emotion that I could not understand. I grinned at the waves like a crazy person.

The boy was unbelievable...

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It's been more than seven months. We have seen the fall of the leaves and the storm in Autumn, we survived the heavy rainfall and harsh snowfall in the Winter, we have also witnessed the beauty and prosperity of Spring in Paradise island. We were looking forward to the Summer and ready to face any challenges ahead.

Things were happening rapidly in Paradise. Crops were grown and ready to be reaped. Livestock filled our storage room with their output, and the garden provided a daily supply of vegetables, spices, and pulses. We even built a roof over our heads and made tools and materials to survive.

TikTok had become less irritating and Captain had been tamed.

Selena, Rihanna, Obama, Osama, and others were happy multiplying their families. So did the goats.

The boys were happy. Some of us even having sex.

And Harvest Festival was on the horizon in Paradise island.

It’s a new sky, a new land, a new day, new dawn, and a new life.

For me, for all of us in Paradise.

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Just a few days before the Paradise Harvest celebration, I went to the water stream with Jai. All of us were so busy preparing for the festival celebrations and harvest, we hardly had time to talk.

We wanted the kitchen to be properly ready. Afridi has been making an iron stove for the kitchen and Sakthi busy at woodworks for the kitchen cabinet then. Jai has been quiet for a week or so, I decided to bring him with me to the stream for a hang out to cheer him up.

Uneven water beds and rocks below created a small waterfall on the stream which pours the water to the ground and runs up to the sea on that island. Sometimes we always had two options to take a bath either on the stream or below the waterfall.

I could see pebbles clearly below the clean water on the stream. Dry leaves and flowers floating above the waters going with its flow. Fishes were busy running around. Two Kingfishers were waiting at the bank for the right time to catch them. Sunlight was coming from the gaps in between the branches of the tree on the bank.

"Spring is better than winter. This place looks lovely now" Jai started the conversation.

"Yes, and we are yet to have Summer," I told him with a smile.

"Do you think Summer will be super-hot here?" Jai asked me.

"I don't think so, it will be like summer in Paris if my predictions are correct," I told him.

"Was it so bad moving from the USA to Dubai?" He asked me.

"Of course, it was" I laughed.

And then I continued "I hated it for at least two years in the beginning. I left all my friends, especially girls, my high school, my grandparents, the Mississippi River, and its weather and stuff that I could never have in Dubai. But then I had no choice, I was just 15 when my father got posted in there"

I still remember those days, it was like moving from Heaven to Hell. But later I realized Dubai wasn't bad after all, I found friends and I met Marissa. Things changed soon after.

"Is that why you got adapted to this island very quickly?" He asked me.

"Might be" I replied.

I wondered whether the boy was still feeling homesick, it could have been the reason he was quiet for a week. I assumed that we moved away from all of that frustration and homesickness over the past few months. But maybe he wasn't.

"You wanna go home?" I asked him.

"Of course, we all do, but this place isn't bad either," he said calmly.

I saw him rubbing down his toned body. The amount of physical labor we did daily transformed our bodies too. Whatever fat we had earlier was gone.

Regular consumption of coconut oils and bananas by the people at his place, people from his state got a unique physical appearance than other Indians I met in Dubai.

Jai got that wheatish color skin that always glowed. He had that boyish face with perfect nostrils and lips that could charm anybody. He had no hairs on his plain chest but a few cropping up and down below the navel. His pubic hair was drenched in the water and his dick was as usual under control.

There were times I wanted to bring him to our circle jerk off. But then I was not sure if he would be comfortable. He slept and woke up early every morning for prayers. He did daily meditation. Like a melancholy soul, he kept to himself most of the times, spoke very little and engaged at work. Whenever there was any topic on sex, he showed little interest and sometimes even moved away from that place.

"Do you have a girlfriend back home?" I asked him out of curiosity.

I didn't think he would be having any trouble finding one.

"Nope, never had" he laughed nervously.

"Don't tell me you are still a virgin?" I asked him in disbelief.

"Well, I didn't live in America or Europe. Our place is very conservative. We aren't allowed to talk to girls at school, it's forbidden to have sex before marriage. Even talking about sex is a taboo in our culture" he explained to me.

I tried to understand where he came from. It is not a surprise why he was shy during sex-related discussions. Why was he so hesitant when we did the circle jerk off on our first drunken night? I assumed he would have never heard the terms such as gay, bisexual or pansexual, etc. I decided not to try anything stupid with him. I presumed he would run away if I tried.

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On our way back to the hut, we collected raisins from the tree. Raisins are a liquid material released by the trees to heal its wound. They were abundant in the forest trees. But we found a few trees at the banks with raisins. We wanted to use those raisins to make candles and sealing baskets.

"What are you going to do with them?" I asked Jai.

"Back home, we use it for many purposes. I can make candles out of them, to begin with. Coconut oil lamps and torches are consuming too much" He answered me.

"Yes, we can light the candles inside the house and use oil lamps outside" I agreed with him.

Of course, life at Paradise island was improving day by day. Our shared experiences and lifestyles from different regions were helping us to bring many things that helped our lives better on that island.

When we came back to the hut, Afridi had completed his new iron stove. And Sakthi finished building the Kitchen cabinet. We had a fair plan on how we wanted our kitchen to look like and what was needed in it.

Last Winter taught us that we couldn't depend upon bonfire and outdoor cooking during storms, rain, and snow. We had to take the cooking indoors. Our hut is made up of wood and it would catch fire quickly if we followed primitive style cooking, so we decided to go modern ways.

Afridi was asked to make two types of stoves. Iron stuff with an oil container and another stove where we can burn the wood for cooking. Jai made enough oil from the coconuts and we were expecting more oils to be extracted from new seeds that we were growing. We could use any of those oils as an alternative to Kerosene on the stove for light cooking and frying. And a wood stove for boiling and baking. That was our plan.

Since it gets too dark inside the hut during winter very early in the evenings. We needed lights inside and also outside to manage the birdcage and goat's shed. That's why we collected raisins for candles. We also put handmade torches to keep some light in our lawn area.

Day by day, we were modernizing our lives around. The kitchen was supposed to be upgraded with a stage made of granite like stones so that it can manage the loads and not burn by the stove. We went to the rocks that morning and chopped down rocks with sledgehammers and sculpted them to a rectangular plate shape as we needed. We placated wooden pillars above the ground and placed the rock on top of it.

Sakthi made wooden cabinets with doors adjacent to the cooking stage to keep the vessels and food supplies. It was a modern kitchen indeed. Jai was excited.

We built a dining table and two benches in the hall using wood. I thought it was a full-fledged house then. For the first time, we ate our dinner sitting inside the house with lights on.

"We are completely civilized now," Sakthi said with pride on his face.

"We can do more if we put our minds to it," I told him.

"Villagers in India are living far worse than our condition still now," Jai told me.

"Why is that? Don't they get electricity?" Afridi asked him like an innocent.

"Nope, not many villages have electricity yet. There are thousands of densely populated villages in our country" Jai replied.

"I don't know about Emirates. But I remember that I lived in a war-ravaged Syria where electricity was mostly off in many areas" Afridi added his fair share of experience on the subject.

"There are still a few places in the US too without electricity such as areas in Alaska and Hawaii" I added my knowledge even though I had never been to those places.

"I have heard that African countries are the worst in terms of power supply" Sakthi added information on the subject.

"And that's where humanity first began, we evolved from there and migrated to other continents, it's a surprise how the nations of that continent didn't develop like others," I told them.

"War and corruption" Sakthi replied.

"And colonization" Jai added more fuel.

"That's bad. May Allah saves them all" Afridi closed his eyes as if he was praying for them.

"Amen," the rest of us said like a chorus.

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'Merry, merry, merry, cheery, cheery, cheery,

Trowel the black bowl to me;

Hey derry, derry, with a poupe and a lerry,

I trowel it again to the:

Hooky, hooky, we have shorn,

And we have bound,

And we have brought Harvest

Home to town'.

Back home in New Orleans, my family visited our grandparent's house at Cecilia for Thanksgiving every year. My grandparents lived in a farmhouse on the outskirts of the town, Cecilia is located 100 miles from New Orleans where my parents and I lived until we shifted to Dubai. My siblings and I enjoyed our stay at our grandparent’s place, and we looked forward to Thanksgiving Day every year. They owned sugarcane farms, cattle, and horses. We had large gatherings of our entire relatives and extended families with cousins, aunts, and uncles during those days. The town itself was a smaller one with a population of 1500 people. We rode horses, played in the farms, took boating, and swimming in the lake nearby which is called Fordoche lake. Plenty of food, music, and entertainment was always an essential part of our festival celebrations at my grandparents’ place. Our planning for the harvest festival in Paradise reminded me of my grandparents often.

The harvest festival was on its way. We had plans to decorate the entire island particularly around the beach, places in and around the fence, and also inside our hut. We washed the goats and Captain and kept them clean.

The next day, we went to the big rock and wrote the word 'Help' using liquid limestone in big letters so that even sailors from the sea could read it. Also, we placed a wooden torch on the rock and decided to light it every evening that would be visible to signal approaching helicopters or ships about whereabouts.

We had not given up going back home until then. And we hoped that we don't have to celebrate another harvest on that island.