Secrets: The Truth is Slowly Revealed - 1. Chapter 1 S1

Chapter 1 – How It All Began

I was thinking back on how I’d first met Devin. It happened when I was riding the school bus as we made our way to the first day of kindergarten. Oh, I’d seen him playing outside his house before while I was with my parents in the car, because his family lived next door to us. Well, his house wasn’t exactly next door, because our houses were approximately 250 yards (228.6 m) apart, but the properties abutted one another, so that was close enough.

We lived in a semi-rural area in Jamesville, Colorado and the land on which the houses in this area were built used to be part of a collection of small farms. Over the years the farms had failed, so the owners sold the land and moved away. The company that purchased those properties tore down the old farmhouses and barns and replaced them with more modern structures sometime in the 1980s.

When my parents went to an open house years later and saw the house, they fell in love with it and made an offer. As soon as the legal formalities were concluded, we moved into the house and settled in. The house came with approximately ten acres of land and my parents planted a large garden so they could grow some of the food we ate, and they tended it with great devotion. Even though the garden covered a large patch of land, there was still plenty of room remaining for my siblings and me to roam around and play.

Devin’s situation was very similar to mine, but he was an only child, whereas I had an older brother and sister. They were both several years older than me, so it was kind of like I was an only child as well. I was only two-years-old when my parents purchased our house and moved in, although I’m pretty sure that Devin has lived in his house for his entire life.

My parents said they purchased the house partly due to the fact that it had four bedrooms, and now my brother and I would no longer have to share a room. It was more than a little awkward for my brother, since I was a toddler and he was almost a teenager, and this should help to alleviate the problems that it caused.

My mom and dad wanted a house that had plenty of land for us kids to play and do other things, and this one filled the bill perfectly. It also worked out great for my brother and sister, since my brother was able to go off on his own when he got older and my sister got to have a cat as a pet. Since I was still so young, however, my parents wouldn’t let me go outside unless one of them was there to supervise me, but this was about to change when I started school.

I got on the bus that first morning, found an open seat, and sat down. When Devin got on the bus a few seconds later, he looked around briefly and then walked back to where I was sitting.

“Can I sit here?” he asked while pointing at the open space next to me.

“Yeah, you can if you want.”

“Thanks, I’m Devin,” he said after he sat down. “I’ve seen you before and you live in the house down the road from me, doncha?”

“Yeah, I do. I’m Mickey.”

“Like Mickey Mouse?”

“Yeah, but my real name is Michael. That’s my dad’s name too, but we got different middle names. My mom calls him Mike and they both call me Mickey so we don’t get confused.”

“How come they don’t just call you Mikey?”

“My mom said it’s because it still might be confusing. She thinks the teachers and other kids will prob’ly call me Mike or Michael when I’m at school, but it’s also because she likes the name Mickey better than Mikey.”

“Oh, ok. Do you got any brothers or sisters, cuz I don’t got any?”

“Yeah, I’ve got a brother and a sister too.”

“Are they on this bus with us?”

“Nah, they rode on the first bus, cuz they’re both older than me and go to a different school.”

We continued chatting until we reached our destination, and then one of the aides met us when we got off the bus so she could show us the way to our classroom. Our teacher was Mrs. Hodgkins and she told us to choose one of the chairs that were located beside the two long tables and then sit down. Devin and I sat next to one another again, and once all of the other kids had arrived, she took attendance so she could see if anyone was absent. While she was doing this, she was also learning our names, and that’s when Devin and I found out each other’s last names as well.

“Michael MacPherson,” she called out and I raised my hand.

“That’s me, but my parents call me Mickey.”

“Ok, then I’ll call you Mickey as well,” she concurred, and then she made a notation next to my name on the class list.

“Devin McCaskill,” she called next, and Devin raised his hand.

As our teacher called the rest of the roll, I whispered to Devin.

“Our last names are almost the same.”

“Yep, cuz they both start with m-c.”

“No, mine starts with m-a-c.”

“Oh, ok, but that’s still pretty close.”

“Yeah, it is.”

Throughout school, whenever we had to do things alphabetically Devin and I always ended up standing in line with me in front and Devin behind me, which only cemented our budding friendship. We even looked alike, since we both had brown hair and brown eyes, but I was a little taller than Devin. As we interacted, we continued to grow even closer.

That Christmas we each got a bicycle as a present and then we immediately began begging our parents to let us ride them to each other’s house. They wouldn’t let us do it at first, mainly because it was winter and there was snow and ice on the road, but we finally got them to agree by late spring. It may sound strange that our parents would allow two five-year-olds to ride their bikes on the road, but it was due to the fact that we lived on a secondary road that didn’t have much traffic.

When our parents finally agreed to let us do this, they gave us two warnings. The first was to listen for cars that might be coming in either direction, and the second was to be careful of the ditch that was located next to the road and on the same side as our houses. It was quite deep in some places and we would probably get hurt and wreck our bikes if we accidentally drove into it. After we agreed to those conditions, we were able to ride back and forth between our houses, although our moms watched us the first few time to make certain we were following the rules.

From that moment on, we ended up spending nearly all of our time together at one house or the other, so it seemed as if we were always together. Our parents even let us have sleepovers on the weekends and on holidays. We even got to take baths together, and like most kids our age, we were fascinated with each other’s penis, or pee-pee as we called them at the time. We would even touch them and then giggle, and this also helped to cement the bond between us.

After school let out for summer vacation, I was horrified when Devin shared some information with me.

“I’ll be going away with my parents at the end of July,” he announced.

“For how long?”

“Two weeks.”

“That long?”

“Yeah, my dad’s family owns a cabin in the mountains and we stay there for two weeks at the end of July every year.”

“What do you do there?”

“There’s nothing close by, so we just stay at the cabin, go on hikes in the woods, and my dad also takes me fishin’ and huntin’ with him.”

“Does he let you do those things too?”

“He let’s me fish, but not hunt. I just walk with him while he’s huntin’, but it’s still pretty fun. It’s kinda like goin’ to camp, ‘cept we’re the only ones there.”

I was hoping he would ask me to go with him, but I guess his parents wanted to spend the time alone as a family, so I ended up staying at home. My parents told me later that I moped around the house the entire time Devin was away and there was nothing they could do to cheer me up or distract me.

Things got better as soon as Devin returned and we instantly took up where we’d left off. It was almost as if he’d never been away, except for the feelings of loneliness that I’d endured while he was gone.

Devin and I were in the same first grade class that fall and we sat at desks next to one another. Unfortunately, by Halloween the teacher made us move our desks to opposite sides of the classroom because she said we were spending too much time talking to each other and not paying attention to her. We still got good grades, but she said we were distracting the rest of the class and it was affecting the other kids so they weren’t doing as well as they could.

When school ended for Christmas break, we even got to stay over with one another again. We were still fascinated with each other’s penis, but we stopped touching the other’s penis in the tub because one of our moms was always there. Instead, we’d play with each other’s penis once we were alone in bed, and this was way better because we didn’t have to worry about what our moms would say.

When Christmas vacation ended and we returned to school, Devin and I talked to our teacher about moving next to one another again.

“We promise we won’t talk as much this time. Please?” I begged.

After several minutes with both of us conjoling her to agree, she finally gave in and let us try this one more time. We were thrilled, but unfortunately it didn’t last very long, because she ended up moving us apart again before Easter. I guess we were just so used to being together that we didn’t realize how much we were talking to each other.

As soon as school ended, I began dreading the fact that Devin would be leaving soon.

“Are you going away with your parents again?”

“Yeah, I told you we do it every year.”

“Yeah, but I was hopin’ you weren’t goin’ to do it this summer.”

I also thought maybe he might talk his parents into letting me go with them this time, but it didn’t happen and the two weeks we were apart were even worse than the year before. My mother tried everything she could think of to distract me. She even offered to invite one of my other school friends to the house and even offered to pick them up and take them home afterward. That didn’t work, though, because I told her I didn’t have any other friends besides Devin.

She didn’t give up, though, and offered to drive me to the park so I could play, and I reluctantly agreed. Regrettably, that didn’t turn out any better or help me very much either, so we returned home and my mom let me brood until Devin returned.

As soon as I saw Devin’s parent’s car drive by, I rushed into the house and asked permission to go see him.

“Ok, but just be careful,” my mom said with a grin. I knew this meant she was relieved that I was going to be myself again.

I don’t think I have ever ridden my bike that fast between our two houses as I did that afternoon. After hopping off, I raced up to speak with Devin as he was helping his parents unload the car.

“Man, I’m sure glad you’re back. Did you have a good time?”

“Yeah, it was about the same as last year, but it was still fun.”

“I’m glad, but I’m happy that you’re back now.”

When school started that fall, Devin and I quickly discovered that the teachers had decided to split us up this year and assigned us to different classrooms for second grade. When we asked why we couldn’t be together, we were told it was because we spent far too much time hanging out with each other and didn’t bother to get to know the other students in our class. We were told that it was also due to the fact that we spent too much time talking to one another and not paying attention in class. They felt this would be better for us and help the other students as well.

It turned out to be a terrible year for me, and Devin seemed to feel the same way. Even though I tried to spend time with some of the other kids, I didn’t really get along as well with any of them as I did with Devin. My grades slipped a little too and I didn’t do as well in class as I usually did, and I think it was because I felt so alone.

Since we both were so depressed about being split up, our parents started letting us have a sleepover every other Friday during the school year. We would alternate whose house we stayed at, but it didn’t really matter. We were just happy to be spending time together again. It also made us feel a little better about not being in the same class, but it still wasn’t as good as before.

Whenever we slept over with each other, we continued playing with each other’s penis when we were in bed, although now we were calling them wieners. We even started to rub them and the little sac that hung below them and it felt great. I wished we could do that every night, but I never asked Devin if he felt the same way.

When school got out for the summer, I asked Devin a question.

“I s’pose you’re going away for two weeks again?”

“Yeah, you know my family always does that.”

“Yeah, I know,” I agreed, but I still wasn’t happy about it. It also didn’t stop me from being extremely excited when he returned at the end of the two weeks.

I was thrilled a month later when I discovered that Devin and I were going to be in the same third grade class that year. We even tried our best not to talk to each other as much so the teachers wouldn’t split us up the following year, but we weren’t sure if it worked. We both thought we did better and our grades improved, but now we’d have to wait and see if the teachers felt the same way.

When school let out for summer vacation, I didn’t even bother asking Devin if he was going away again. I just knew he was and there wasn’t anything I could do about it, so I tried to put it completely out of my mind. I watched a lot of cartoons and other shows on TV until he got back, and then we carried on as we normally did with each other.

“I hope we’re in the same class this year,” Devin said just before school started.

“Yeah, me too. I don’t like it as much when we’re not together.”

We were now in fourth grade and in the same classroom again, so we were thrilled. However, this year I decided the name Mickey was too childish for me to use any longer, so I told Devin I was going to ask the teacher and the other kids to start calling me Mick instead. Devin looked at me funny when I told him this.

“Mick sounds too much like the start of my last name, so I’ll just call you Mac instead.”

“Ok, that’s not bad either and I’ll shorten your name and just call you Dev from now on.”

“Ok, that’s fine with me.”

On the weekends, we started doing even more when we were rubbing each other’s penis. We’d discovered that if we rubbed them a certain way it would make us tingle down there, so we were doing it longer before we went to sleep. I thought the feeling was incredible, and I think Devin felt that way too.

On one of the weekends that Devin was staying over at my house, we got into a huge fight.

“You should have people stop calling you Mick.”

“Why?”

“Because after you got off the bus the other day, one of the other boys told me that his dad said Mick is a slang word for an Irishman, and it’s doesn’t have a nice meaning.”

“That doesn’t matter. I’m Scottish.”

“But he said even using the name Mick is making fun of the Irish.”

“No, it isn’t!” I shouted back.

We continued to argue until my parents came to stop our squabble, and then they made us watch a movie with them until we settled down. It happened to be Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, and not only did it help us to end our fight, but we got really interested in the movie as well.

“That’s what I want to do when I get older,” Devin stated after the movie ended.

“You mean you want to be an astronaut?”

“I don’t know. Maybe. But I want to be able to help get people into space so they can meet people from other planets.”

“So you don’t want to go yourself, but you want to make it possible for others to go.”

“Yeah, that’s what I want to do when I grow up.”

I thought that was pretty interesting, so I was thinking about it as we went to bed, instead of dwelling on the argument we had earlier.

It wasn’t long after school ended for the summer when Devin left on his yearly trip. Once again I didn’t ask him about it, and he didn’t mention it to me either. He just gave me a big hug the night before he left and told me he’d see me in two weeks.

When he returned home at the end of the two weeks, he seemed a little different, but I didn’t know why I felt that way. There was just something about him that wasn’t the same, although I couldn’t put my finger on why I felt this way. However, it didn’t stop us from enjoying the rest of the summer together.

It seemed that it had paid off that we’d tried not to talk to one another while we were in the same class the previous year. Even though we were moving up to middle school, we soon discovered we were in the same group for fifth grade. We’d have different teachers this year, one for math, another for science, another for language arts, and one more for social studies, but we would be moving to those classes together. Not only were Devin and I thrilled about this, but there was another difference as well. This year we were going to have a couple of male teachers, Mr. Gallo for math and Mr. Thurlow for social studies, and we related better to the male teachers. We still liked the female teachers we had, and we got good grades in every class, but we did the best in math and social studies.

Our parents also let us stay over together on every other weekend and during the longer holidays, and our playing with each other’s penis rose to a new level, but now we were calling them dicks. And whenever we rubbed them, our penis would often get stiff and the tingling would feel even stronger, so we did it more often. Not only would we do it before we went to sleep, but we’d also do it in the morning after we went back to our bedroom after eating breakfast. It was wonderful.

As soon as school ended for the year, I began to mentally prepare myself for Devin leaving on his yearly trip, but this time he had a surprise for me.

“My dad says I can invite you to go with us this year,” he announced, which caused me to start dancing around in joy.

“Really?”

“Yeah, I’ve asked him every year if I could invite you, and this time he finally said ‘yes’. He just said you have to get your mom and dad’s permission to go with us.”

“Ok, I’ll do that tonight. If they say yes, what will I have to bring with me?”

“Just your clothes and toothbrush, cuz my dad said he’ll take care of everything else. You’re gonna love it there and I can’t wait to show you around.”

“I can’t wait either!”

“If your parents agree to let you come with us, then you’ll have to stay at our house on Friday night, because we always leave really early on Saturday morning.”

“Yeah, that sounds great. I’m sure my mom and dad will let me go with you guys, cuz I’m sure they’ll think it’s better than puttin’ up with me moping around and bein’ kinda grumpy while you’re gone.”

He giggled. “Ok, you can tell me what they say tomorrow.”

As soon as I got home, my mom told me to wash up for dinner. I didn’t argue and did it immediately, because my dad wasn’t home yet. However, later when we sat down to eat, I told them what Devin had said.

“So can I go with them? Please? Pretty please?”

“Are you sure Mr. McCaskill said this was all right and it’s not just Devin’s idea?” my dad asked.

“Yeah, I’m sure! Devin told me his dad said it was ok with him, as long as you and mom agreed it was all right with you.”

“Ok, you can go then. I’ll give Mr. McCaskill some money to pay for the food you’ll be eating, because he shouldn’t have to pay for that too.”

“Yippee and thanks. I love both of you.”

I then raced up to my room to get ready. I was going to pack everything in my backpack, but then my dad came in carrying a small duffle bag.

“Here, you can use this, because you’ll have to take more clothes with you for a two-week stay than will fit into your backpack. And your mom told me to tell you to take enough underwear and socks so you can put on a fresh pair of each every day. Put your clothes in the duffle bag and you can put whatever else you’re taking with you in your backpack. You might need that for when you go on hikes.”

“Ok, and I’ll take a bunch of shorts and shirts too, but I’ll wear my hat.”

“And pack a couple pairs of jeans and a jacket as well, because you might also need those things, especially since you’re going to be in the mountains. Maybe you should also pack your swimsuit.”

“Yeah, ok. I didn’t think about any of those things.”

“You can also wear your athletic shoes on the way there and when you’re inside the cabin, but I’ll have your mother take you to the sporting goods store tomorrow so she can buy you a pair of hiking boots. You’ll probably need those when you’re out on the trails.”

“Ok and thanks.”

I couldn’t believe my parents were being so good about this, but then again my mom was probably going to be a lot happier without having to put up with a grumpy kid until Devin returned. It definitely works for me too!

Mom took me to Sports Plus to buy my hiking boots, but the clerk talked her into buying me a pair of hiking shoes instead. They weren’t that different from my athletic shoes, except for the treads, because they had hard cleats to improve my footing on rough terrain. Although I was expecting to wear boots that would come up higher on my legs, this was going to be much better and I ended up getting a pair of Northside Gamma hiking shoes.

I was really excited when my dad got home so he could drive me to Devin’s house. He had to take me because I couldn’t ride my bike there, since the duffle bag was really heavy and would throw me off balance. I also couldn’t walk to Devin’s house because the bag was too heavy for me to carry all the way there, so this was the best way for me to get there. Besides, my dad wanted to talk to Devin’s dad and give him the money, because he was afraid I might lose it.

Once everything was taken care of, Devin and I hung out together until it was time to go to bed. His dad wanted us to go to sleep early, but we were so excited about doing this that it actually took a couple of hours before we drifted off. That was ok, though, because Devin told me we’d be able to sleep in the car on the way there.

That’s exactly what we did too. After we got up and loaded our gear in their SUV, we only went a short way before stopping for breakfast. Once we’d filled our bellies and got back in the car, Devin and I fell asleep leaning against one another. We were nearly to the cabin when we finally woke up, and that probably kept us from driving Devin’s parents crazy asking questions such as ‘are we there yet?’ and ‘how much farther is it?’

I thought the cabin was pretty nice, seeing they only used it for two weeks out of the year, but then I found out that his grandfather and his grandfather’s brother used the cabin too. The cabin also had a well and running water, and there was a generator that provided electricity. They also had an indoor toilet that was hooked up to a septic tank, which I was thrilled to see. I was worried they might have an outdoor toilet or that I’d have to poop in a bucket while I was there. The bathroom also had a shower that we would get to use as well.

While Devin was taking me around the cabin, he showed me that it had two bedrooms. There was one for Devin’s parents and another one for Devin and me, and I was thrilled that I wouldn’t have to sleep alone. There was also a small kitchen and dining area, as well as a common room with a fireplace. There was also a bearskin rug on the floor that was about a yard (meter) in front of the fireplace and between the fireplace and the sofa and other chairs. I thought the rug was kinda scary, because they’d left the claws and head on it too, which made me feel that it was looking at me and getting ready to attack.

Now that Devin had shown me around the cabin, we helped his mom and dad unload the SUV before we had lunch. There were a lot of boxes and coolers with food in them, and after we finished Devin asked his parents if he could take me out for a hike so he could show me around there too. They said it would be fine and reminded him to be careful, so we went to change our shoes first. As soon as we were ready, we grabbed a bottle of water to take with us and set out on our little adventure.

“You’re gonna love it out here. I’ll take you on one of the easier trails first, and then I’ll show you the lake. It’s stream fed and my grandpa stocked it with fish years ago, but there’s still plenty of fish for us to catch. My dad taught me how to clean and scale the fish after we hooked ‘em, and then my mom fixes the fish we catch for us to eat.”

“Will your dad teach me how to do that stuff too?”

“Sure, if you want to learn. I think he’ll be happy that you want to do it too.”

“Ok, then I’ll ask him when we go fishin’.”

We continued walking and chatting for a while when Devin suddenly stopped and grabbed my arm so I’d stop too. When I looked to see what was wrong, he was staring straight ahead of us, so I did the same thing. That’s when I spotted a mountain lion, which is also referred to as a cougar, and it was standing directly in our path. It was staring at us and then it began to snarl and bare its teeth.

The muscles in my body immediately stiffened and I froze in place. I was totally unable to move, which turned out to be both good and bad for me. It was good because I thought I was going to crap my pants and now my muscles wouldn’t allow that to happen, and it was bad because I was unable to run away.

I was trying to think of what I was going to do when I heard a loud growl coming from next to me. It was different than the sound the mountain lion had made, and that’s when I saw movement off to my left out of the corner of my eye. Because I was unable to turn my head, I was only able to see a mass of black fur, and then I realized the fur was similar to the fur on the bearskin rug in the cabin. This was no rug, however, and the fur belonged to an enormous black bear that was standing on its hind legs right next to me.

As I used my peripheral vision to glance at it, the bear appeared to be focused only on the mountain lion. That’s when another thought crossed my mind, as I wondered what had happened to Devin. He had been standing beside me on my left when this first happened, but now that’s where the bear was located. The problem was that I couldn’t remember him letting go of my arm after he stopped me, so what happened to him and where is he now?