Walking in Circles - 19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

What time is it? Ugh, I need to buy an alarm clock, wait where’s my phone? Oh yeah, the other side table. 7am. I should get up, they’re delivering the cabinets and shelves today at some point. I just hate the way they do business, ‘we’ll be delivering the merchandise between 9am and 5pm’. Seriously?

I can smell the coffee brewing, so I can get right in the shower without going to the kitchen. I swear I just figured out how to program that thing, and to be honest, I wasn’t sure I did it correctly. I think I want to give a call to the guy who owns the property around the cove. As soon as I get dressed and have my coffee I will see what he is planning to do with the property. I think it’s fair to say I am definitely interested in the idea of owning the cove. I am also, however, fearful of the possible feelings I might have. If I am truly honest with myself, the desire to own it outweighs any other feelings.

For the third time in, technically, an hour, I’ve checked and haven’t gotten a call or text from Steve. I can actually see myself and believe I am walking a fine line with him. I do have strong feelings for him, but I also know that no matter what he seems to want, most likely he does not. Therefore, I need to keep the distance between my feelings and my thoughts. I am not going to check again today.

Coffee in hand curtains open, morning sun and a wonderful apartment. What more can I ask for. “Hello, is Mr Carlson available? Hello, my name is Zach Holland, are you familiar with my name? That is correct sir, I am the one who was found in Lake Champlain, you have a great memory I see. I understand, I can wait till after Mrs Carlson finishes shaving your beard. I will wait patiently for your call.”

Well, that went well. Maybe he was just trying to get me off the phone, maybe he was about to get his throat cut by his wife because he was talking to me while she’s trying to shave him. I suppose I’ll have to wait and see.

I am going to try drawing some of what I did at the cove and what I might want to do if I buy it. At least that would help me decide if I want to continue to pursue it.

I have made at least 20 sketches about the cove. In one of those, I had drawn the building of the boat. It occurred to me that the drawings I looked at, from Sean, were indeed my own. It just seems so entirely astonishing that I cannot differentiate between the two. I need to remember to take these to Dr Stiene when I go on Monday. We agreed to take this weekend off. I will see what else I come up with later.

Where did I put my phone, it sounds like it’s coming from the kitchen, shit, got it, “Hello?”

“Is this Mr Holland?”

“Yes, sir, I am. And thank you for calling me back, I take it your neck is in one piece?”

“Well, I think she tried to put me out of my misery, but she failed again. May I call you, Zach?”

“I would like that very much.”

“Fine, and you can call me Norm. Zach, I will be frank with you. I had a couple gentlemen stop by about a month ago, asking lots of questions about you. I am inclined to think you would be asking me the same questions.”

“Not exactly, Norm. I actually have a condition called PTSD, are you familiar with that condition at all?”

“Well Zach, let me put it to you this way, I fought for the United States Military in Vietnam, I can assure you I know quite a bit about PTSD.”

“I would bet good money that you do then, Norm. I definitely want to thank you for your service keeping our country safe, so that people like me can feel sorry for ourselves about things that in the long run I am sure sound trivial.”

“Zach, I have been around the block more than once, I can respect the hardships from the perspective of a citizen. I do not take part in minimizing the pain others feel.”

Norm, my PTSD, I have recently learned, started the day my parents died from a head on collision that I witnessed from the back seat, I was a 10. To make matters worse, my fathers sister had taken me into her home expecting to have control over my inheritance and the life insurance money. The lawyers saw to it that she only had a small payment for my burden each month. Her son, my older cousin is in prison now for child molestation, and is widely believed that he had done the same to me as well. Only since I have come out from the coma, after they pulled me out of the lake, have I found that I had been creating alternate versions of reality in order to protect myself.”

“Norm, one these lead me to believe I had been stranded in some unknown woods and possibly had someone after me. I set up a place to fortify myself till I could build a boat and escape.”

“That would be the cove on my property I assume.”

“That is correct sir. In the past few months I have begun putting the pieces back together. But all along I have had a special place in my heart for that cove.

“Son, after I got back from the war, I had found myself lost in those very same woods. At times, completely believing I was still in Vietnam fighting an enemy that wasn’t there. My wife to be, found me and lead me to her father. He had fought in WWII and immediately recognized my symptoms, because he had been through it as well. Over time, I grew to love his daughter and asked him for permission to marry her.”

I literally have tears rolling down my cheeks. “Norm, I’m calling because I know beyond anything else, I want to buy those woods from you. I don’t know what it’s worth, but I would love to see if we could agree on something.”

“Zach, my boy, I could have sold that land a hundred times a hundred by now, but I never wanted just anybody to have it. My wife and I live just down the way from there in Burlington. Why don’t you come on out to see us? Bring your check book.”

“When would be good for you Norm?”

“What are you doing tomorrow Zach?”
“I think I am going to Burlington if it’s ok with Mrs Carlson.”

“Excuse me, Zach is it?”

Oh my God, she sounds so sweet! “Yes ma’am, that’s correct.”

“I want you to hear what I’m saying to you, so listen closely. Norm doesn’t take kindly to strangers. He would just as well cross the street than take the chance of having to stop for a chat. If Norm is asking you to come here for a visit, I am not one to step in the way of that. He heard something in you, enough to make him want to meet up with you. Here’s what I am suggesting, you get in your car from wherever you are and drive straight to our home. We have plenty of room for you overnight and I expect you to stay for dinner and breakfast.”

“Yes, ma’am, I will do just that.” She had me write down their address and we said our goodbyes.

MapQuest says it’s about a 4 hour drive, so if I want to miss some traffic, I’ll leave here by 7am. I am excited about my trip and my phone just rang the delivery guys are downstairs. Not too bad I suppose, just before noon, but could you give a brother a closer time frame?

I met them at the elevators, and was pleased to find 2 very muscular young guys about my age carting everything in for me. They kept smirking at each other making me wonder if I am their inside joke. At one point while I was trying to decide how to organize the cabinets and shelves I caught them eyeing the drawings of Albert. The taller one jabbed the shorter in the ribs. “Hey guys, what do you think of my art?”

“Sorry Mr Holland, I was pointing out to Collin,” the shorter one, “that this guys, ah, penis, looks just like his.” Collin chuckled and blushed.

“You didn’t have to tell him that, Dave!”

“Obviously he wouldn’t be offended by that information, Collin.”

“Well maybe I didn’t want him to know how big my dick is, DAVE.”

“Hey, I am happy for you Collin, and maybe you could be a bit more Cautious when discussing the size of your friends cock, Dave.” They both chuckled with my choice of words. “Look guys, I am an artist, everything in here is mine. I do landscapes, architectural, Men, Women, clothed and unclothed. I love doing it. When you guys get off work today, if you’re interested in letting me draw you, just call me, I’ll be here organizing this.”

The two of them whispered a few words. “Actually, Mr Holland, this is our last delivery of the day. We are an independent contractor working for the store. We own our truck, so we can stay and help you move this stuff around, maybe like a barter?”

“You’re saying, you’ll help me get this stuff together if I give you one of my drawings?”

Collin spoke up this time. “Yes sir, that’s exactly what we are saying, except for one thing. We would want one for each of us. Two drawings to be exact “

“Guys, you have yourselves a deal. Have you eaten? I could order a pizza, I don’t drink alcohol, but if you want to get yourselves something I would be fine.”

“Nah, I got ordered to go to AA after I was arrested in a bar fight. So, it’s just better that I don’t.”

“Yeah, after Dave had his court problems I had to take on more of the business or the insurance alone would swamp us.”

“Very well, Soda it is.” We settled on toppings and 2 types of soda. I called for a delivery and it will be on its way.

The guys, aside from being jokesters, are actually very nice. They made the whole process of putting my studio together much more fun. We ate like pigs and I started short little sketches to show them how I basically put my drawings together. They seemed very interested in the techniques I used. I hadn’t heard from Steve all day, but I decided to give him a heads up that I had 2 models here for my art. Just so there would be no surprises. As the sun was setting I also decided not to close the curtains in case Steve gets home and wants to try to get a peek.

“Who wants to be first?”

“Dave, you go first.” Dave shrugged and took off all his clothes and tossed them towards the door. I chuckled, on the inside, at the difference between him and Albert.

Straight forward, he is one of the hottest thugs I’ve ever seen. I can see why women would flaunt themselves at him. He also seemed nervous, so I took the time to give them the speech I gave Albert. I had turned up the heat earlier so they would be comfortable with their clothes off and decided to have Dave sit in the kitchen on one of the bar stools. I had him lean on his elbow with his head on his hand. I turned his hat so the brim went behind his profile. “I’m going to move this hand so you’re grabbing your other bicep. Yep, like that. Here, let’s turn your body more so I can see more of your abs. I like that. Now you’re left leg should be on the rung with the heel resting high on the leg of the chair, yes. This leg should be kicked back so you’re on your toes on the back of the bar, uh huh. Ok Dave, don’t move anything, and don’t freak out. I am going to move your dick so it hangs off the stool behind your balls.” Dave closed his eyes until I had them situated. I saw him look at Collin who gave him an honest thumbs up. I could literally tell Dave relaxed more after that.

“Ok, you did good. How are you legs after holding that pose for half an hour?”

“It’s harder than it looks, that’s for damn sure. But, overall I’m good.”

Yes, you are..... Collin, where’d you go?”

I heard the toilet flush, “Coming.” He came out completely naked and Dave wasn’t kidding when he said his little buddy had a dick like Albert. Why didn’t god give me one like that?

“Collin, let me just say that you are absolutely perfect, just the way god made you. You have the whole package. And, Dave, you’re stunning to look at. I am enjoying this with both of you.”

Collin chuckled, “We know, we do have eyes.” And he looked down at the front of my sweats.

“I guess I’m busted.”

“That’s ok Mr H, we don’t mind if you like what you see.”

All I could do was blush. “Ok Collin, let’s get you on the ledge of the window on the corner.”

“Mr H,, can I be holding a book? I always wanted to look like one of those smart people in pictures.”

“Ok, yeah. Let me grab a few things.” I grabbed two pillows I tossed over by him. As I walked past him I handed him a Stephen King novel I picked up, and I grabbed a coffee mug from the kitchen. “Alright put this pillow under your butt, and put your feet on this one. Keep your knee up next to the window and extend the one by me, good. Here, balance the book against your knee with your window hand at the bottom of it, yep. Put your thumb in between the pages as if you’re holding the page as your reading. Now take your other hand and rest it on top of the cup, like you were just about to pick it up for a drink but you got too interested in the book to actually lift it, excellent. Now like I did with Dave, I’m gonna move your dick and your balls. I want to try laying your dick over your extended leg like that, very good. I think if we get your legs closer together we can get your balls to sit on top of them.”

“Shit dude, that’s hot as fuck!”

“Really?”

“Hell yes.”

“Collin, you look great, I just need you to stay like that for about a half an hour.”

About 10 minutes into the drawings he asked if he could turn the page, apparently he actually started reading it. We chuckled about that and I told him as long as he doesn’t change anything he can have Dave turn the page every now and then. Otherwise, Collin was fantastic.

“Guys, would you be willing to do a couple together?”

They both just kind of froze. “What do you want us to do?”

Collin looked annoyed, “Dave, what does it fucking matter? You know your gonna do it anyway. Yes Mr H, just tell us what you want.”

Good lord, where do I begin? “How about, are you willing to lay on my bed?” I wiggled my eyebrows and winked.

“Mr H, your bad. Come on Collin, Mr H wants a show.”

“Let’s do it.”

“Alright guys, I want you to be the way you normally are. Imagine your just hanging out with your friends acting bored. The two of you just happen to be naked. What would you think someone from your neighborhood would look like?”

They started by going downstairs. They looked all serious getting on the bed, the first thing Dave did was turn his phone on, and Collin said yep and turned his on too. Dave laid across the top of the bed against the headboard. Collin put his head on Daves bent knee. I got on the bed adjusted Dave’s cock so it laid on my pillow. I basically put Collin in the same position with one knee up, feet together the other knee on the bed. I laid Collin’s cock along his thigh. What cracked me up was neither one stopped looking at their phones while I did it.

My drawings were incredible. I went into the bathroom, when I came back out Dave was snoring and Collin was curled up. I went downstairs and turned off the lights and went back upstairs. When I crawled into bed I threw the covers around to make sure everyone got some. I also made sure I set my alarm for 6am on my phone.

I woke up in the night with Dave pressing his dick to my lips. Even sleepy I want to be a good host. So I opened my mouth to accept his request. He wasn’t very quiet about it, so it wasn’t a surprise when Collin sat up looking at me with his buddies cock in my mouth. He crawled closer on his knees and getting his dick close to my face. I let Dave’s dick flop out and I stretched my mouth around Collin’s monster cock. Then back up onto Dave’s.

What surprised me most was Collin taking Dave’s cock from me to suck for himself. I decided to see if Dave wanted to try my dick on for size. And did he ever. It became my pleasure to fuck his face with urgency. Before giving him my man juice I decided to see what Collin would do with it. He pushed me onto my side and backed his ass up to me. I used a bunch of spit on my fingers and spread it all around his asshole. I don’t know if Dave knew for sure what was happening, but he seemed content for the moment. As I forced past Collin’s ring I began pumping into his guts. I could tell he liked it by the way he backed up on it as I plunged in, and like a tuned up machine he pulled up as I readied myself for another plunge.

I think Dave guessed how far his friend was going with this, and Dave became braver. He moved Collin off of me and put himself in the middle. I spit lubed his asshole and worked past his hole. I could feel his dick slide into Collin and Dave started getting the best of both worlds. I didn’t think he would last long so I got down to the business of filling him up with my love juice. I was grinding into that ass to make sure he remembered me in the morning. I heard him tell Collin that he is cumming in his asshole and Collin grunt as he shot across my bed, right then I gave Dave everything from my balls.

We stayed like that panting till we could catch our breath, then we rolled to our other side and fell back asleep.

No idea how long it was, but we all got moving when my alarm went off. The boys picked out their drawings and they gave me their numbers. I looked through my phone after they had left and there was still nothing from Steve.

By 7:30 I had what I wanted packed and was on my way to Burlington. I put Robert’s Enigma CD in the Ram stereo and does it ever sound fantastic. I loaded 6 CD’s this morning for my trip, I also downloaded Pandora and SiriusXM on my phone. I think as far as music entertainment, I am all set.

Still can’t figure out how to, wait there it is, “Hello?”

“Hi Zach.”

“Well, hello Albert, is everything alright?”

“Yes, I was wondering if you wanted to paint today?”

“Awe, Albert, I am driving to Vermont as we speak. I should only be a couple of days, but we’ll figure out a time when I get back.”

“Be safe.”

“Thank you Albert.”

He really is a sweetheart, I’m wondering if he is autistic, or azbergers, or is that the same thing? I’ll ask Doc what the difference is. I also admit that I look forward to painting Albert. He is like those people you meet and you don’t really consider them to be ‘That’ attractive until you you see them in pictures, and your like, ‘have you ever been in a picture that doesn’t look like you’re a model?’ Albert is that guy.

My gas is fine, but I could use some coffee, I saw a sign that said they have a barista at the next rest area. I also need to pee, so it’s a win win. Surprisingly there is a ton of cars here, so I should be able to go in and get out quickly. I didn’t think much of this place from the parking lot, but on the inside it’s like a mini mall with a food court and a couple shopping stores. Heck, I even saw where you can pay to use the showers. If I think about it, it would make sense to give truckers a place to get cleaned up especially. I could see that being good for people are driving across the country as well.

I think I’ll hit the head first and then grab a coffee. The restroom is huge, there are about 20 urinals with about 8 stalls along one wall and about 20 sinks on the opposite wall. All of that in one room and another room on the other side of the sinks exactly like the first, just opposite. The first room had like 3 older guys at the urinals and the second had one very handsome, all be-it, young guy. He turned and looked as I entered. I chose one 2 down from him. I noticed he might be checking out my dick so I tried to check his out. As soon as I got just a slight chub, this young jock type went full hard-on. We already know how I respond to that. I start asking myself why I can’t just go into the bathroom and leave like everyone else? I mean, have I always been like this? I actually thought I was straight most of my life, but now I am really starting to wonder.

I only gently stroke my dick for this Mitch Gaylord type. He, on the other hand, is pounding on it for one purpose, get this done and be on his way. Here’s the thing. He didn’t see that I had my phone in my hand and it is on video, I am recording the whole thing. Mitch rushed to get my dick in his mouth for 3 seconds before we heard footsteps. Just as he stood I stuck my hand in front of his cock as he shot his cum into my palm. He wasted no time running out of there so I made for the last stall. As I sat down on the toilet I put my palm to my mouth and tasted that dude on my tongue. The rest I slathered my dick with to use as lube. It foamed up quickly, so I licked my hand to get some spit in it and taste a bit more. I brought up my new video and watched that jock while I taste and smell his sperm. Talk about going over the top, Damn, I shot all over the floor in front of me.

A fast clean up, and pee, got my coffee and I was back on the road. I want to think that I will slow down here soon. I think the whole Sean thing with my memory thing, maybe even the coma thing. I think that all has me even more horny than I would be. Granted, I am only 20, but there are guys my age with wives and children. I doubt they are as horny all the time as I am. One more thing to admit to Doc.

‘You have reached your destination on the left’. Wow, what a destination it is. I think they called these Victorian mansions. As soon as I pulled into the driveway, a still very classy looking elderly lady came out to direct me behind the house to a large parking pad. She moved slowly but not haunched or painfully, at least not obviously. After parking my truck in the desired spot, she stood patiently waiting for me to come out and introduce myself. “You must be Mrs Carlson. I am Zach Holland, I spoke with you on the phone.” I offered my hand and she lightly shook it.

“Hello Zach, this is a pleasure meeting you. Did you have to drive far?” She spoke as she directed me into a very ornate breezeway / sunroom.

“Yes ma’am, I drove up from Kingston, New York.” She is now guiding me the opposite way of the house, towards the garage.

“Zach, please call me Nina. I had a Cousin who lived in Kingston. It was a beautiful town back then.” She then went up a flight of stairs with ease. I have to say I hope to have her stamina at her age, I’m guessing 85ish. A door opened into a small, but quaint, apartment with a small kitchen, and a series of skylights. “You can bring your things in here. You’ll find clean sheets on the bed already, plenty of clean towels in the bathroom, should you want to shower. When you are settled come into the main house, we will probably be reading on the front porch. Feel free to take your time.”

“Nina, thank you for your hospitality, this is perfect. I only have one bag so I shouldn’t be long. Do you need any help getting down the stairs?”

She chuckled at that last comment, “Well if I did, we would need to move away from this house.” I joined her chuckle at the obvious.

As I made my way to the front porch I was struck by the very modern kitchen, then the drawing room with so much ornate woodwork. The wide staircase had gorgeous stain glass windows that took my breath away. The front door stood open and I found the Carlson’s with their iced tea and books on the porch. Norm stood and shook my hand. He seemed a bit more frail than Nina, but he still had quite a grip.

“So nice to meet you Norm.” He directed me to sit on a chair with a glass of tea in front of it.

“Do you like iced tea Zach?” Norm said pointing to the offered glass.

“Thank you, I definitely am thirsty from the drive. May I say, your home is simply stunning.”

Nina quickly chimed in, “It was my parents home, I grew up in this house, we raised our 2 children here as well. This has been the only place that I have lived.”

“That’s amazing, I don’t think you hear about people doing that much these days.”

Norm almost angrily barked, “No you don’t, especially not our ungrateful children.”

“Now Norm, stop that. They’re not ungrateful just because they don’t want to live in this house. The children move away so easily now. I guess they don’t think of the distance as such a burden to cross. I think they believe they can get here quickly if there’s an emergency, so that fear is gone.”

“Those kids would be late to their own funeral, get here quick for an emergency. We would be dead before they left their house.”

I couldn’t help but to smile at Norm. He sounds cranky and mean, but there’s a certain charm I hear in his voice. Nina smiled at me because she could see that I understand her husband like she does. “Why Norm, I can see you have made a new friend. Are you boys hungry? I’m going to make sandwiches and grab the iced tea pitcher. You two get to know each other better.” She said smiling brightly.

After she was gone, Norm tried to whisper, “I don’t know why she asks if we’re hungry if she’s just going to make something anyway.”

“I heard that you old goat!” Norm and I busted out laughing.

“I think Nina is incredible Norm. You were one lucky man.”

“Boy, you got that right. What she saw in me, I don’t think I will ever know, but I just couldn’t get enough of her.”

“I think I know what she saw. But, I don’t want to make your head get too big.”
Norm has a bright smile that just draws you into whatever he is saying. “Zach, tell me about the cove, if you don’t mind me asking.” Oh boy.

As I am trying to tell the story without the relationship with Sean, I found out nothing gets by Norm. He started asking direct questions about my relationship with him as Nina came back with sandwiches and more tea. Norm could see I was struggling with my words. “Young man, I have found the best way to deal with the truth is to be clear, even when we think the truth can be something offensive.”

And so, while we ate, I shared the whole story. I spared nothing, even though I cringed to think what small town folks like the Carlson’s would think of someone like me. My tears today felt more about the pain of telling the truth, than the actual truth. Norm had stayed silent and stone faced through the entire story. I couldn’t read him at all.

“Zach, I am curious, do you have the impression that small town people know nothing of these relationships?”

I am blushing fifteen shades of red, I think my ears are about to pop from my blood pressure. “I don’t think my fear comes from you not having an understanding of what I am, than what you may think of my moral judgment.”

“That is a well thought question. And, I would tend to agree the odds in a town like this would seem to be against you. In this house we have a different view than many others. I vaguely described how I met my Nina. But, I really didn’t tell you what I think you should know.” He made himself comfortable and handed me a pillow. “After I came back from the war I felt out of sorts. My senses were constantly in the mode of hyper vigilance. The tiniest look would set off overreactions that most people found threatened by. I didn’t feel I belonged in civil society and I would dare to say that civil society didn’t think I belonged either.”

Norm looked down his quiet street like he looked into the past. “I left to live alone in the woods, there was nothing left for me in society. I hunted and made myself a tiny cabin. One summer day there was a rain storm that had come in and I saw a young lady struggling to get her little sailboat turned around. One good thing, there weren’t any wind like you experienced kicking up the waves. The bad thing was there was no wind to push the boat. I swam out to her and pulled her boat to shore. I wasn’t the talking type so I just walked away from her as she was going on about the wind and the boat. I knew she was following me because she never stopped talking. I didn’t try to make her leave and I didn’t invite her along either. I figured that she’d probably get tired of me and be on her way. As I got to the cabin she was asking all kinds of questions about how I live and eat, even how I go to the bathroom. I didn’t even look at her, let alone answer any questions. The only thing I did was leave the door open. If she wanted to get out of the rain she was welcome to come in, but I wasn’t about to send out any special invitations. She must have stood out in the rain for the better part of an hour clambering on about killers and bears. Eventually she got brave enough to poke her head in the door. I had stoked the fireplace and had enough pine tea brewing for the both of us. She definitely was one of the prettiest girls I had seen, but I was in no way the man for her.”

Norm poured more tea in my glass and his, “I won’t say she annoyed me, in fact if anything she was entertaining. I didn’t know anyone could talk so much in such a short amount of time. She even tried to pretend I was answering her questions. She asked if I have lived here long, then answered, well long enough to build this cabin and everything thing in it. She caught me cracking a smile and she knew she had me. But, I wasn’t no where near giving in. No more than an hour went by when the rain stopped. There was even a noticeable breeze that came with the sun. She asked if I would help her get back to her boat, I just lead the way without any words. She just kept thanking me for helping her and giving her shelter, I think she even thanked me for bringing the sun out. I did push the boat out far enough for her to set her sail and then she was on her way. She turned to see me still watching her from the water and she waved. I wanted to wave back, but I didn’t want to start any kind of friendship with anyone.”

“Then almost a week later I heard a motorboat cut off near my beach. I worried about kids coming to cause me trouble, so I sneaked up to the beach. A well dressed man with an impressive hat stepped on shore. He looked around till he saw my trail. I stayed in the brush and watched as he skillfully made his way to my cabin. He knew not to approach the door without announcing his presence from a safe distance. I came around the corner and stood in the front. ‘I want to thank you for showing my daughter kindness to get out of the rain. I don’t want to bring any attention to you from the town and I have made sure my daughter will not share her story with anyone else either. I would like to offer you a proposal.’ I didn’t believe he would have any kind of proposal that I would be interested in. But, as I’ve said already, I wasn’t speaking to anyone. I was starting to get a sense of where his daughter got her desire to talk so much came from. ‘I own this land you are living on. And everything you can see on this side of the lake in both directions. Even if you turn down my proposal, you are welcome to stay as long as you don’t cause any trouble. My proposal is two fold. I used to enjoy hunting when I was a lad. But, I haven’t hunted for sport in a long time. My son has become lazy and entitled. I would like to bring him here to hunt with us on the weekends. Once the summer is over I will give you a piece of my land as payment. Nobody would be able to take it from you.’ He definitely had my attention but I already knew the catch. There was never going to be a transfer of property because I won’t be able to be civil. ‘Let’s start off slower, I personally will come here Friday afternoon and plan to stay until Sunday. You and I will fish and hunt together if you allow me to stay with you in your cabin.’ I spoke up for the first time. ‘This is all I have, you probably would be more comfortable staying in your home.’ He stood his ground. ‘Son, you aren’t the first person I’ve met coming back from war. I survived WWII and had many problems with life at home. What I am offering will help me to be able to talk openly and maybe even help you do the same. But, I think you and I will simply call it hunting together.’ “

“Zach I couldn’t say no to him.” I had chills listening to him tell me a dark secret about a dark time.

“That Friday I heard the motor cut off as he landed his boat. I watched from the rocks on the far side of the beach as he tied his boat to a tree. With out even looking at me he said we should start at the cabin. He had quite the back pack, probably from his time at war. I followed him to the cabin and he stood where he had just two days before. ‘Would you like to come in?’ Zach I thought I would be sick just saying it. ‘I would, thank you. But, before I do I want to introduce myself. I am Donald Worthington, and you are?’ I thought about making up a name, but I knew he wouldn’t have believed me ‘Norman Carlson, at your service, sir.’ And then he entered as I followed. We spent the day gathering berries and fresh water. We drank tea and I showed him the latrine. As we settled for the night I insisted he take my bed and I’d take the floor. He shared heart felt stories of his childhood and his friends. He told me honorable stories of friends he made and lost in the war. I stayed attentive and awake, but very silent.”

“The next day we set spring traps and I made him a bow and arrow set like mine. We managed to take down a large buck. He showed me how he learned to clean it and we ate well. As the day progressed he shared a story I couldn’t ignore. It was about a special friend he made during the war. The two of them became inseparable. They would lay down their lives to save anyone from their troop against the enemy, but the two of them would lay down their lives against their own troop for each other. You see, they shared a love for each other. They dreamed of running away to live out their lives together. Don actually shed a tear when he told about the day his love died. He said he died on that battlefield with him. Don spent the rest of the war looking for a fight he would lose.”

I had tears running down my cheeks, “When Donald returned from the war he was broken. He knew he couldn’t tell anyone anything about his life. One day when he was feeling at his end, he turned a corner where a young lady was being man handled by group of 3 rough riders. He approached them and took them on allowing her to escape. He received quite a beating but he gave one as well. He fought them so well that one of them lost his life that day. The others were sent away to prison and he faced charges for murder. The young lady and her father came to his defense and he was set free. Part of his freedom was to be based on his working for the young ladies father building furniture. His daughter came everyday to bring him food and gifts. Still he didn’t feel worthy. He started to let some of his coworkers have their way with him just to remind himself of the love he lost and why he would never be with that girl. She noticed the way a particular handsome worker would treat him. She seemed to understand that even though he mocked Don and pushed him around, that his eyes betrayed him. On one of his days off from the factory, he was working at her fathers home. The young lady told him what she saw and quickly gave him an offer he couldn’t refuse. She insisted that he marry her and give her the children she’s always wanted. In return she would keep his secret.”

I found myself feeling sick over the torture Donald must’ve gone through. “Excuse me boys, dinner is ready.”

“We’ll be right in, Nina.” Norm turned to me. “I have a boat down at the docks. I want you to show me your cove tomorrow and I will continue my story then.” He lead me to the dining room where we had a wonderful dinner with the girl of his dreams.

As I lay down in the guest house my head began dreaming of Donald in the war.