It seems a long time ago now, the legendary long hot summer of '76.
The country basked in endless sunny days without a cloud in the sky, hose-pipes were banned and the grass died whilst the TV broadcasted messages about saving water and showed clips about empty reservoirs with dry cracked mud and old drowned villages accessible once more.
I had just finished school, had turned eighteen and wondering what the future held. I absolutely had no idea what to do – except that I knew what I wasn't going to be.
I was not going to be a teacher, not in any lifetime; I had had enough of classrooms and looking at the dead look in the eyes of a middle aged man recounting endless drivel that had no use to kids who had little interest in learning it.
I had no intention of turning into that middle aged man with leather arm patches.
I didn't want to work in a boring office like my father, shuffling paper covered in figures. I might work in retail or industry – except that I didn't want to be a salesman paid in a competition against my colleagues. Other than that, my prospects were an empty book.
I remember the ride on the school bus every day, now finished. I had been regularly distracted from my dilemmas by Adele, a pretty girl from my village who shone with golden blonde hair and a ready smile. Silently every day I had gazed on the waves of radiant locks, never having the courage to start a conversation although she lived in my street; indeed our gardens overlooked each others'.
Adele had always sat in the same seat on the bus, in front of me and alongside her friend Julie. Julie was somewhat plumper and had developed breasts somewhat earlier - to the excitement of the rest of the village boys. However it was Adele, the more athletic of the two who always had my attention. At school she had been a member of the hockey team and did wondrous things to a pair of tight white shorts.
Hmm, happy memories...
She was in the same year as me so like myself, she would be considering her future. I knew that her parents were hoping for her grades to be sufficient to go to university, escape the village and make something of her life.
A regular entertainment for us village kids was to swim at the pil. No 'Proms' were held in those days; we entertained ourselves.
We lived on the coast and 'pil' (pronounced 'pill') was a local word, meaning a gully where a stream had cut a deep path across the flat muddy grassland of a local estuary as it joined the sea. Our village was on the side of a steep hill overlooking the estuary, where the tides were notorious and could flow faster than any of us could swim.
For this reason we would only go there when the tide was incoming so that we would not be swept out to sea but instead we'd eventually end up safely on dry land.
One Saturday morning, knowing that the tide was suitable and that several of my friends would be there, I wore my swimsuit under my jeans and strolled down the hill to the pil. It was conveniently near to an old wartime gunnery range platform which provided a raised area out of the incoming tide with a safe track back to the village.
The tide had ebbed but was now starting to come in, perfect. The others were gathering and I saw Adele wearing a green one-piece costume that showed off her hair shining in the sunshine, long slim legs and her bright smile. I had known her for many years of course but now I saw that womanhood had at last blossomed and a firm pair of breasts had developed along with widening hips.
I stripped off my jeans and T shirt and jumped into the stream, which had steep muddy sides. The seawater was cold despite the sultry weather but as there was no option but to jump straight in – which avoided the bracing shoulder-duck, I quickly became adjusted to the temperature. After a while the tidal current picked up and we had races, challenging each other to see how long we could swim between two points before being swept backwards onto a beach where we could climb out to run back and start the fun again.
Afterwards we lay down talking in the sun on the grass bank of the gunnery platform.
One by one the others drifted away and disappeared along the track until only a couple were remaining. I realised that I had forgotten a towel and anything to change into, so I decided to stay until I dried out enough to put my jeans back on. I closed my eyes and dozed off.
When I woke I found that Adele was lying close by, still wearing the green swimsuit. Her eyes were shut against the blazing sun. As we faced the sea we were hidden from the land, seemingly alone in the world. All the others had left.
I checked out her slim body with young breasts bursting against the cheap skin-tight material,the outlines of her nipples clearly defined. I noticed that a wisp of blonde pubic hair had escaped from the side of the swimsuit where it was cut high around the thighs. Fascinated by this sign of sexuality, my world went suddenly quiet.
As I watched the hairs fluttering in the breeze I noticed that her eyes had opened and she was watching me as I studied her crotch with its slight groove disappearing into the shadowy cleft. I blushed but she made no attempt to clamp her legs together as I expected, nor to snap abuse at me. Instead she put her hands behind her head and looked up at the clear blue sky, where a jet liner passed silently high above leaving a trail of white vapour scarring the clear deep blue.
Slowly I saw the thighs separate even more to allow me a clearer view of the mound of her pussy.
After a while she stood, quickly pulled on her clothes over her costume and with a single word "Bye" strolled off towards the village along the track.
* * *
At that time my parents were building an extension to our house and I was expected to help with labouring jobs; shovelling, barrowing and carrying building materials.
A couple of days after that day of the swim we had a delivery of sand which was tipped from a truck into a massive pile blocking our driveway. Throughout the afternoon and evening I shoveled sand into a wheelbarrow and dumped it around the other side of the house.
As the light faded into dusk and I continued to shift sand I noticed bight lights switch on inside the bungalow across the street - where Adele lived. I could see clearly into a bedroom and Adele was inside, walking around the room alone.
I stood still for a moment, wondering if she could see me in the gathering gloom. As I watched, she removed her T shirt to show a white cotton bra. Then she stooped and when she stood upright I saw that she had also removed her jeans to reveal a pair of tight white cotton panties with a floral pattern. She was holding the jeans, which she tossed onto a chair.
She turned away, reached behind her back and unfastened her bra which she removed and also placed on the chair. She slowly (painfully slowly) turned to face the window, whilst I held my breath lest she notice me watching. She was showing to the world a pair of alabaster white breasts contrasting against the brown skin of the rest of her tanned body.
Her pink nipples were clearly visible as she walked around the room just wearing a pair of girl's panties on a woman's body.
The next moment she stood right in front of the window, held both arms wide apart without any consideration of her privacy, grasped the curtains in each hand and closed the curtains across her front and I could see no more.
* * *
The summer went on – and on. It seemed that the weather would never break. I found myself a job working in the stockroom of a large store in the nearby town while I figured what to do with my life.
Then one evening a couple of weeks afterwards I met a friend who said that the tides were about right for another gathering at the pil. The next weekend we all gathered again for a swim and as usual had races against each other and the tide.
