It's been awhile, like twelve years, but life got in the way and I never got the chance to follow up on my last installment though, incredibly, it was never far from my mind. I hope twelve years hasn't dimmed my memories or diminished my writing skills. For the most part, I can still close my eyes and fondly, or tearfully, remember those moments that changed my life and made me who I am. I wrote this by frequently closing my eyes and remembering those moments about which I still dream.
For those who haven't read them or have forgotten, you may have to read the previous stories to know how we got to this point. I'm a lot older, and perhaps a little sadder though I've had a good life, so please forgive if I venture off into a little melancholia and regret every now and then.
As the previous installment ended..."When we both had regained our composure he moved off the top of me and we once again lay down side by side. We stared at the ceiling, holding hands between us, while catching our breath. We then looked deeply at each other and kissed.
The night was still young, and before retiring, we decided to take that nighttime walk we had talked about. What might happen there?"
We laid there for a few minutes, it might have been ten, me on my back and Wayne on his side, till I felt Wayne's cum that was puddled on my chest and abdomen start to move and slide off my body. I looked around for something with which to clean up and, finding nothing nearby, deftly tried to cup my hands in the path of the "goo" as I stood and got a roll of paper towels from the drain board. As usual, and though I knew that I truly loved Wayne and the intimacy we shared, pangs of doubt and "middle class Christian guilt" tried to creep into my thoughts till I smothered them with few hits off the bong and loaded it up so Wayne could take a few hits as well.
I asked Wayne if he still wanted to take a walk and he asked,
"In the dark?"
I told him he'd be amazed at what he could see in the dark, even in only starlight up here, and that by the time we got outside we'd have some moonlight as well. I also had few flashlights, one for each of us, though I tried to avoid them except when absolutely necessary to navigate difficult terrain or to see what might be rustling in the bushes. I then rolled a few joints which I put in my daypack along with a small bottle of Almaden Mountain Nectar Vin Rose (it's the 70s...remember), a blanket, a tube of KY Jelly (I was prepared this time), and a few sheet s of paper towel.
We both got dressed in jeans, long sleeved thermal shirts, hiking boots and jackets. I put my waste length hair into a pony tail so it wouldn't blow in my face on our walk and out the door we went. We rounded the corner from the front door of the cabin, which faced north, uphill and into a dark cedar grove, and then turned left, left again, and walked down the hill toward the lake. Once clear of the trees and onto the flat next to the lake, we could see a gorgeous waning gibbous moon, about three quarters illuminated, rising in the open end of the canyon to the East. The beauty of the moment was overwhelming.
Once again I got that "giddy feeling", as described in my earlier story, that I get only in the company of men. Overcome by emotions once more, I turned to face Wayne, wrapped my arms tightly around his neck, and kissed him deeply. My tongue danced with his, I pulled him close, seemingly unable to hold him tight enough and not wanting to let him go. I then buried my face in his neck so he wouldn't see the tears forming in my eyes. Yes, HE had turned ME out but I was the one who had fallen and who knew that in our "white middle class Christian world" of the 1970's there was no conceivable long term future for us beyond our open friendship and secret trysts. With the darkness concealing the dampness in my eyes, I took his hand, turned to the right, and we headed up the trail toward the closed and dark end of the canyon. I reluctantly let go of his hand as the trail narrowed to a single wide path.
With the moon at our back providing just enough light, we walked along the shore of the pond and past the marshy area of reeds and cattails where the creek entered and spread into the wider body of water. Then we began to ascend slightly as the elevation began to rise into the darkness of forest canopy of oaks, pines, and cedars. There, we finally had to turn on our flashlights as the trail paralleled the creek and became narrow and difficult in places. Still continuing uphill, as we followed the creek upstream, the creek bed and the trail largely became a narrow passageway between cliffs of granite.
As we proceeded upstream, the gentle burbling sound of the stream began to be overwhelmed by a louder sound, more of a roar, and as our gaze and flashlights were largely directed downward to watch our footing I knew that Wayne did not yet know what it was. Finally, I climbed onto a large flat slab of granite, extended my hand to pull Wayne up behind me, and shined my light upstream. There, tumbling off a sheer rock face about 150 feet tall, was the most gorgeous waterfall . It fell (still falls) straight down till it glances off the wall of the rock face and finally ends in a calm and deep pool at the bottom of the cliff.
Wayne just said, "Holy shit. That's awesome," and put his arm around my waste as we gazed at it.
I said, "Wait till we get to swim under it tomorrow." He said, "Naked?", and I said "Hell yes, as long as no one else in the family or any of the ranch hands show up."
I then told Wayne to follow closely as we climbed up the trail to the right of the waterfall. We were surrounded by rocks and trees and the trail was almost vertical at some points. We finally emerged in a clearing at the top. Right smack in the middle of that clearing is a mostly flat slab of granite, covered with moss, and elevated from the surrounding ground and grasses by about three feet. It's about the size of two king beds and is a regular stopping place for family members on hikes and I'm sure has been for generations. Oh the stories it could probably tell.
I climbed up onto the slab with Wayne climbing up behind and we looked back down into the canyon from which we'd just hiked. As the crow flies we were probably little more than a mile from the cabin but given the path we followed we'd probably hiked two miles and gained five hundred feet in elevation. The moon was higher in the sky now and the canyon, trees, and nearby ridges towering above us, were gently illuminated by moonlight.
I said to Wayne, "Check this out," and sat cross legged on the granite slab.
