Date: Sun, 18 Jul 2021 14:47:21 +0000 From: Wes Leigh Subject: The Gift of Stolen Time, Chapter 1 (Gay Adult/Youth) THE GIFT OF STOLEN TIME By Wes Leigh This is a work of fiction intended solely for the entertainment of my readers. Any resemblance to real people or places is purely coincidental. This story is the property of the author and is protected by copyright laws. The author retains all rights. No reproductions are allowed without the author's consent. And finally, and most importantly, please support the Nifty archives today with a thoughtful donation. For the little boy in all of us who longs to grow up too quickly and then, when he's grown, longs to return to the carefree days of his youth ... ... stolen time is truly a gift. Chapter One Tempe, Arizona, August 2015 Lucas glanced in the rear-view mirror. He saw two girls, talking and laughing. Not interested. Then a tall, thin boy carrying a basketball. A shorter boy, seriously overweight, trudged along next to the thin boy. Still not interested. He could afford to be picky. Next ... more girls. One right after another. What was it with this school and all the girls? Finally. A boy, all by himself. Cute. Long, brown hair. Bangs hanging down over his eyes. Trudging along with a frown on his face. Probably didn't care for school and resented having to go. A dark blue hoodie. Blue jeans. Sneakers. Typical teenage attire. Lucas tilted the mirror slightly. And a nice bulge in the jeans. Bingo. Lucas looked down at his wrist. Some would assume he wore a tacky piece of costume jewelry. They'd be wrong. Massively wrong. It looked like a piece of junk. It was a simple silver wristband of basic design, probably crafted by a beginner, with two gaudy gemstones mounted side by side. One was blood red. The other pale blue. Neither gem was in the best condition; both were covered in minute cracks and tiny holes. But it was no piece of costume jewelry. Lucas placed his thumb over the red gem and pressed down firmly. The gem seemed to be coated with a thin layer of a rubbery gel. His thumb pushed through the coating and pressed against the hard surface of the gem, making firm contact with the face. Lucas placed a finger over the blue gem and pressed down in the same way, pushing through the coating to touch the gem's surface. Immediately, he felt a surge of energy pass into his thumb. The rippling force crawled up his thumb, across the back of his hand, and down his finger before dissipating into the blue stone, leaving behind a vibrating, pulsing surge of energy that grew stronger and stronger as it crawled up his arm, across his chest and up and down his body. Every hair seemed to be standing on end. His stomach twisted, not in pain or nausea, but in anticipation. His heart beat a little harder, a little faster. He took deeper breaths, forcing his heart to settle down and his stomach to stop twisting. Outside his car, the world was suddenly and eerily still. The branches on the trees which had been swaying in the wind were now motionless. The sounds of a typical morning were silenced. The kids on the sidewalk stood frozen. Some were turned, facing one another, bodies petrified in mid-motion, mouths open in frozen conversation. On the street, cars were halted, their drivers now statues behind the wheel, their passengers unmoving in whatever tasks they'd been preoccupied with moments before. An elderly woman stood rigid on the sidewalk, one leg lifted in mid-stride, her little terrier dog with one leg up as though taking a step, its tiny mouth open to pant, its tongue hanging out. The world all around was frozen in that moment in time when Lucas had pressed down on the gemstones. He pulled his thumb and finger away from the gems, feeling the gel-like coating slip back into place. He shook his head to clear out the last fuzzy sensations and smiled. Time for some fun. Lucas grabbed the door handle and slowly pulled up. The handle resisted, as it always did, forcing Lucas to fight against the momentum of time itself. It felt like the internal latches and levers of the door were encased in peanut butter, but the handle moved slowly up and something inside the door clicked and the door swung free. Lucas climbed out of the car and left the door open. There was no point in closing it. He walked around the car and stepped up onto the sidewalk where the frowning teenager now stood, one leg planted just in front of the other. Lucas reached down and caressed the kid's bulge. What would he find underneath the fabric? That was always the question, wasn't it? Lucas worked the belt loose and unsnapped the button on the jeans, then slid the zipper down. Nice. Bright red briefs with white trim. This kid had flashy taste in underwear. Lucas worked the jeans down the teen's hips, pulling the briefs down slightly in the process. He tugged the jeans down to the youngster's knees. That should be far enough for what he had in mind. Then Lucas pulled the boy's briefs down as well, revealing a thick, soft cock below deep brown pubes, resting on slightly fuzzy balls. Lucas knelt down and fondled the kid's balls with one hand while stroking the shaft slowly, pulling the foreskin away from a light pink glans. Leaning forward, Lucas sniffed. It was hard to pick up smells when time was standing still like this, but if he pressed his nose against the kid's pubes, he could smell the faintest aroma of horny teenage boy. Lucas took the teen's cock into his mouth and bathed the tip with his tongue, caressing and sliding his tongue around between the foreskin and the glans, enjoying the feeling of the soft cock in his mouth. It wouldn't remain soft for long. Not with a teenager, anyway. Men took longer to get hard, but teenagers seemed to bone up quickly, despite the time freeze. Lucas couldn't explain it. Teens were hornier than adults, of course, so they'd naturally bone up faster, but that still didn't explain how it was even possible for a guy to pop a boner when Lucas fondled him while time was frozen. Perhaps nerve endings in the human body continued to operate even when time stood still? Maybe the time field surrounding Lucas' body affected other things he touched, like this teen's cock, temporarily pulling them both into the same frozen moment of time. Whatever the reason, Lucas could always count on a cock getting hard when held in the warm confines of his mouth. Lucas sucked eagerly on the time-frozen teen, enjoying the way the tasty tube stretched rapidly inside Lucas' mouth until it began to press against the back of his throat. He slid his mouth off and admired his prize. A nice 6 inches, maybe 6 and a half. And decently thick. He looked up at the kid's frowning face. This youngster didn't know that coming to school today would mean cumming at school today. Lucas bent back down and started sucking in earnest, focusing all his energy on the tip and first few inches of the teenager's delicious cock. Slurping and sucking. Pressing down to the base and making himself gag. Sliding back up and bobbing quickly. It took less than a minute for a sudden splash of liquid to fill his mouth. Wow, that was quick, but teenage boys sometimes had hair-trigger responses to a warm, soft hole. This kid was tangy. Slightly bitter. Typical of a 15- or 16-year-old. Well on his way into manhood with spooge to match. Lucas swallowed it down hungrily. Pulling off, he gently milked the youth, running a finger from down below his balls up the front of his cock, squeezing out another white dollop of watery cream. Lucas licked the glob of cum off the tip of the teen's cock, licked all around the sides to ensure he got every drop, then held the youngster's cock gently while waiting for it to deflate back down to a droopy tube of flesh. Then Lucas casually squeezed the kid one last time before pulling up his briefs and tugging on the jeans until they were also back in place, more or less as they had been before Lucas came along. He zipped the kid up, snapped the top button, and rebuckled the belt. Lucas leaned in and kissed the teen on the cheek. "Thanks, kid. I'm glad to have met you, if only for the blink of an eye." Walking back to his car, Lucas slid behind the wheel and pulled on the door. It resisted him every inch of the way but eventually closed. He adjusted his position in the seat, then placed his wrist in his lap and placed his thumb and finger back over the two gemstones. Pressing down firmly on the blue gem first, then the red, he felt the gel-like coatings move aside and then the twisting energies surge through his hand once more. This time the directions were reversed, starting with the blue stone and zipping through his flesh on the way to the red. As before, the rippling wave of energy spread across his body, making him shudder and shake. In the outside world, time began flowing once more. The wind began blowing. Branches waved and swung from side to side. Kids continued their paused conversations as they walked down the sidewalk. The old lady and her trotting dog passed in the other direction. Cars rolled down the street. Lives continued as before. The brown-haired teen stopped suddenly and grabbed his crotch. He gasped, as his brain and cock both informed him that he had just had an orgasm. He looked around and saw no one nearby. He looked down at the front of his pants. Seeing no wet spots, he squeezed his cock in confusion, adjusted himself quickly, shifted his backpack higher onto his shoulder, and started walking again. He was no longer frowning. Instead, there was the faintest of smiles on his face. Lucas watched from his car. "Have a good day, kid," he whispered. *** Lucas drove down the street and parked in front of a bank. It was a small branch office. One he hadn't visited before. He liked to spread his visits around, just to be fair. Lucas glanced in the rear-view mirror again, checking for anyone walking along the streets. He turned his head slightly so he could look closer at the purple bruise on his cheek. It was beginning to fade already, and the angry gash in the middle was almost healed. It had been a stupid accident, slipping in water on the bathroom floor and striking his face on the edge of the sink. As much as it hurt earlier in the day, it felt fine now. Lucas turned his head from side to side, examining the rest of his face in the mirror. He should have shaved. His chin was covered with gray hair from his beard growing out. That was fucking depressing. His hair was mostly dark brown with silver on the sides, but his beard was solid white, when he allowed it to grow, and that was the main reason he kept his face clean-shaven. A white beard made him feel ancient. Still, he thought he looked pretty damned good for a 52-year-old. Tight skin. No major wrinkles yet. Sparkling green eyes, his most alluring feature, he'd been told. Prominent cheekbones, with one covered in that ugly bruise at the moment. Enough with the mirror already. Time to get going. Seeing no one in the mirror or in front of the car, he pressed the gems in the silver wristband again and waited for time to stand still. The car door fought opening, with its typical peanut-butter-thick resistance. The bank door was much the same. Once inside, he glanced around. People stood here and there, waiting for loan officers or filling out deposit slips or whatever. Tellers were frozen in place at their stations, waiting on customers. Cameras were mounted high up on the walls with tiny red lights shining. Lucas was unconcerned. He would be walking through, doing his business, and walking back out in between one electronic image and the next. He walked around behind the long counter to the teller stations and found one drawer already open and the teller reaching in to remove cash. Perfect. He reached past her fingers and pulled out the stack of $20 dollar bills. He counted out ten. Then slid the rest back. Pulled out the $50 dollar bills. Counted out twenty. Put the rest back. That would be more than enough for the bills this month. Electricity had cost quite a bit with constant use of the air conditioner. It was August in Arizona, so no surprise there. And then there should be enough left over to pay some to the hospital. Lucas paused. He smiled, deviously. Found a scrap piece of paper and a pen. Scrawled out `Thank You!' on the paper and left it in the cash drawer next to the teller's fingers. He left the bank and got back in his car. Closing the door, he pressed the gems and felt time begin flowing again. He looked up in the mirror and touched his cheek. The bloody gash was completely healed. The purple bruise was now just a sickly yellow. Healing was another gift that came with stolen time, and Lucas felt amazingly healthy. *** Lucas unlocked his front door and pushed it open. He peeked inside, glancing around the living room. No one there. He pushed the door shut behind him with one foot and walked into the kitchen. Setting the bag of hamburgers on the table, he opened a cabinet and took out two plates, put a hamburger and fries on one plate, opened the refrigerator and took out a can of soda, pushed the refrigerator door closed and carried the plate of food and the drink into the first bedroom. His dad was there, in bed, lying so very still. Lucas waited at the door. He watched the blanket covering his father's chest. Finally, the blanket rose ever so slightly. Lucas sighed with relief. Without realizing it, he'd been holding his own breath, waiting for his dad to breathe. Lucas kicked himself mentally. Why did he have to torture himself this way? Why stand there in the door, with bated breath, waiting to see if his father was still alive? How sick was that? One day, Lucas knew he'd come into his father's room and stand in the doorway and wait and watch and never see that chest rising. But not today. Today his dad took another breath. Today, he would live to eat another meal and talk with his son and share the gift of stolen moments in time. Shaking his head to dispel the morbid train of thoughts, Lucas walked over and sat on the edge of the bed. His dad opened watery eyes, the once-blue pupils now almost silver-gray with age. "Lucas," he whispered, his breath a raspy ghost of the booming voice it had once been. "Did you do good today, boy?" Lucas smiled and nodded. "Always, Dad." "And what did you do to make the day brighter for someone you met?" Lucas opened the soda and handed it to his father. As the man sipped his drink, Lucas replied, "I met a young man who was frowning because he had to go to school today. I made him feel better about his day, and he left smiling." "That's my boy. Good job, Son." Lucas placed the plate of food on his father's lap. The old man picked up a French fry and nibbled at it. Lucas put another pillow behind his dad's back, helping the old man to sit up straighter. "I paid the electric bill today, Dad. That made the people at the electric company smile too." His dad chuckled, then asked, "Did your brother give you some money for it?" "No, Dad, but that's okay. I had enough to cover it." "He should help you, Lucas. You shouldn't have to do this by yourself." "It's okay. Really. I can take care of everything." Lucas waited until his father took a bite of the hamburger, then added, "I paid a little on the hospital bill." The old man frowned. "They charge too much. I don't want any more dialysis, Lucas. It's not going to change anything, and we don't need any more expensive medical bills." "Dad, if it helps you to get better, then we should do it." "Lucas ... son ... I'm not going to get better. You and I both know that. We all have to face death sooner or later." Lucas looked down at the silver wristband with its cracked red and blue gems. What his dad had said wasn't quite true. He could help his dad. He could heal him. But would it make any difference in the long run? He could wait until his dad was asleep to do it; his dad would never even know. He could come in when his father was asleep one night and sit down on the bed and take his father's hand ... and hold his hand as he had so often before, but this time Lucas could freeze time with his father there inside the time field with him, drawing them both into it together. And while his father continued sleeping, the strange time bubble would gradually heal both their bodies, slowly restoring health and life. It would be so much better than any procedure the hospital could perform. With a little pressure on those gems, Lucas knew he could stop his father's pain, at least for a time. But Dad was right. He was dying. It would only be prolonging the inevitable. His father touched him gently on the knee. "Lucas, the Word of God tells us that it is appointed unto all men once to die. I am very close to my appointment, son, and I am not afraid to die. I am ready. I'll be seeing my beautiful Sarah soon." His father smiled and patted Lucas' knee. "When I am gone, I ask only one thing from you." "What is that, Dad." "Don't stay here. Move on. Go and find happiness ... with my blessing." Lucas smiled grimly and patted his dad's hand. "I'm going to go fix myself a plate, Dad. Then I'll come back and eat with you." The old man nodded and took another small bite of a French fry. His eyes lost their focus for a moment, then he looked back at Lucas and smiled. "Lucas ... my son," he said. "Did you do good today? Did you make someone's day a little brighter?" Lucas sighed, frustration combined with sadness for his dad's condition. Dad's memory was fading as rapidly as his body. "Yes, Dad," Lucas repeated. "I made several people happy today." "That's my boy. You're a good son, Lucas. You'll have to tell me about it after we eat." "I will, Dad." He stood up and walked to the door of the room, then turned back and said, "I love you, Dad. Enjoy your food. I'll be back in a minute." *** When his brother answered the call, Lucas said, "Hello, Stephen." "Oh, hey, Lucas. How's dad?" "Weak but still eating. His memory is getting worse." "Hmmm ... that's too bad." "I paid some on the last dialysis, Stephen, but we still owe $600 to the hospital." Silence. "Wow. Well, I can't do anything about that right now. Car payment is coming due in a week. And the truck the week after that. I might be able to help in a month or so." Lucas closed his eyes and bit back the words he wanted to say. Why do you need two new vehicles, brother? Why am I driving around an old clunker, using it to take Dad to doctor appointments and to buy his food and to pick up his medicine? Why don't you ever help? Why are you living in your fancy new house while the two of us are getting by here in the dusty, rundown, old house Dad bought fifty years ago? Why don't you ever visit Dad? Why is it always a quick phone call to ask how Dad's doing, then you're off to some important get-together with your fancy friends? Instead, he replied, "Dad misses you, Stephen. Do you think you can come over sometime, just to spend a few moments with him?" "Well ... I might be able to swing by in a day or so. Not tonight though. There's a function at the country club. No way I can skip it--you know how these things are. Rich old farts getting together to brag about what they have, and if I don't go, my business will suffer because those old farts are the ones who run the town." Stephen sighed dramatically. "Gotta be there, Lucas. But I'll make some time for Dad soon. Promise." "Right. Okay. I'll let him know." "Do that. Say ... ummm ... I didn't realize how late it's getting. I better hit the shower. Just got back from the gym and I'm a sweaty mess. You know how it is." "Yeah. Sure." "Bye, Lucas." "Bye." Lucas put his phone down and whispered, "Asshole." Lucas picked up his plate with his supper on it and walked down the hall to his dad's room. While Lucas had been talking on the phone, the old man had fallen asleep, his food forgotten, the hamburger half eaten, the fries picked over. Lucas walked quietly to the side of the bed and picked up the plate. It was the most Dad had eaten all week. Maybe the dialysis had helped. A little. He kissed his dad on the cheek, calling it a night. *** The next day, Lucas walked through the silent halls of a junior high school. There were still a few students in the halls, rushing to their next class. Well, not rushing at the moment. At the moment, they were frozen in time. Statues of children hurrying but going nowhere, faces flushed in their rush to beat the tardy bell. One boy caught Lucas' attention. He was standing in front of a locker, fingers touching the combination lock. His face was red, frustrated. His black hair was disheveled. His eyes were squeezed shut. Maybe the lock wasn't cooperating? Or he'd forgotten the combination? And now the realization was sinking in that he was going to be late for class? The boy's shirt was untucked on one side. Lucas lifted the shirt and saw pale white skin underneath. Perfect, alabaster skin. He stroked the boy's belly. The skin was amazingly soft. His hand drifted higher and found the boy's chest. No muscle to speak of, but two perky nipples. Down to the stomach. A dimpled innie belly button. No hair. No treasure trail. But then he didn't expect it with a boy this young. Lucas reached around the boy with both hands and unbuckled the lad's pants. He slid the zipper down and pulled the pants all the way to the floor. The boy was standing in front of the locker with his feet together, so it was easy to slide his pants all the way to his ankles. The boy was wearing boxer briefs, bright white, made of a soft cotton blend. The fabric clung to the boy's small body, emphasizing the two round mounds of his bottom. Lucas rubbed the boy's ass cheeks over the briefs, sliding his fingers around the boy's hips to the front and finding a small lump. He felt the boy's cock, pointing down between two small balls. So delicate. Untouched by the ravages of puberty. He grabbed the boxer briefs at the bottom and tugged them down, revealing a gorgeous white ass. He tugged the boy's cheeks apart and saw a light brown pucker. Leaning forward, he touched the boy's rosebud with his tongue, pressing into the wrinkles with the tip of his tongue, pushing and probing until his tongue slipped inside a bit. The boy wasn't clean. There was a bitter taste that made Lucas pull back and shake his head. Oh, well. Seventh graders were not known for their good hygiene. He licked a finger and placed it against the boy's pucker, pressing in and watching his finger slide inside, disappearing into the boy's ass. He felt velvet flesh inside, untouched, unblemished, virgin. He pushed in farther, burying his finger to the last knuckle. Reaching around the boy with his other hand, he stroked the boy's soft dick. In seconds, it rose up to a hard, three-inch nail. Lucas knelt down and worked his head in between the boy's frozen body and the lockers. There was just enough room to take the hard little dick into his mouth. He sucked and slurped on it as he worked his finger in and out of the boy's butt. There were no pubic hairs, so he doubted the boy could spunk yet, but still he sucked on the delightful little rod for ten minutes. He felt the boy's ass sphincter clinching on his finger. He pulled off the small dick and saw it throbbing. A dry orgasm. He pulled his finger out and wiped it on a tissue he carried in his pocket, then pulled the boy's briefs and pants back up and into place. He tucked the boy's shirt in on one side, leaving the other side hanging out as it had been originally. He leaned down and kissed the boy's cheek. "Good luck with your locker, kid. Now relax and try it one more time." Lucas continued down the hall. He loved sucking the prepubescent boys almost as much as their older counterparts. It was less messy, less tasty, but just as thrilling. For some reason, he couldn't stop with just one. He had to suck two, sometimes three boys, before he was ready to unfreeze time and move on. He didn't see any other boys he liked in the hallways, and going in classrooms was usually a waste of time. Boys sitting at their desks were almost impossible to undress, and even if he could work their little cocks out through a zipper, there usually wasn't enough room to get his mouth on them. It just wasn't worth the fuss. Ah, but restrooms were a different matter. He sometimes found boys standing at urinals, ready to be serviced. If they were just starting to pee or just finishing, that is. It was much too messy dealing with a boy in mid-stream. Lucas continued down the hall and found the nearest boy's room. He pushed open the door and stepped inside, stopping in surprise when he saw a group of boys clustered in a far corner. A small red-haired boy was standing against a wall, his eyes wide in fear. Three taller boys stood in front of him. One, a heavy-set boy with dirty brown hair and wrinkled clothes, was pointing at the small boy, his finger almost touching the boy's face. The other two were watching. One smirking. One leaning against the sinks, laughing. It was obvious to Lucas what was going on. The three taller kids were picking on the smaller boy, bullying him, threatening him. Lucas walked around them and thought about what he should do. The more he thought, the angrier he got. Fucking bullies! Starting with smirking boy, he unfastened the boy's pants and slid them down to his ankles, then did the same with the boy's underwear. The boy had a small pubic patch above a decent-sized cock. Lucas fondled the boy until his cock stiffened up, but he didn't jerk the boy off or suck him. Bullies didn't get that pleasure. Lucas unzipped his own pants and pulled out his cock. He spit on his palm and rubbed the spit on himself, quickly boning up. Then he slid around behind smirking boy and felt around until he found the kid's hole. He scooted forward a bit and pressed the head of his cock against the youngster's pucker. He pushed forward, but couldn't penetrate. The boy was too tight. He pushed again. Still couldn't get in. He walked over to the sink and squirted soap into his hand. He slicked up his cock and walked back to the boy, wiping more soap on the boy's hole and pushing his finger inside. Then he positioned his cock one more time and pushed up, gasping when he finally slid inside. He grabbed the boy's hips and pulled himself up and in. The boy's flesh resisted his penetration, but he pushed harder and buried his long cock completely. Then he fucked the boy hard, not pausing until he squirted deep inside the boy. Pulling out, his cock glistened with a soapy, silvery coating of cum. He was still hard. Whenever he was inside stolen time, it did that to him. He could cum three, four times, sometimes more, and never lose his erection. He walked over to middle bully. The overweight one with the pointing finger. He jerked the bully's pants and underwear down. The kid's butt cheeks were flabby and he had to peel them apart to find the kid's hole. But there it was. He pressed his cock against the kid and was surprised to see the kid open quickly to his pressing thrust. This kid has been fucked before, he decided. How convenient. He went at it again, thrusting and pounding away at the boy's ass until he delivered his second load of the morning. Time for bully number three. Laughing boy. This kid was leaning against a sink, so there was no way to pull the kid's pants off. Instead, Lucas unsnapped the pants and unzipped them. Then he pulled the boy's underwear down, exposing his cock and balls. He pulled the underwear beneath the boy's balls, propping it all out in the open air. He sucked laughing boy just long enough to get him hard. The boy had a thin dick, but it was a good four inches long. Long enough for what Lucas had in mind. Lucas dropped his own pants and slicked up his own hole with more soap from the sink. Then he stood in front of laughing boy and reached behind to grab the boy's pecker and point it at his own pucker. He wiggled the boy around against his hole until he felt himself loosening up, then he pushed back, sighing as he felt the boy sliding up inside him. He sat back against the boy, feeling the boy's balls squeezing between them. The kid would be sore after this was over, but that was too fucking bad. Lucas pushed the boy all the way inside, then began jacking off. His cock was incredibly slippery, coated with two loads of cum and a slimy layer of filthy soap from each of the first two boys, so it took him no time at all to cum again, hard, filling the palm of his hand that he held cupped in front of his pulsing cock. When the spasms ended, he pulled forward, feeling the laughing boy's hard rod slide out of his butt and flop back against his stomach. Lucas dipped his finger in the cum he held in his hand. He turned to laughing boy and smeared a generous amount of cum inside the boy's mouth. He wiped more soapy cum off his dick and added it all to the boy's mouth. Grinning, Lucas wished he could be here when time started up again and the boy tasted that little surprise. Turning to the other two bullies, Lucas gave them the same treatment, smearing liberal globs of soap and cum in each of their mouths. Then he walked into one of the stalls and began cleaning his hands and cock with toilet tissue. He tossed it all into toilet bowl and pressed down on the lever. It resisted him, like all mechanical things seemed to do when time was standing still, but something inside the plumbing clicked and he knew it would flush as soon as time began again. Walking back into the open area of the bathroom, Lucas left one final gift for the bullies. Starting with smirking boy, he grabbed the kid's nuts and squeezed hard, not hard enough to cause any serious damage, but enough that the pain would bring the boy to his knees when his brain finally registered the injury done to his precious jewels. Fat boy got the same treatment. Then laughing boy. Finally, Lucas walked over to the small, red-haired boy huddled in the corner of the bathroom. He kissed the boy on the forehead and said, "In just a few moments, you're not going to believe your eyes. These bullies are going to fall to floor, grab their naked balls and roll around in pain. You won't be able to explain how they went from harassing you one moment to naked and crying the next. But don't worry about it. Just jump over them and go to class. I doubt they'll ever bother you again." *** Lucas parked his car one block from the hardware store where he'd worked just a few weeks ago. He glanced in the rear-view mirror. Staring into his own eyes, he saw nothing there but a desire for revenge. Not good, but he accepted it for what it was. They'd treated him like shit in this store and he'd done nothing about it up until now. The bullies at the junior high had stirred up something deep in his soul, something he didn't very much like about himself. And now his eyes seemed to demand an accounting from him. Are you going to let them get away with it, his eyes demanded to know? No, never again, he told his eyes. At least the bruise on his cheek was completely healed. He touched it. Not even tender. He looked down at the wristband and pressed the gems, closing his eyes as the energy fields wrapped his body in their tingling embrace. He pushed the door of the car open against the time momentum that tried to keep it closed. Stepping out into the bright sunshine, he saw a bird flying overhead, frozen in the sky. As many times as he had seen that, it still seemed weird to him. A motionless customer stood just outside the entrance to the hardware store. He had the door handle in his hand, pulling it halfway open. There was just enough room for Lucas to slip by. Very convenient. He thanked the man with a chuckle as he squeezed through. Just inside the store he saw Dakota. Handsome, muscular, 20-something Dakota. Leaning casually against a counter. Smiling. Dimples showing in each cheek. Sparkling brown eyes. Wavy brown hair. Green tee-shirt stretched across that impossibly gorgeous chest and those tight abs. Jeans bulging. Damn it, but Dakota still looked good as ever. Lucas knew he shouldn't, but he couldn't resist. In seconds he had Dakota's pants opened and his plump cock poking out of the underwear. Lucas dived on Dakota's cock and slurped it in, licking and sucking as he'd done a dozen times before. Dakota's cock seemed to remember him. It filled rapidly and began leaking into his mouth. Sweet delicious precum. And lots of it. Of all the men and boys he'd sucked while time stood still, Dakota remained his all-time favorite. He just wished it could be more than a stolen moment in time with the guy. He paused as he sucked and told himself to stop thinking about it and just enjoy it. Dakota was fully hard, long and thick and gagging him every time he forced himself all the way down the handsome young man's luscious shaft. He squeezed Dakota's balls, demanding they release their juices. He ran one hand up the guy's tight stomach along the furry trail of hair leading up to a small tuft of hair in the middle of his muscled chest. The guy was Adonis in human flesh. Lucas pulled off Dakota's shaft and began sucking his hairy balls. The smell of him was intoxicating. Pure man. He took a deep breath and returned to Dakota's cock. He bit down hard on the base of the shaft, knowing it would send pain shooting up to the boy's brain, but not quickly enough to stop the orgasm that immediately began spewing out of the angry, purple head, some of it splattering on Lucas' cheek before he could position his mouth over the spitting tip. Lucas caught the last of it in his mouth and swallowed it down. Strong. Bitter. Virile. He licked all around, lapping up everything he'd missed when Dakota first blasted out. Several errant globs dotted the floor. Lucas walked into the restroom and grabbed a bit of toilet tissue, then came back to where Dakota leaned against the counter, dimpled smile frozen in place, drooping cock dripping one long strand of sticky goo down to the floor. He wiped off Dakota's cock (there was a nasty red bite mark on the side--that would hurt for few days at least) and swiped up the cum on the floor, then tossed the tissue in the trash. He worked Dakota's cock back inside his underwear and zipped up his jeans. "We could have been great together," he whispered as he stroked Dakota's cheek. "If only you were gay ..." Was it only three weeks ago Lucas had confided in Dakota that he was gay? The young man had seemed unfazed by the admission at first, but then he had begun finding an excuse to work in some other part of the store, avoiding Lucas whenever they worked the same shifts. And then Lucas had noticed the angry stares from the other employees. Never to his face, of course. Always looking away when he looked at them. Anne, the office manager, had stopped flirting with him, becoming cold and distant. Jim, the manager of the paint department, had actually been rude, telling Lucas to stay away from him and his department. That was when he had confronted Dakota in the employee break room. He'd asked Dakota if there was a problem, but Dakota wouldn't even look him in the eye. So then he'd asked Dakota if everything was all good between them. Dakota had nodded and assured him it was. That was the moment Jim had walked in and had seen them talking and had yelled at Lucas to leave Dakota alone. His words still burned: "Keep your damned perversions to yourself and stay the hell away from us." Lucas had turned in his two-week notice that day. The boss had replied that he wouldn't need two weeks; Lucas was free to go starting that very day. He took Lucas' store keys and told him to have a nice day. Bastards. Lucas rubbed one finger along Dakota's handsome jaw. "I should never have trusted such a handsome guy," Lucas whispered. Then he turned and finished the business he had come for. The store safe was just down the hall from the employee break room. It was usually open during the day, to make it easier for employees to make change. He swung open the safe door and took out the bank bag. He wasn't interested in the heavy rolls of coins. He dumped them out on the floor then reached inside the bank bag and took out the packaged stacks of $20 bills. Counting out what he needed, he put $620 in his pocket and threw the rest on the floor with the coins. Back out in the store, he walked down to the paint department. Jim was there, talking to a customer, apparently explaining the difference between the brands of paint the store carried. Lucas pulled Jim's back pocket open and slid his wallet out. He opened the wallet and took out every credit card and the man's driver's license. Then he slid the wallet back inside the back pocket. Reaching in Jim's front pocket, he found his keys. Store keys. Car keys. House keys. All on one ring. Lucas put the keys in his own pocket. Reaching around Jim, Lucas grabbed a paint can opener off the counter. Then he pulled a dozen gallons of untinted paint off the shelf, opened each one, and dumped them over on their sides in the floor. The paint was frozen in place, unmoving, waiting for time to release it out onto the floor. "You'll have fun in about one second, Jim. CLEAN UP IN PAINT AISLE! And good luck finding your keys. You'll probably panic when you realize your credit cards and license are missing. I certainly would." He patted Jim on the cheek, turned and walked down the aisle to the store exit. He slid past the helpful customer who still held the door open. He climbed back into his car, unfroze time, and drove off. Just down the street, he stopped at a gas station to refill his car. A convenient trash can next to the pump gave him a place to toss Jim's credit cards, license, and keys. He paid cash for the gas, using one of the twenties from the store. Then he drove to the hospital and paid the balance on his dad's account. After a quick stop at a grocery store--freezing time just long enough to push the cart through the doors without paying--he was done with his errands for the day. *** Lucas took the bowl of soup from his dad. The old man had been able to eat only a few spoons before giving up. "Sorry, Son. I just don't have an appetite tonight." "Is there anything else you want to try, Dad?" "No, Son. It's fine. Just sit and talk with me for a bit, please." Lucas nodded. He placed the bowl on the dresser and sat down on the edge of his dad's bed. "Is the pain coming back, Dad?" The old man nodded and closed his eyes. "It comes and goes, but today was bad. My back hurts the most." "Turn on your side, Dad." Lucas pushed gently on the old man's hip, helping him to turn over. Then Lucas massaged the muscles in his dad's lower back. "Here?" "A little higher, Son." Lucas moved his fingers up and rubbed gently. "Yes. Right there, Lucas." Lucas kept rubbing, pressing gently into the sagging muscles. "You're a good son." Lucas chuckled. "Really? You think so?" "I know so. I know you, boy. I know your heart, and it's a good one." Lucas snorted softly. "You wouldn't say that if you knew what I did today." "Oh? And what was that?" Lucas didn't want to talk about it. He certainly didn't want to tell his dad everything, but he'd always been as honest with his father as he could, so he found himself talking in general terms about his day. "I ... well ... I saw a boy being bullied and I jumped in the middle of it." "That's what I would expect of you, Son." Lucas nodded. Would his dad be so approving if he knew how Lucas had dealt with the bullies? "I also stopped by the hardware store." "And how did that go?" "I guess seeing the bullies pushing the kid around got me to thinking about how they treated me at work. They bullied me, too, to be honest." "Yes, they did. I hope you stood up for yourself." Lucas grinned. "You could say that." "That's good, Son." The old man rolled back over and took Lucas' hands in his own. "At the risk of repeating myself, I say again, you have a good heart, boy. It's time you started trusting it." Lucas felt guilt climbing up from his gut and sticking in his throat. What would his dad say if he saw everything he'd done today? What would Johan say if he saw how Lucas had used the gift of the wristband? Johan. It had been weeks since he'd thought about Johan. His eyes filled with tears and he swallowed down the guilt along with the pain. God, how he missed Johan. "You're thinking about him again, aren't you, Son?" Lucas nodded, tears dripping down his face now. The old man patted Lucas' hands gently. "It's okay to cry, boy. Johan was a good man, good for you, good for all of us. We miss him so much because we loved him so much. You, more than any other. What the two of you had was timeless. Don't ever regret crying for the loss of something so special." "Thanks for understanding, Dad." "You're welcome, Son. Now ... I think I want to rest for a bit. I'm very tired tonight." Lucas stood up and helped his father slide down under the blankets. He kissed his father on the forehead and turned out the lights before closing the bedroom door. He hoped a good night sleep would make a difference. As Lucas reached the kitchen, the walls of the house began shaking in time with a deep booming and thrumming noise. What the hell? Lucas walked out the front door. The noise was louder now. A party was raging next door. Music was blaring so loud it shook the windows of every nearby home. Laughter and shouting came from the back yard of the party house. Every light was on. Lucas shook his head in disbelief. It was Friday night, but this was going too far. Lucas marched up to the house. The front door was wide open. People filled the rooms, holding plastic cups, drinking, laughing, screaming in each other's ears to be heard over the music that was as loud as a rock concert. College students lived here. Three or four guys, although it was a little hard to tell just how many lived there since there were always extra bodies crashing there overnight. He knew a couple of the guys by sight, but they weren't anywhere to be seen at the moment, so Lucas pushed his way into the house and worked his way through the crowd, looking for someone in charge. In the kitchen, tapping a keg of beer, he found one of the guys he recognized. He moved close enough to shout in the guy's ear, "Music is loud!" "What?" the guy shouted back. "THE MUSIC! IT'S LOUD!" "YEAH. REALLY JAMMING!" Lucas shook his head. "TOO LOUD! TURN IT DOWN!" The guy frowned. "HELL NO! PARTY'S GOING GREAT NOW!" Lucas leaned closer. "MY DAD NEEDS HIS REST. TURN THE FUCKING MUSIC DOWN--RIGHT THE FUCK NOW!" The guy leaned away and pointed at Lucas. "I KNOW YOU. YOU LIVE NEXT DOOR, RIGHT?" Lucas nodded. "YEAH. TURN THE MUSIC DOWN SO MY DAD CAN SLEEP." The guy laughed. "FUCK YOU. AND FUCK YOUR DAD TOO." Lucas was shocked. What the hell? Who did this fucking kid think he was? The college boy laughed again. "JUST KIDDIN' DUDE. WE'LL TURN THE MUSIC DOWN." He took Lucas by the elbow and led him back into the front room. Waving at a buddy who stood across the room, the guy made hand motions to turn the music down. The other guy shrugged and turned the music down, not a lot, but enough that Lucas' ears stopped ringing. "That work for you, man?" college boy asked. "Yeah, thanks," Lucas replied, turning to make his way through the partiers to the front door. Two feet from the door, Lucas felt the side of his head explode with pain. His vision instantly blacked out except for shooting stars. He felt his body falling and something solid smashing into his nose. He collapsed onto the hard floor, blood gushing out of his nose. Then his ribs exploded in even greater pain from a foot kicking him. He squeezed his eyes shut in agony, curled up in a ball and groaned. He felt hot, stinking breath on his cheek. "Don't ever tell me what to do in my own fucking house, asshole. In fact, you stay the fuck away from my house, or you'll fucking wish you had." Lucas felt his body lifted into the air with strong hands grabbing him under each shoulder. He was dragged a few feet, then launched through the air, landing sprawled out in the gravel of the yard. Massive guffaws came from the direction of the house, then the front door slammed shut and the music volume increased again, pounding out even louder than before. Lucas moaned and rolled onto his side. His head throbbed. The right side of his body was on fire. His nose was still dripping blood and felt broken. He wasn't sure. He'd never had a broken nose before, but as bad as his nose hurt right then, he thought it could very well be broken. It hurt too damned much to be just a bloody nose. He reached up and touched his mouth. Well, that's just fucking great, he thought. One tooth rocked around like it was going to fall out. He pushed himself up to his knees. He head spun and his stomach churned. Nausea made his head spin and his stomach lurch. He vomited onto the gravel, spitting carefully around the wobbly tooth to clear his mouth. Reaching down, he touched the wristband and pressed the gems. The energy field made his stomach churn again, but it was better somehow than the nausea that had caused him to puke. The loud music faded away. The shouts and laughter disappeared. Time froze. Lucas waited patiently for the field to begin healing his body. The first thing to change was the pain. It slowly faded and was replaced by dull discomfort. The time field was working, healing his body quickly. He waited, head bowed, and when he finally felt like he could stand without barfing, he shut the time field off. The music and laughter and party bullshit swelled up to full volume again. Lucas climbed to his feet, looked at the house filled with party animals, turned and walked slowly back to his own house. The party lasted until 4 a.m. It was epic. *** Lucas slept late the next morning. His head still hurt. The tooth was still loose. His ribs ached, and he was certain a few were cracked. But at least the agony was bearable for now. Nothing that a few trips in stolen time wouldn't cure. He stumbled down the hall to check on his dad. It was how he began every day. Opening the bedroom door, he leaned in and looked at his dad, lying peacefully in the bed. Lucas waited. He watched and waited more. Dad's chest wasn't rising and falling. He stepped into the room and sat on the edge of the bed, touching his dad's cold hand. Lucas took a deep breath. Once again, a man he loved had been stolen from him by the cruel passage of time. *** Everyone was gone. Finally. The police. The paramedics. His dad. His brother. His brother had been very understanding. He wanted to sell the house to pay for Dad's funeral. Or, if Lucas wanted to pay $500 each month in rent, Stephen was willing to pay for the funeral himself and take possession of the house in exchange. Lucas nodded agreement. Whatever Stephen wanted. Just ... just go. Stephen finally left. Lucas sat on the couch. He was alone. Absolutely and completely alone. What was it his dad asked him to do? Move on with Dad's blessing ... go and find happiness? Lucas walked into his bedroom and packed up his clothing. He loaded it all into two suitcases, loaded the suitcases into his car, and looked around the house one last time. No. Nothing else he wanted. Standing next to his car, he glanced next door at the party house. The college boys were nowhere to be found. The house was quiet. The yard was littered with plastic cups, the leftover debris of a night's revelry. Lucas touched the silver wristband and felt time halt in place. He walked next door to the party house and found the front door unlocked. Bodies were passed out all over the place. In the front room. In the bedrooms. There was even a naked guy in a bathtub, but no water. Lucas didn't feel the least desire to touch him or any of the other bastards scattered throughout the house. Instead, he walked into the kitchen, found a large pot and put it on the stove. He filled the pot with vegetable oil, then turned the burner underneath the pot to its highest setting. That should do the trick. Lucas walked out of the house and returned to his car where he started time spinning again. Then he climbed in his car and drove away. *** Six banks later ... Approximately $180,000 in cash later ... ... Lucas had to move the suitcases to the back seat because the trunk of the car was filled with large and small bills. Oh ... and his tooth and ribs no longer hurt. They were healed almost completely. His soul, however, would take a bit longer to heal. End of THE GIFT OF STOLEN TIME, Chapter One