Disclaimer: the following story is completely fictional. It describes sexual acts between boys so if you don't like that sort of thing, don't read it! However if you do, I appreciate feedback.

Above me was a sky full of stars. I could see them if I rolled over and looked through the branches. A lot of those stars had names and some of them were planets, but the only one I could ever remember was Polaris, the North Star, the one that never changed.

Alex had shown me that star and he had tried to show me more, but I could never remember. I knew some of the stars were planets and some of the stars were stars, but they all look the same to me. Alex had a telescope and he had shown me them. It was strange. In the sky they look just like bright dots, but through a telescope they were different. I liked Jupiter the best.

Alex had been my friend for years, ever since he had moved. We were in the same class, but he was a year older than me. He had told me he failed first-grade and I didn't believe him at first. I didn't think anyone could fail first-grade, but Alex had. He failed because he was sick, he was sick a lot.

Sometimes it was frustrating. When we first met we had been playing tag at recess and then all of a sudden he got really tired and didn't want to play anymore. It was weird. That was how Alex was though. I got used to it. I don't really remember why but one time I just sat down next to him after he got tired and we started talking. That's how we became best friends.

The night was cold, but not so cold that I could see my breath. I was warm in my sleeping bag. The sleeping bag was big enough for an adult and I could slide in pretty deep so that it was over my head. If I wanted to I could go down deeper and be completely covered, but I needed to look out. My chickens needed me.

My hands were getting cold so I slipped one into the sleeping bag and placed it under my stomach. It made me smile. I was ticklish there although only my mom and Alex knew that. Sometimes when we wrestled he would pin me and start rubbing my stomach under my shirt.

I wouldn't let anyone else get away with that, but Alex could. He was usually stronger than me, but when he got tired I could pin him easily so it was sort of fair. Then I started thinking of a different rubbing and my hand started to move down. Unbuttoning my bluejeans I slipped my hand down onto my penis, dick, peepee. Alex had called it everything. I had never really thought about it.

The first time we had gone camping he had asked me if I ever touched myself there. I told him when I pee and he laughed. That had made me angry, but when he had showed me what he meant I didn't care.

I didn't know how Alex always seemed to know stuff. It wasn't just because he was a year older, I think it was because he read a lot, especially towards the end. He had always let me borrow the books, but I had only liked some of them. Some of them had been for adults, they were so heavy. Reading wasn't my thing.

My hand moved along my hairless sack and it was feeling weird down there. My fingers were warming up, but they were still cold. My erection was warm. It felt weird as I started to stroke myself. It was so much nicer when Alex had done it. If I closed my eyes I could almost imagine it was him even though my hand was smaller.

I started to think of him and me lying in his bed together as his fingers moved around my private place. Alex had never told me to touch him like he touched me, but I knew he liked it and sometimes we'd do it together. He always made me have this funny feeling, a climax he called it. That was the best part.

Something pulled me out of my fantasy and caused me to look at the chicken coop. Then I saw it. It was a big raccoon. My hand shot out of my pants and I picked up my 22 that was in front of me.

The chicken coop was the old doghouse slightly modified. Alex and his dad had helped me modify it. His dad also helped me put the top on recently when I had thought it was an owl taking my chickens. I could see the raccoon walking around the coop looking for an entrance. Last time it had to dig a little to squeeze under.

I levelled my crosshairs on it and squeezed the trigger.

The chicken coop had been Alex's idea. My mom didn't make much money cutting hair. So last year when we had raised some chickens in class from eggs to chicks, he had suggested I should ask to bring them home. I didn't know much about chickens, but Alex and his family had raised some so they helped. They bought the eggs from me and once you subtracted the cost of the feed I had some leftover. I had always wanted stuff, but now that I had the money, I didn't really want to spend it.

Stooping, I put the barrel of the gun about an inch away from the raccoon's head and fired another shot. It was better to be safe. The light on the porch flickered on and my mom stepped out and asked, “You get him?”

I glanced up, but the light was too bright and I had to look away. “Yeah. He's big.”

My mom made her way down the porch and bent over the raccoon. “You're right. Well we shouldn't let it go to waste. You head off to bed,. I'll handle it from here.”

“Okay.”

My mom looked up at me and frowned. “Are you okay?”

“I miss Alex.”I didn't mean to say that, it just sort of slipped out.

“I know. You two were really good friends.”

My mom usually makes things better, but that didn't help at all. Nothing helped.

I took the long way around the house. Alex died two weeks ago and it still hurt. I looked up once again and found Polaris and wished Alex had been like that star, always there. Things weren't like that though. His hands were colder than mine now.

Well, thanks for reading, and if you have any thoughts you would like to share about this story please send them to auto727540@hushmail.com also feel free to request a list of my other stories.