Date: Fri, 11 May 2012 05:34:54 -0700 (PDT) From: Joe Hunter Subject: Baseball Diamond Tails - 6G All the usual disclaimers apply: +This story is a work of fiction. If you think it is real, you have a very active imagination. +Do not read this story if you live in an area where it is illegal to do so. +Scenes of sexual activity between an adult male and young boys are represented. Do not read further if this offends you. +Please do not imitate the actions portrayed herein - the author cannot accept responsibility for any actions promoted by this story. If you would like to get in touch, please e-mail me at: hunterjoe45@yahoo.com I hope you enjoy reading this story as much as I enjoyed writing it. Support Nifty! Joe ____________________________ BASEBALL DIAMOND TAILS - 6G (copyright 2012, Joe Hunter) :::::::::::::::::::: Shortstop: Part G :::::::::::::::::::: When we reached my apartment we put the Blazer away in the downstairs garage and got out Sean's tent. The first task was to set it up in the backyard. This proved a bit tricky. The little wooden pegs that came in the box were entirely inadequate so I replaced them with good quality aluminum stakes from my own supplies. Then the collapsible poles turned out to be much too collapsible and needed reinforcing. But at last the little tent was up, taut and neat looking, its shiny blue cloth gleaming in the rays of a setting sun. My two ballplayers stood next to me admiring it and Sean put a slender arm around my waist. "Thanks, Coach." I hugged his skinny shoulder and stroked his back. To make the tent comfortable for the boys I spread a space blanket inside as a ground cloth. Shane had brought an old army surplus sleeping bag and we put that inside along with Sean's lantern. Then I brought my little hibachi grill and laid the makings of a fire using newspaper, kindling and charcoal. "Later on tonight," I told the boys, "You can light this and use it to toast the marshmallows I've got for you." "Oh, cool Coach," Shane said. Sean looked up at me gratefully. "You guys should be all set out here. Why don't you watch your national geographic special while I order the pizzas." The boys hurried inside, loaded VHS player with their tape and I brought a big soft quilt from the bedroom along with some pillows for them to put on the floor in front of the TV. Shane arranged everything so he could lean comfortably on the pillows while Sean leaned back against him. I started the tape for them and then went to the phone to call for the pizza. "What flavors?" I yelled. "Pepperoni and sausage," Shane called. "Bacon and pineapple," Sean peeped happily. I ordered a large pie of each combination along with breadsticks and soda. The National Geographic tape exceeded all my expectations. The boys were absolutely captivated by it. Sean kept pointing at the screen giving the correct scientific name for each of the dinosaurs so he could show off his knowledge to Shane. When the part of the show came that re-created the giant asteroid hitting the earth the boys watched wide-eyed. They did not even get up when the pizzas arrived but waited for the tape to end before coming for their slices and cokes. "Coach, that was totally awesome!" Shane told me, reaching for a slice of his pepperoni and sausage. Sean nodded his agreement and bit into his pineapple and bacon. After chewing for a while he said, "I wanna' see it again." "Tape's yours, guys," I told them. "You can keep it at Shane's house and watch it whenever you want." "Can we keep it here, Coach?" Shane asked. "It might get messed up at my brother's. Besides, I like coming here to watch it better." "Me, too," Sean echoed. "Sure. I hope you'll both come here a lot." The boys grinned happily. "Coach," Shane asked, "What do you gotta' do to be like those guys in the tape. The ones who like found the stuff from the asteroid. The Iri... Iri..." "Iridium," I said, smiling fondly at him. "Yeah, the iridium. How do ya' get to do stuff like that?" "Well, you need to go to college," I told him. "Study physics and geology. That should get you started." "That's what I wanna' do," Shane declared firmly. "Okay..." I gave some thought to it. The boy deserved to be taken seriously. "Some of the guys you saw in that tape are professors at State. How would you like to meet them?" Shane's mouth dropped open. "For real, Coach?" "For real," I assured him. "This fall we'll go down to see a football game. I'll call ahead and arrange things so we spend some time with a few professors. They can show you around their labs and fill you in on what they're doing. I bet they'll have a bunch of new dinosaur bones you can see." "We can do that, Coach? We can really do that?" Shane was staring at me in disbelief. "Sure. Want to?" "Yeah! Coach, are they nice? I mean like... can you ask `em questions, like I ask you? They don't get mad?" I chuckled. "I think you'll find that they're very nice, Shane. And I promise you, the more questions you ask the more they'll like you. They love people who ask questions." "Coach... Coach..." Sean was hanging on my arm looking up anxiously, scared of being left out. "Coach, I like dinosaurs, too." I decided it was time to put his fears to rest once and for all. Picking him up, I sat him on the breakfast bar and looked directly into his eyes. "You're coming with us, Seany," I told him lovingly. "From now on, whatever Shane does you do. Always. Forever. You two have to be together. Don't forget the omen. You're linked now, identical. You and Shane, and your friend the first baseman are all intertwined somehow. So you're coming to see the professors, too." "Good," Sean said happily. "I wanna' ask `em about the animals." I stroked his hair. "What animals, son?" "All the other ones," Sean explained. "The big asteroid killed the dinosaurs, but what happened to all the other animals?" "Oh, I see. Well, a lot of them died, too, but a few survived. And do you know what? One of them - one that looked sort of like a small mouse – she had babies, and the babies had babies and in the 60 million years since then, those little mammals turned into you and me! How `bout that?" "Coach!?" Sean was positive I was teasing. "It's true," I said laughing. "You ask those professors. They'll enjoy telling you all about those animals. They can show you bones, and pictures and all kinds of things." "That's what I want to learn about," Sean told me positively. "I wanna' hunt for dinosaur bones and be a paleo... paleo..." "Paleontologist," I told him gently, stroking his fine blonde hair. "And that's just what you will be if you want that. We'll send you to college, too. Along with Shane." "If Shane goes, I have to go," Sean told me. "Cause, we're connected." "Yes," I said, nodding. "Coach," Shane declared after swallowing more pizza, "They said other asteroids have hit the earth. I'm gonna' find `em all!" I let the boys eat their fill, put the leftovers in the refrigerator and then produced a tape of `Jurassic Park'. "How `bout a movie?" Shane pounced on it. "Yeah! This is an awesome movie, Sean!" "Is it about dinosaurs?" Sean hung on his arm, looking at the picture on the front. "Yep," I told him, putting an arm around his shoulder. "Now, it does have some scary parts and I know you don't like scary movies, but the parts that are scary in this movie are scary because of the dinosaurs, not because of something bad or horrible." "I'll be okay if it's dinosaurs," Sean assured me. "I just don't like creepy stuff like Freddy Krueger movies." "I don't like those either, Sean," I told him. "And we won't ever watch those." 'Jurassic Park' was a hit. Sean leaned back against Shane and the two boys watched the whole thing enthralled. Shane had seen it before, but Sean had not and he was captivated by the special effects and the giant Tyrannosaurus. At all the scary parts he held Shane's hand, huddling back against the older boy, and Shane kept an arm around him protectively, stroking his shoulder and moving his other hand under Sean's loose shirt. Sean kept his legs spread apart and he rubbed Shane's bare thigh. I was dozing in my chair when the movie ended but woke when Shane started to rewind the tape. Sean was sprawled back against the pillows on the quilt his shirt pulled up, baring his smooth slender tummy. The front of his shorts bulged. I looked and saw that Shane was hard, too. I yawned. "I'm gonna' leave you guys to it. Stay up as late as you want. It's your party. I left matches by the pack of marshmallows on the counter. Don't set yourselves on fire. If you need anything, wake me up." "Okay, Coach," Shane told me. "Coach, can we have a deck of cards?" "Sure." I went to a drawer, got out a deck and left it next to the book of matches on the counter. Then from a cupboard I brought down a bottle of Hawaiian Tropic tanning lotion and placed it with the card deck. "Call me if you need anything," I said again. After giving both boys a pat on the butt I headed for my bedroom. I never did undress that night but lay down in the dark thinking I might as well be ready on the off chance the boys might need something. In fact, they never did. They were very quiet and I could have slept all the way through if I had wanted to. But I woke several times, listening to hear if they were all right. Once I heard the faint sound of the TV and knew they were watching some part of the Geographic special again. Later on, everything was so quiet I thought I had better check. Tiptoeing out of the bedroom I found one light on in the living area but the room was empty. I went into the hall and out the back door. It was a perfect night. The moon was down but overhead the sky glittered with stars. Light was on inside the tent making the blue fabric glow in the dark like a Chinese lantern. Next to it a few embers still smoldered in the grill. The empty remains of the marshmallow package was on the ground next to it. I heard giggles and faint whispers coming from the tent. There was a burst of muffled laughter, then silence. I listened a bit longer and was turning away when I distinctly heard one of the boys whisper, "...harder." This was followed a few seconds later by a low moan. I couldn't tell whose voice it was. Careful to make no noise I crept back inside. I slept later than usual that morning, but it was still reasonably early when I got breakfast things out and heated the stove. In the backyard I gathered the marshmallow package and picked up the grill, deliberately making as much noise as I could. Shane's sleep tousled head emerged from the flap of the tent. "What time is it, Coach?" "Just after seven. How did it go last night?" "It was neat, Coach. Sean's tent is great!" "Good," I told him smiling. "Now, I'll offer you guys a choice. If you're really tired out you can sleep as late as you want and I'll fix some food for you when you get up. But if you get up now, you can have breakfast with me and then afterward there might be a surprise." I picked up the grill and left quickly before he could decide and went into the kitchen where I started scrambling eggs, confident what their choice would be. Sure enough a minute or so later, both boys came through the door dressed only in their yellow satin shorts, both smelling of Hawaiian Tropic. I sat them at the breakfast bar, put plates of bacon and eggs in front of them and Shane looked at me with a rueful smile. "Coach, you knew which we'd pick, didn't you." "Coach always knows," Sean said, putting a big spoonful of eggs into his mouth. I talked to them while I made toast. "I suggest two things. One, we leave the tent up right where it is for the rest of the summer. That way you can use it as often as you like, whenever you want." The boys looked at each other and grinned. "The other suggestion is that you hurry up and eat so we can get going." Both heads came up. "Where Coach?" Shane asked. "Oh, I thought we'd go up on the mountain for a while." "Fishing!" Sean almost fell off his stool in excitement. "Yes! Please say it's fishing, Coach. Please!" I smiled at him. "Fishing it is. Shane's going to teach you." The two boys high fived and fell to work, shoveling food into their mouths as fast as they could. I packed the Blazer with what we needed and told them, "Take all your stuff. I'll bring you home from up there." The boys got their Nikes and shirts from the tent so we could put them with their books in the car and then we took off. Sean sat on Shane's lap in the front seat, nestled back against the older boy with Shane's arm holding him securely around his small waist. Both of Shane's hands disappeared under the younger boy's big loose shirt and Sean spread his bare legs, but it had been a long night for both of them and by the time we reached the edge of town they were dozing. They awoke about halfway up the mountain and from then on there was too much excitement for sleep. Sean looked in wonder at the magnificent view outside the window and Shane had the fun of pointing everything out to him. Up on top, as we drove over the fire road, Sean got to see all the things Shane had discovered in his previous trips with me. For the young boy it was the fulfillment of a dream. He had loved and read about animals all his life and never been given the chance to see any. Now, suddenly, the magic of the wilderness burst around him like Fourth of July fireworks. He gazed spellbound at the pine forests, the vast alpine meadows and the jagged wall of peaks to the west. Everywhere he looked there were flowers, birds and small animals. A red squirrel chattered and scolded by the side of the road as I drove us slowly by and Sean stared wide-eyed with delight. As we came near our stream I slowed the SUV and drifted around a curve. My caution was rewarded. A group of deer stood in the meadow, close by and upwind of us, not yet aware of our approach. I heard Shane catch his breath and Sean gave a soft little, "Oh" of wonder. "Don't move, boys," I told them softly. "Shane. Very slowly, see if you can open the glove box and get the binoculars out." Shane eased out the binoculars, gave them to Sean and when the boy peered through the lenses he whispered, "Oh, Coach... It's like I could touch them." "Look to the right a little," I whispered back. "In that little clump of bushes. What do you see?" "Oh!" Sean breathed. "It's a baby!" "Yes," I told him. "See? They have him hidden in there. They're protecting him. All animals protect their young." "The way you protect us," "That's right. Okay, now move left a bit. A little more. See him? That's his daddy. He's watching out for them, but he hasn't seen us yet." "I see him!" Sean whispered. "He's big!" "Can you see him, Shane?" I asked. "Uh-huh. He has little antlers." "They'll be a lot bigger in the fall. That's when he has to fight the other males." "Why does he have to fight?" Sean asked. "To see who's going to be King and get all the females," I told him. "Take a good look, Sean. You're looking at one of the largest species of deer left on our planet. The last remnants of great herds that roamed here after the last Ice Age. This fellow here looks big, but some of his extinct cousins were a lot bigger." "Wow," Sean breathed. The boys passed the binoculars back and forth so they could both look. "We have to go past them to get to our stream," I whispered. "Watch what they do when they see our truck move." I eased the Blazer into gear and started it slowly ahead. The heads of all the deer swiveled and then in the blink of an eye they bounded across the meadow and were gone, the young fawn staying close to the side of its mother. Sean stared. "Geez, they're fast!" "How do they do that?" Shane asked wonderingly. "They're very nimble and strong," I told him. "And they have big butt muscles so they can drive with their legs and move quickly. Don't you wish you could move like that when you play baseball or football?" Shane reached down and felt his rear end. "My butt's pretty strong, Coach. It kind of sticks out a lot in back and I can make it real hard if I squeeze it." I smiled and nodded. "Yup. You got a good one, Shane. That's why you can move so well at shortstop. And it's where you get your power at the plate." "Do I have a good butt, Coach?" Sean felt himself under his clothes. "Let's see it." Shane helped Sean pull his shirt up and then the boy lifted his hips and Shane pushed his shorts down revealing two pale round butt cheeks. I reached over and stroked the silky mounds. "You have a perfect butt, Sean," I assured him. "It feels real nice." Shane put his hand on Sean's butt. "Squeeze hard, Sean." The boy flexed and Shane stroked the firm muscle. "He can make `em real hard, Coach," "That's the way, Sean," I told him. Shane left the younger boy's shorts pulled down, kept stroking and Sean wiggled on his lap happily while we went the rest of the way to the stream. I parked not far from the road and did not cross to the secluded secret spot on the far side of the meadow. I wanted that to be Shane's own private place. I noticed he did not mention it or ask that we got there. After getting out of the SUV I told the boys, "Let's work on your tans." I took their shirts off and left them in the front seat of the Blazer. "I need a lot of tan on my butt," Sean said. He still had his shorts pulled down in back and he half turned looking over his shoulder, examining his pale round buttocks jutting out in back. "Mine already have some tan," Shane said. He pulled his shorts down exposing his perfectly formed mounded butt. It was lightly tanned from our last time up at the stream. "I think it's a good idea for both of you to get some sun on your butts," I told them. "Just don't go around telling anyone about it and if you hear a car coming, pull your shorts up." They both giggled. I got the bottle of Hawaiian Tropic out and spread lotion over their slender bodies, including their silky butts. I noticed both pairs of shorts were tented out in front. "Okay, Shane," I said. Let's see if we can teach this kid how to fish." For hours that morning the three of us explored the stream, wandering across the meadow and up into the wooded gorge beyond. For Sean, everything we saw or did was new and exciting. With quiet joy I watched the young boy take his first hesitant steps in the world of nature. Teaching him to fish was easy. As in baseball, the boy listened carefully, tried to do what he was told and, of course, would have done anything Shane asked. I grinned as Sean tiptoed quietly from place to place, stifling his usual exuberance, while Shane directed him to various likely spots. The contrast between the two boys was fascinating. Shane was the quiet and reserved one, yet it was he who asked the most questions. When his curiosity was roused, questions welled up in his brain like bubbles in a boiling pot. Sean, so lively and talkative on the surface, took more time to process things before giving rein to his inquisitiveness. When he did ask a question it was deep and thoughtful. And he remembered everything he was told. Hours later he might still be mulling it over and would produce the most startling things. Different in some ways, the boys were similar in many others. They both had a fierce desire to know things, to find answers, to probe and explore until they understood. And they were both competitive; not with each other, but with the rest of the world. Neither was content to simply observe; they had to act and to do. Watching them, I thought how their personalities with all their differences and similarities, meshed like the fingers of my two hands lacing together, or like interlocking proteins in a complex chemistry that catalyzed reactions in both. There could be no doubt of the bond between them. It was almost an observable, palpable thing, a strand like a live nerve, and I suspected that a similar bond, a more subtle one, joined them to my first baseman. Time would tell if that one would strengthen or eventually wither away. Fishing is a gentle art and no matter how skilled the teacher or how willing the pupil it takes time for mastery, but at long last Sean's rod bent to the weight of a strike and he gave a delighted high-pitched cry. "Shane, I got one! Shane! Coach! Look!" "I see it, son," I told him. "Bring him in now." Shane stood by ready to help as Sean fought the trout and reeled him in. The boy was dancing with excitement. He got the struggling fish into the shallows and I used the net to land him. Sean held his catch up proudly. "Coach, he's beautiful!" I smiled at my two beautiful boys; Shane with his arm on his friend's slender shoulders, Sean holding his first fish, bouncing with suppressed excitement, their perfect, almost nude bodies gleaming in the mountain sunlight. A lump formed in my throat and I had to brush my eyes. "It's a wonderful fish, Sean," I told the boy in a husky voice. I helped him to get it off the hook and put my finger through the gill to carry it. "We can eat it, can't we Coach?" Sean asked eagerly. "We can like have it for lunch." "We can eat it," I assured him. "I'll put in the cooler so it'll be ready for us." I stroked Shane's rounded shoulder. "Keep an eye on him. I'll be right back. Let's see how many more you guys can catch." Shane smiled up at me and nodded. "Come on, Sean," he told the eager youngster. "I see another good spot." I went up to the Blazer, put the fish into the ice chest and then stood for a moment drinking in the glorious view to the west. Please, I thought. Please bless my two boys and let them always be as happy as they are today. Then I walked back through the thick grass of the meadow, down toward the stream. I chuckled to myself as I heard Shane reminding an exuberant Sean to keep quiet so as not to scare the fish. Moving slowly, I crept up and watched for a while, unobserved. The boys were on the bank by a little pool beneath some rocks, Sean trying to cast his line to the place where Shane pointed. The play of light and shadow over their slender bodies revealed the swell of muscle beneath silky skin. As Sean finally got his line were Shane wanted it, the older boy stroked the younger one's back. Then his hand drifted down to Sean's mounded butt and as he moved his palm back and forth Sean looked up at him and smiled. Taking one hand off the fishing pole he put it on the bulge in Shane's crotch and rubbed. I moved silently back out of sight, waited for a while, and then approached with more noise. The boys' heads turned as I came up. "Sssshh..." Shane warned me. "We're after one over there by that rock." I nodded without saying anything. Sean's line drifted in the current. Suddenly it went taut and the rod bent. "I got him! I got him!" Sean cried excitedly. "Shane, I got him!" The fish struggled furiously, but with Shane's help Sean finally brought him in. "That's two, Coach! Two!" Sean jumped happily up and down as I hugged him. "That's my boy. You're learning fast. Now don't forget to give Shane a turn, too." "That's okay, Coach," Shane said. "I caught a lot last time. Let Sean keep trying." While the second catch went into the ice chest the boys scampered to a new location. They fished up and down the stream for the rest of the morning and caught one more fish; a nice one, but not as big as the second one, which was the prize of the day. "This must have been the big granddaddy fish," I told the boys as I cleaned it. I had inflated the air mattress and put it by the Blazer. The little grill was already lit and its charcoal was starting to glow. Shane lay face down on the mattress, watching me gut the fish. Standing nearby, Sean turned his head to look over his shoulder at his perky butt. "I think my butt's getting' tan," he announced. "Let's be sure you don't burn it," I told him. "Shane, maybe you better put some more lotion on him." Shane rose quickly and got the bottle of tanning oil. Sean went over to him and lay face down on the mat. Shane knelt beside him, his own naked butt jutting out behind, and pulled Sean's shorts down even further. He spread oil over the young boy's silky skin with slow circular motions of his palms. Sean twisted and wiggled slightly as the older boy's hands moved on him. "Coach," he asked suddenly, "Can I take my shorts off? Then I can get tan everywhere like Shane." I looked around. "I don't think you better do that." I told him reluctantly. "We're too close to the road here. You and Shane can do that some other time when I take you to a more private spot." "When, Coach?" Shane asked me. He turned Sean over. The boy sprawled out on the mat with his eyes closed and his slender arms stretched over his head. His satin shorts were pulled down so far that the base of his rigid little penis was visible under the waistband where the erect shaft tented up the cloth. Shane spread lotion over his friend's chest and delicate lean belly. Sean sighed happily and stretched. I finished cleaning the fish. "I'll take you guys once the season's done," I told them. "We'll need several days for that trip. It takes time to get into the back country." "You mean up there?" Shane pointed to the western mountains. "Yup. Up there." Shane gave me a happy smile. "Coach, I wish we could go today. I want to go so bad." "Be patient. I'll get you there." "Where are we going, Shane?" Sean asked, opening his eyes. "Over there..." Shane pointed. Sean arched his body, stretching his head back to look at the mountains upside down. "Coach, we're goin' there! Awesome!" "I think you'll find it interesting," I said, smiling. "Now, put some oil on Shane like he just did for you. I don't want him burning to a crisp either." The boys exchanged places and Shane lay on his stomach with his head pillowed on his arms while Sean knelt beside him. The young boy's shorts were down so far they were nearly off his hips, his pale butt a gleaming white in contrast to the tan on the rest of his body. He pulled Shane's shorts down as far as he could and spread lotion on the firm jut of his friend's butt cheeks as Shane flexed them into a tight ball. "Shane's butt is wicked hard, Coach," Sean told me. "Yup. He's strong. He's been doing the exercises I gave him." "I've been teaching them to Sean," Shane said, lifting his head and looking over at me. "It's OK if I do `em, isn't it Coach?" Sean asked. "Yes!" I assured him. "It's the best thing in the world. Shane does them twice a day. Do you think you could?" Sean nodded. He was rubbing lotion into Shane's firm tapered back. "I can do it, Coach." "You guys are awesome if you can do that. This fall I'm going to buy you a weight set." "For real, Coach?" Shane lifted his head. "With like a bench an' everything?" "Everything," I told him. "Your brother and I will set it up and you can both use it." Sean turned Shane over and the boy stretched in the light. "That will be so neat." He was so hard I could see the tip of his boy stick quivering under the shorts where it strained against the satin cloth. Sean had pulled the waist of the shorts down so far they were hooked on the engorged shaft. Sean rubbed tanning oil onto the creases at the top of Shane's thighs and then he stroked his slippery palm over his friend's hard rigid stomach. Shane spread his legs and stretched again. His eyes closed. "I'll start these fish cooking," I told Sean. Winking at him I moved a fist up and down quickly. "Make sure you get that lotion on him all over." The young boy grinned. I turned my back and tended to the fish. Behind me I heard Shane moan and there was a sound of him shifting position on the air mattress. He gave another soft cry, "Uhh..." The mattress rustled again and then the boy was panting, "Ah... Ah... Ah... Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhh..." Afterwards there was silence for a while. When I turned back to look Shane lay sprawled on the air mattress, arms thrown behind his head, his knees pulled up and sagging apart. The shorts were completely off his hips. Sean was stroking the taut surface of his friend's stomach and Shane's young defined body was glistening with oil. After a while the boys both sat up to eat. The fish were delicious as always and my two young charges devoured everything with growing-boy appetite. Afterwards, I settled back comfortably on the mattress with the boys on either side of me, both snuggled close, their smooth nearly naked bodies pressed against me and their heads resting on my shoulders. Sean held my arm and Shane put his hand up on my chest and stroked slowly. I could feel their hard erections jutting into my sides. My arms held them both, stroking their firm slender backs. I began to talk about the things we had seen that morning. The animals, the stream and its fish, the wall of peaks on the skyline. "Tell again how the mountains got to be, Coach," Shane asked dreamily. He twisted his hips against my side to rub and squirmed even closer while I stroked his tousled blonde head and hugged his shoulders. "Long, long ago - hundreds and hundreds of millions of years ago," I started, softly, "There was a great sea where we are now..." I went on to tell of the formation of the rocks from the bodies of billions of shellfish, and how the sea and the shores around it had teemed with life. "... Especially the dinosaurs, the great lizards who ruled everything..." Then I told them of the coming of the great asteroid that hit the planet so hard it made the earth's crust ring like a huge bell, causing tremendous earthquakes and volcanic action. "The dust from the explosions surrounded the earth in clouds, blocking the sunlight, killing all the plants and changing the climate," I whispered, "After ruling the earth for 250 million years, the dinosaurs were killed off by the billions and thus the most successful animals the earth has ever produced passed away. But here, where we are now, the mountain building had begun. Inch by inch over thousands of centuries, the land rose..." I looked down. The two boys lay absolutely still against me, their breathing soft and regular. They were both fast asleep. Love for them, so strong it was almost painful, rose up in me. I wanted to hold them like this, keeping them safe and protected, forever. I lay still, holding their warm precious bodies to me, listening to their hearts beat. For a long time I held them, willing time to stop and then at length gave a little sigh. Already the moment I would have given anything to preserve had flowed into the irretrievable past, moving further away with every beat of the hearts in the tender forms nestled against me. Already, even as we lay there peacefully in the summer sunshine, time was working within us. In the years to come the boys would change. So would I, but not as much. The only thing time could not touch was my love and determination to help them realize all their dreams. Very slowly I untangled myself and got up. Two slender bodies remained curled on the mattress, sleeping deeply. I took the little grill down to the stream and dumped the fire, drowning the ashes. Then I sat for a while just listening to the water rushing in its bed. When I came back the boys were still asleep. Sean had rolled against Shane and they were nestled together like spoons, Sean's rounded butt tucked in tight against Shane's tummy. Both shorts had slipped down, Sean's almost to his knees and his little boner was straining out from his body, quivering with his heartbeat. He slept with his head pillowed on Shane's arm, long delicate lashes down over his eyes and his small mouth parted. I cleaned up the campsite, moving very quietly. Then I got the boys' two books from the car and went through them quickly. It was time to give them more to work on. The box of things I had bought for them was in the back of the Blazer and I reached in for two books, 'The Study of Geology' and 'Great Baseball Stories for Boys' and put them into Shane's bag of belongings. There were two other books still left, 'Buffalo and Beaver' and 'The Boy Who Only Hit Homers'. I put the bag up front where I could get at it. The boys slept for another hour or so while I killed the time with little chores, fiddling around with my lineups for the last games coming up that week and the playoffs in the week to follow. Then I got the binoculars out for some spotting. The sun was moving down past midafternoon when I found something interesting. I went to the air mattress, tapped it and the boys' eyelids fluttered. "Wake up, guys. There's something you should see." They came awake slowly, drugged with sun and sleep. Shane caressed Sean and helped him get his shorts pulled up. They crawled over to the corner of the mat where I was sitting with the binoculars and we let Sean look first. "He's hard to see," I told him. "He's in that thicket way across the gorge. Look by the dead trees there. You can see him when he moves." The boy straightened and caught his breath. "I see him!" He watched, fascinated. "Shane, it's a bear!" He kept looking a while longer and then passed the binoculars to his friend. "Coach, what kind is he? Is he a grizzly? What's he doing?" "He's messing around with a dead tree," Shane said, after finding the animal. "I think he's having lunch," I told them. "He's probably after grubs. No, he's not a grizzly, Sean. The last grizzly left here long ago. He's just a little black bear. They like it up here in the summer." The boys kept watching, passing the binoculars back and forth. "This is so much cooler than just seeing them in pictures," Shane said. "Coach, can the bear eat us?" Sean asked anxiously. "No," I assured him. "If he could get over here he might have wanted some of those fish you caught, but that big gorge is in the way and he'd have to come too far. Besides, they usually try to avoid people." When the bear lumbered off I got up. "Sun's getting' lower, boys. Time for us to be goin'." "Do we have to, Coach?" Sean said in dismay. "It feels like we only just got here," Shane told me. I smiled. "Time always goes fast up here." I opened the valve on the mattress and it slowly collapsed as Sean watched sadly. "I wish we didn't have to leave." "There'll be lots and lots of other times," I promised him. The boys helped pack everything into the Blazer and as we got ready to start I told them to put their shirts on, warning, "It gets cool up here as the sun drops." While they were pulling their shirts on, I reached into my pocket for a flat piece of shale I had found earlier and dropped it when they were not looking. Then, after waiting a few seconds I pointed. "Hey... Check this out..." Shane scurried over, picked up the rock, brushed it off and stared. "Coach, look..." He handed it to me and both boys crowded against my sides, watching as I studied it. "It's a fossil," I told them. On one side of the flat stone was the perfect imprint of a small fern, the stem and lacy pattern of leaves showing clearly. "Hundreds of millions of years ago that plant was growing here on the shores of the great inland sea," I told them. "When it died it was buried in the mud and left its imprint when the mud got squeezed into rock." Shane took the rock and the boys peered at it, fascinated. He handed it to Sean who took it carefully and held it as if it were a precious jewel. "200 million years," I said quietly. "You're holding all that right in your hands, Sean." The boy looked up at me with his eyes shining. "Shane," I said, "Why don't we let Sean keep this as a souvenir of his first fishing trip to the mountains." Shane smiled at me and gave his young friend a hug around the shoulders. Sean carried his rock proudly to the Blazer and held it carefully as he climbed into Shane's lap on the front seat. "Coach, I'm gonna' start a rock collection," he told me. "Excellent idea, Seany," I said and made a mental note to buy him a book on the subject the next day. "I have agates I found out at the ranch," Shane told him. "I'll give you some nice ones." Sean leaned back against Shane's chest happily and I saw that his friend's hands were already busy beneath his big loose shirt. The boy shifted a little and spread his bare legs. "This is so awesome," he said, looking at his fossil. The trip back down was enlivened by Shane's questions about bears. He wanted to know how often I had seen them, how many I thought there were, what they ate, and whether or not they really hibernated in the winter. "Yup, they really do," I said, laughing. "For part of the winter, anyway. And you don't want to meet them in the spring when they've just woken up and are really hungry after not eating for so long! You've heard the expression 'hungry as a bear?' Well, that's where it comes from." Sean listened to all this with interest as he sprawled on Shane's lap. He twisted his body a little from time to time and occasionally arched his head up and back so he could smile at Shane. He kept his rock held tight in his left hand, but I noticed his right was down out of sight on Shane's bare thigh. We made the long drive out to Shane's ranch, but when it was time for him to get out he was reluctant. "I wish I could stay with you, Coach." "We'll be spending a lot more time together soon," I promised. "I'll see you at practice tomorrow. Just be patient. And don't forget your exercises." "I won't. Don't you forget `em either, Sean. We're gonna' get really strong." "I'll do them, Shane," the younger boy assured him. As he was climbing out of the SUV I handed him his bag. "Look on top and you'll see a little surprise I got for you, son." Shane dug into the bag eagerly. "Coach!" he cried in delight. Sean scrambled to look, too. "What is it, Shane?" Shane held up the two new books and Sean reached for them. "Shane, you're so lucky!" He leafed through the one on baseball, looking at the pictures. I winked at Shane over the boy's head. "I think you'll find that when we get home there'll be something for you, too, Sean," I told him. Sean's blonde head lifted. "It's a book, isn't it? What is it? Tell me, Coach, please..." He took hold of my arm and looked up pleadingly. "Just be patient. It's a surprise." The boy was bouncing in his seat in anticipation. We said goodbye to Shane and headed back to town. Sean sat up on the edge of the seat looking out at the vast empty rangeland. "Watch for antelope, Seany," I told him. "Sometimes you see them here." The boy kept his hands on the dashboard looking all around. He was still bouncing a little in repressed excitement, but seemed very happy. Suddenly he said, "You like Shane a lot, don't you, Coach." It was a statement, not a question. "Very, very much, Sean." He bounced some more, and then asked, "Do you like me, too?" I reached over to pat him. "You know I do, Sean. I like you just as much as I like Shane." He moved to lean against me and hold my arm. "I really like you a lot, Coach." I slowed the Blazer so the ride to town would take a little longer and put an arm around Sean to let him snuggle close. He curled up on the seat, pressing against me while I stroked his smooth warmth through the shirt. Sean reached down and slid the shirt up so my hand would be on his bare skin. I slid my palm across the silky hollow of his waist and then over his lean tummy. The boy buried his face against my shoulder, trying to hug clumsily. My hand pushed beneath the waist of his shorts, found his stiff three inches and Sean pulled up his thigh, shifting position so I could rub up and down its full-length. I moved my fingers gently, sliding them over his sensitive tip and Sean quivered. I felt his hard shaft throb. "Coach, I wanna' stay with you," he told me in a soft whisper. "I know, son," I told him tenderly. "I'm trying to fix it so you can. I have to take you home now, though. Be patient." He squeezed his butt tight and twisted as I rubbed faster. "Can I come over the way Shane does?" "Yes, Sean, I want you to," I told him in a loving whisper. He hugged me again. I kept stroking him. "Oh!" The young boy gave a sudden soft cry. "Oooo!" His slender arms tightened on me and his whole body shuddered. Beneath my fingers his rigid boy stick throbbed in a series of pulses and he pulled his bare thigh up farther, pressing against me. "Coach, I like this." "So do I," I whispered. Before we got home I had him sit back up in his seat and straighten his clothes. When we parked in front of his mother's trailer I turned and got the bag with the books. "I hope you like these, son," I told him. "You can start on one tonight." Sean opened the bag and looked in excitedly. "Oooo!" He cried in delight, exactly as he called out as I was rubbing him. "One is about a boy who learns all sorts of things about the animals that used to live here," I told him. "And the other is a baseball story I think you might like." Sean held the books, staring at them happily. I reached over and stroked his fine blonde hair. "I love you, son," I said softly. He looked up and gave me a heartbreaking little smile. I helped him pack his books and his precious souvenir rock in the bag. "Enjoy your books, Sean. Don't forget your exercises. I'll see you at practice tomorrow." The boy got out of the Blazer reluctantly. He turned to wave twice before going into his trailer. [ To Be Continued In Parts H thru K ] *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*- Hope you enjoyed it! This baseball series has a 'long' short story for every position. Look for a new chapter or two each month. Thanks for taking the time to read my story and if you'd like to comment, my e-mail address is: hunterjoe45@yahoo.com I will try to answer all serious mailings. My on-line access is very limited. Rants and ravings will not get consideration. To all you readers who enjoy these stories, please support Nifty with contributions and keep the Archive online. Check the Nifty home page for ways to make contributions. Without this Archive those of us who write for you will lose a wonderful resource to get our stories out. You can find links to all my other stories on Nifty under my name, Joe Hunter, listed under the J's (for Joe) in the prolific authors list. To get that list click the Authors tab at the top of the Nifty home page and then select 'Prolific Authors'. I hope you will read and enjoy! All the Best. Joe