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by
Erastes
Copyright 2018 by Erastes
Chapter
4 - Our First Problem.
While I was fixing breakfast Sunday morning, I glanced out the window and noticed the sky was overcast. I hadn't been paying attention to the weather report and wasn't expecting this, so I quickly turned on the TV to see what the forecast was for today. Before long, I discovered there was a sixty percent chance of scattered showers, but it didn't mean it was definitely going to rain. However, I quickly made a new plan, just to be safe. We weren't going to stay at the park anyway, but I had something else in mind that would take place at an outdoor location, so I hurriedly switched gears, just in case there was a shower.
I was giddy as I drove over to pick up Noah, because I was eager to see my little buddy again. He quickly spotted my car, so I didn't have to honk the horn this time, and he raced over and climbed into the passenger seat. "Are we goin' to your house again?"
"Yes. We'll go there first, so you can change into one of the new outfits I bought you."
"Do I have tuh shower too?"
"I don't think you got that dirty yesterday, so I guess you can skip that, if you want."
"Yeah, and I'll wear the same clothes as yesterday too."
"Why don't you wear one of the other outfits instead?"
"But I didn't get those clothes dirty."
"I know, but I'd like to see how you look in something else this time."
"K, I'll do that then."
As soon as we got to the bedroom, Noah began taking off what he was wearing, and I quickly discovered he was going commando again. I didn't know if he did this because he didn't have underwear at home, or if he just liked going without them, but I opened the package of underwear so he could put on a pair. I also set out the other pair of shorts and another shirt for him to wear, and once he was dressed we went outside and hopped in the car.
"Dang, it's startin' to rain," Noah whined when he saw the water droplets hitting the windshield.
"Yes, I knew it might, so I planned something we could do even in the rain."
I drove to the mall and parked near the cinema entrance, which caused Noah to look at me strangely, so I knew he was wondering what I had planned.
"What are we doin' here?" he finally asked.
"Since it looks like it's going to rain, I thought we would watch a movie today. Is that ok with you?"
"Aren't movies 'spensive?"
"Don't worry, cuz I can afford it. Let's just go see what's playing and you can decide which movie you'd prefer to see."
We hurriedly made our way inside and looked at the posters and the board listing what was playing, along with the times, but there didn't appear to be much to choose from that was suitable for kids. Eventually, Noah chose 'The Nut Job 2: Nutty by Nature', and I bought the tickets. I then led him to the concession stand and bought each of us a drink, along with a bucket of popcorn to share, before we made our way into the theater. After finding a good place to sit and getting comfortable, we began to eat the popcorn and sip our drinks as we waited for the previews to begin.
"I've only been to one movie b'fore this, but we didn't get popcorn or nuttin' to drink that time."
"I like doing it this way, so help yourself to the popcorn."
After watching the trailers, the movie came on and it turned out to be quite funny. It was an animated film and the main characters were animals, and we both laughed at their antics on the screen. The premise was that the animals wanted to save the park, because the mayor wanted to bulldoze it so he could build an amusement park to make money. I think that struck a chord pretty close to home, because Noah commented about it when the movie ended.
"I hope they never try to tear down our park, cuz I'd miss it if it wasn't there."
"Yes, I'd miss it too. Not only wouldn't I have a lovely spot to eat my lunch when the weather was nice, but we wouldn't have a great place to hang out either."
"Yeah, that's what I was thinkin'."
When we got back to the house I made lunch, and this time I decided to prepare spaghetti.
"Do you like salad, Noah?"
"You mean with lettuce and dressin'?"
"Yes, that kind of salad."
"Do you have Ranch dressin', cuz that's what I like best?"
"Yes, I do, because I like it too."
I made a small salad for each of us while the spaghetti was cooking and the sauce was heating up. While we were waiting for that to get done, I carried the salads, the bottle of dressing, a loaf of Italian bread, and the butter into the dining area and set everything on the table. When the food was ready, I fixed us both a plate of spaghetti and carried those to the table as well, before going back to get each of us a drink, and then we sat down to eat.
I noticed that Noah was a little heavy handed with the dressing when he put it on his salad, but he didn't waste any of it. He even used a slice of Italian bread to wipe up the excess dressing in the bowl after he finished eating the rest, since he apparently didn't want to waste any of it. He then dove into his plate of spaghetti, and I took a minute to teach him how to roll a couple of strands around his fork so it wouldn't be quite as messy. When he finished, he grabbed another slice of bread and mopped up the extra sauce on his plate as well, so it looked as if he took his mother's warning to heart about not wasting food. As he put the last scrap of bread covered in spaghetti sauce into his mouth, I asked a question.
"Are you full now?"
"Stuffed."
"I'm not surprised. You ate quite a bit."
"And lots of popcorn at the movie too."
"I almost forgot about that. So what do you want to do next."
"I just want to sit with you and watch TV until my tummy doesn't feel so full."
"We can definitely do that."
I controlled the remote, but I let him choose what he wanted to watch, and we ended up switching between the Disney and Nickelodeon channels over the next couple of hours. He sat so his body was pressed tightly against mine, so I lifted my arm and wrapped it around his shoulders to let him know it was all right and I enjoyed doing this as well. He then rested his head against my chest as he watched the screen, and we did that until it was nearly time for him to leave.
"You'd better go change into your other clothes so I can take you home."
"K, but I wish I could stay here with you."
"Don't you want to go home to see your mom?"
"Yeah, but I like bein' here with you too."
"And I like being with you as well, but it's time for me to take you back now, because I don't want your mother to get upset."
"Yeah, I know."
He went to my bedroom and changed into what he wore here, and then we got in the car so I could drive him home. I dropped him off at the end of the road leading into the trailer park again, and he waved at me as I drove away. I really hated to leave, so I drove away slowly and watched as he walked in the direction of his trailer. I'd see him at the park again tomorrow when we ate lunch together, as long as it didn't rain, but if it did I might just drive there anyway to see if he was waiting for me. If he was, I guess we could always eat lunch in the car for a change.
When I returned to the house, I changed into my jogging gear and went for a run. It didn't matter if it happened to rain, as long as it wasn't a thunderstorm, because I always worked up quite a sweat doing this anyway. When I finished, I showered, put on another pair of shorts, and headed out to the kitchen to start dinner. I knew it would take a while before it was ready, so I should be hungry by then.
The rest of the night was kind of a blur, because my mind was filled with thoughts of Noah and I couldn't concentrate on anything else. I enjoyed spending time with him and watching as he tried on all of the new clothes I'd bought him. He was very appreciative of everything I did on his behalf, and he even seemed concerned that I was spending too much money, so how could I not be impressed? Later, when I fell asleep, I was still thinking about him.
After getting to work the next day, I spent the morning completely focused on my job, and then I went to meet Noah at the park for lunch. It was still slightly overcast, but luckily it wasn't raining, so we'd still be able to eat our lunch together. I'd even tossed a towel in the car before I headed to work earlier, and I took it with me to dry off our favorite bench before we sat down. Other than that, it was just a normal lunch hour, and once again Noah thanked me for bringing enough for him.
About a half hour after I got back from lunch, I noticed it was raining and wondered if Noah had been able to get to his trailer before it started. It was merely a mild, summer storm, though, so it wasn't a big deal. Even if he did get a little wet, he wouldn't melt, and I was sure he liked playing in the rain, just like most kids.
I ate my lunch with Noah every day that week, and he never said if he'd got caught in the rain, and I forgot to ask. While we were eating on Friday, Noah had a question for me. "Are we gonna stay here at the park tuh-morrow, cuz the other boys want to know?"
"Would you like to do that again?"
"Yeah, and they do too."
"Ok, then we'll plan on staying at the park tomorrow and I'll try to think up another adventure for us to go on."
"Good. I'll tell them when I see 'em here later. They really like you too."
"And I like them, and I'm glad we're able to include your friends in our little adventures."
On the walk back to my office, I was already feeling pressure to come up with something spectacular we could do the following day. I didn't want to disappoint the boys, especially Noah, because it seemed as if our weekend adventures had moved him up a rung on the social ladder. The other boys were apparently coming to him to verify what we were going to do, which pleased me, and I didn't want anything to happen that would change this.
Although I had to focus on my job, I'd occasionally have a moment of inspiration and would take a second to jot down a note on a sheet of paper so I wouldn't forget it later. By the time I was ready to leave at the end of the day, I picked up the paper, which now had several ideas written on it, folded it up, and placed it in my pocket. I'd see which idea I could flesh out into something workable for the next day.
When I reached the house, I quickly changed into my jogging clothes. I wanted to have as much time as possible to work on an idea for tomorrow, but I didn't want to stop working out to do it, so I decided to get that out of the way first. However, I also continued thinking about what I could do with the boys as I made my way around my normal route, in an attempt to kill two birds with one stone, so to speak.
After making my final dash back to the house, I went inside, stripped, and showered quickly before heading to the kitchen to fix dinner. I went with a very simple meal tonight and merely fixed myself a fish sandwich with a side of sliced carrots and a small salad. It was easy to put together, and it gave me a chance to catch my breath before I ate.
When I finished eating, I cleaned up the dirty dishes before I went to work out the details of the idea I'd formulated during my jog. I spent over an hour doing that, and then I made a quick run to the store to pick up a few items I needed to make this even better. I was thrilled that it was coming together so well, but it meant I'd have to get up even earlier than usual in the morning so I could beat the boys to the park. If I was going to pull this off, there were a few things I had to do before they showed up, especially if I wanted to make it fun for them.
I was so excited about doing this that I had trouble falling asleep, but I knew I had everything I would need for this new adventure. I left it all on the table so I'd be able to grab it on my way out the door in the morning. I just hoped the kids would be as excited doing this as I was when I prepared it for them.
When the alarm went off in the morning, I jumped out of bed and started getting ready. I'd set the alarm so I wouldn't oversleep, and I dressed quickly, went out to the kitchen, and merely fixed myself a bowl of cereal before I grabbed everything I needed and headed out to the car. I was going over what I still had to do in my head and hoped I'd get it all done before any of the boys showed up.
I actually finished ahead of time and had a chance to sit on the bench as I waited for them to arrive. Noah got there first, and a few minutes later when Gus and Sam joined us, and they immediately confronted me.
"Hey, you guys weren't here last week. How come?" Gus demanded looking perturbed.
"We had something else planned for Saturday, and then it rained on Sunday, so we did something else that day as well. I'm sorry if you were waiting here for us."
"Yeah, we were, but it's ok. That's why we asked Noah if you were gonna be here this week," Sam explained. "So what are we gonna do today?"
"I was trying to think of an adventure, but I couldn't come up with anything, so I have no idea what we're going to do," I replied, but then Gus saw something.
"Hey, what's this paper doing here? It says 'Secret' on it."
"I don't know. Maybe you should open it and see what it says."
"It's a note. It says: 'I'm a pirate who has sailed the seven seas and I've hidden a fabulous treasure. If you want to discover where the chest containing my booty lies, then you'll have to follow a series of clues to get there. Miss one, or get it wrong, and the treasure will remain hidden forever. Follow the clues correctly and you'll get your hands on my golden fortune.' Do you think we should do it?"
"What do you boys think?"
"Yeah, let's find the treasure!" Noah shouted, eager to began.
"Does the note say anything else, because it didn't tell us where to find the treasure or what any of the clues were. It just told us there were clues?" I replied, trying to get them started.
"Yeah, at the bottom it says: 'If you kiss me I won't turn into a prince, but I can lead you to the next clue.' What's that sposed to mean?" Gus asked as he looked at me confused.
"I don't know. Maybe we should think about it."
"In one of the fairy tales a princess kisses a frog and it turns into a handsome prince, so is that what it's talkin' bout?" Sam wondered.
"Maybe, so I guess we should start looking around for a frog with a note attached to it. Let's listen and see if we can hear one croak."
"How bout the frog I rode on when we battled the cannibals?" Noah asked. "You know, the one on the spring that rocks back and forth."
"Hey, that's a great idea, so maybe you should go check it out."
The three boys went racing off in that direction, and before long I saw Noah holding up another sheet of paper. "I found this stuck under the frog," he announced as he brought it back to me.
"Does it have anything written on it?"
"Yeah, it says: 'Don't get dizzy riddin' the waves, cuz ya got to cross the river to get to the treasure.' I don't know what that's sposed to mean, though, cuz there's no river here."
"Hey, the first time we did this we pretended the merry-go-round was a boat and we used it to cross a river," Sam pointed out. "Do you think there's a note there?"
"I'm not sure. Why don't you go look?"
All three boys raced over there next, and this time Sam was holding a piece of paper in the air. I guess the boys were letting the one who solved the riddle to get the next clue and bring it back to me.
"What does the note say?"
"It's says, 'When I drink too much rum, I usually just find a tree to water, but this place is too open, so I'll have to find someplace where I can do it in private.' I guess it means he hasta pee."
"It would seem that way."
"The bathroom!" they all screamed in unison as they took off for the men's room. Before long, Gus was holding a piece of paper in the air.
"Ok, what's written on this one?"
"Up in the crow's nest, where the bird lays it's eggs, you'll find the next clue to lead you to my treasure.' What the heck is that sposed to mean? There's no crows 'round here."
"I'm not sure, but there are other things people refer to as the crow's nest," I stated. "On a ship, it's the top most lookout point where the sailors can see other ships or land when they're still far away."
"Hey, I used the tower when I was lookin' out for pirates the first time we did this," Noah stated. "Do you think there's somethin' there?"
"I don't know. Maybe you should go look." Once again they raced off, and I was thrilled that no one else was at the park this morning, because they could have messed this up by removing the clues from where I'd hidden them. The boys seemed to be enjoying this, and I was glad it was working out so well.
"I got it!" Noah shouted as he held up the paper so I could see it while he was still up in the tower.
"Great! Bring it here so we can see what it says." He then came racing back.
"It says: 'The treasure is buried under some rocks at the edge of the jungle that's located at the center of the island.' Hey, there's no jungle here and this ain't no island!"
"Maybe not in the usual sense, but this is sort of an island we come to on the weekend so we can have fun and forget about things for a while," I countered.
"And there's a bunch of bushes over there, so maybe that could be the jungle the note is talkin' bout," Sam suggested.
"Yeah, let's go check it out," Noah agreed.
The boys went racing over to that area next and quickly began to look around. After a couple of minutes, Gus shouted out. "Hey, here's a pile of stones, so this might be the place, but I'm worried there might be snakes in there."
"Just check it out carefully, because there aren't any poisonous snakes around here," I offered.
Gus was still hesitant about doing it, so Noah started moving the stones instead. He'd only dislodged a few of them when his face lit up. "I found the treasure chest!" he shouted as he bent down, tossed a few more stones off to the side, and picked it up.
It was a small plastic chest that looked like something a pirate might use, and he came running up to show me what he'd found. "Is there anything inside?" I asked, since he hadn't looked.
He opened the lid, and inside were chocolate coins wrapped in gold foil. "It appears that you boys have found the treasure. Good job, men!"
"Is that candy?" Sam asked, not quite sure.
"I believe they're chocolate doubloons," I suggested. "It's almost lunchtime, so why don't you boys split up the 'loot', but save it until after you've eaten.
They agreed and began to count them out, but they were setting a share aside for me too. "Hey, you boys did all the work, so you get all of the treasure. I don't deserve any of it."
"But you helped too," Noah stated as he looked up at me.
"Not really, but even if I did, I don't need any candy. You boys deserve it, so split them up and enjoy."
They didn't have a problem doing as I asked and split the treasure up between them. They each took their share and Gus and Sam started off for home, but not before thanking me for another great time. I had Noah follow me to the car carrying his share in the treasure chest so I could take him to my place for lunch.
"That was fun and I liked lookin' for the clues. Thanks for doin' that for us."
"Hey, I didn't do it. I'm not a pirate. Where would I get any treasure from?"
Noah looked over and gave me a sly grin. "You ain't foolin' me. I know you did this."
I didn't argue and continued driving to the house. When we got there, I boiled hot dogs and made some Kraft macaroni and cheese. I knew it was something Noah would enjoy and then he'd still have room left over for his well-earned treat. He was happy we were making our lunch this time, rather than going out, since he said he was worried that I'd been spending too much money. This seemed to appease him, and I was happy to have him all to myself.
"What do you want to do now?" I asked when we finished eating.
"I just want to spend time with you."
"Do you want to see if there's a movie on TV?"
"Yeah, let's do that."
Today, we found 'The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe' on one of the channels, so we settled down on the sofa to watch it. Seeing Noah had never seen this film before, it was new and exciting for him, so he was thrilled and eager to do this. I just liked being able to have him cuddle against me as we watched the screen.
When the movie ended, Noah turned in his seat and looked at me. "That was neat, but I'd be scared to be around a big lion. And those kids were doin' stuff like we do at the park."
"Yes, but for them it was real, not pretend like we do."
"I know, but I like doin' it pretend, cuz we can't get hurt. So what are we gonna do tuh-morrow?"
"I don't know yet. Do you want to do something at the park again, or maybe try something else?"
"Gus and Sam want us to meet them at the park again. They like doin' this stuff with us."
"Ok, then I'll try to think of something else we can do, but it's time for you to go home now."
"Ok, and today was really fun."
I dropped Noah off at the end of the road leading into the trailer park again, and we waved at each other as I drove away. For being so worried about today, it went really well, so now I had to come up with another idea for tomorrow. Once I got back to the house, I grabbed the paper I'd written down all of the various ideas and tried to see if something else stuck out. Nothing did, so I changed to go out for my jog. I would think about what we might be able to do as I ran around the neighborhood, and hopefully I'd come up with something.
By the time I finished my nightly run, I thought I had a rough idea about what I was going to do the next day, so I showered and got ready for bed.
I didn't have to rush quite as much the next morning, so I fixed a little better breakfast, took my time enjoying it, and then I drove over to the park to meet the boys. Noah was waiting for me on the bench, and since the other boys weren't there yet, he asked if I'd push him on the swings until they arrived. I didn't have a problem with that and was pushing him higher and higher when I saw Gus, Sam, and a woman walking in our direction.
Seeing the other two boys weren't alone, and the woman had a mean expression on her face, I suddenly felt a knot forming in the pit of my stomach. I stopped pushing Noah, and as I watched them approach the knot continued growing larger and tighter. It felt as if it had just doubled in size when I saw Gus lift his arm and point in my direction, because the woman quickened her pace and veered directly toward me.
"What the hell are you doing hanging here and playing with these young boys? My son says you've been doing different things with them quite a few times already, and yesterday you gave them candy!"
"It's, uh, not as bad as it sounds," I stammered, knowing I was merely playing defense against a fierce momma bear. I also felt I was about to watch my world come crashing down around me.
* * * * * * * *
E-mail responses to the stories, story suggestions, or other 'constructive' comments or advice may be sent to: ErastesTouch@aol.com - but please put the story title in the subject line, so it doesn't get deleted as junk mail.
My other stories:
http://www.nifty.org/nifty/gay/adult-youth/different-points-of-view/
http://www.nifty.org/nifty/gay/adult-youth/a-throw-away-kid/
http://www.nifty.org/nifty/gay/adult-youth/the-guardian/
http://www.nifty.org/nifty/gay/adult-youth/chance-of-a-lifetime/
http://www.nifty.org/nifty/gay/adult-youth/all-the-worlds-a-stage/
* * * * * * * *
Although the boys in these stories sometimes have unprotected sex, I strongly urge all of you out there to be smart and protect yourselves from various sexually transmitted diseases by using taking appropriate precautions before engaging in sex.