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Chapter 7 – A Partial Reprieve.
When I met Noah for lunch on Monday afternoon, he was eager to tell me something. "My mom wasn't mad about me stayin' both nights, but she says you shouldn't keep buyin' me so much stuff."
"I'm glad she wasn't mad, and tell her I promise I won't buy anything else for a while."
"Yeah, I told her you said that when you bought the last stuff for me."
"That's good, and I hope it made her happy."
"Yeah, she said she was glad to hear that."
We also talked about what he might like to do over the weekend, and I quickly discovered he was open to just about anything, as long as we did it together. I was thrilled that he felt this way, so I would try to plan something he'd enjoy.
We had lunch at the park again on Tuesday and Wednesday as well, and on Wednesday Noah shared some other information with me. "I saw Sam this mornin' and he said Gus' mom told his mom bout when she went to talk to my mom at work. Sam said that after Gus' mom left, his mom said she's gonna let him start doin' stuff with us at the park again."
"That's interesting. I wonder what made her change her mind?"
"Sam said it was cuz my mom told Gus' mom that you were a nice guy and she trusted ya."
"But Sam's mom didn't hear that directly from your mom," I pointed out.
"Yeah, but Sam said his mom felt that if Gus' mom told her that, then it must be true, cuz she was sayin' mean things about you the rest of the time."
"Interesting logic."
"Huh?"
"Nothing. I was just talking to myself. I take it this means your mom didn't convince Gus' mom to let him join us again?"
"Yeah, Sam says Gus is really mad that Sam's mom is gonna let him do stuff with us, but he still can't."
"Yes, I'm sure he isn't happy about that."
This changed my plans for the weekend, though, because I wasn't originally going to stay at the park with Noah. However, since Sam was going to start doing things with us again, I didn't want to discourage him by not showing up or being unprepared. I'll have to think up a new adventure I can do with them now, so I'll just have to figure out what that is going to be.
Noah and I had lunch together the next two days as well, and on Friday he wanted to know if I was prepared for the weekend. "Do you know what we're gonna do tomorrow and the next day?"
"Yes, I think I've figured out something that you and Sam will enjoy."
"Good, cuz me and Sam want to go on a fun adventure with you."
"Then I hope you like what I have planned. Oh, and I just thought of something I've been meaning to ask you. When is your birthday?"
"It's in March," he answered simply, without offering any details.
"Ok, but what day?"
"Ummm, the fifteenth."
"Ah, the Ides of March."
"Huh?"
"It's just an old fashion way of saying the middle of March. When you get to high school you'll learn why the Ides of March is so well known and what happened on that day."
"I guess."
"The important thing is that now I know when your birthday is."
"It's a long time 'til my birthday, cuz Christmas comes first."
"Yes, it does. It will be five months until Christmas and eight months until your birthday."
"Yeah, a long time."
"Maybe it seems like a long time to you now, but you'll find out it goes by a lot quicker as you get older."
"How can it go by faster?"
"It will just seem that way, because the older you get the faster time seems to fly by. My mom and dad taught me that and I'm finding it to be true."
"That sounds weird, but ok. And can I go home with you and spend the night after we finish goin' on the adventure tuh-morrow?"
"That will be up to your mom."
"I know she won't care, so can I?"
"If she says she doesn't mind, then it's ok with me too."
"Both nights again?"
"Check with you mom first, but if she says it's ok, then it's fine with me."
"Yay, cuz I like staying with you."
"I'm glad, because I enjoy having you stay with me as well."
When the lunch hour ended, I walked back to the office and spent the rest of the workday mired in numbers. After driving home, I changed and went out for my jog, because I knew I wouldn't be able to do it the next couple of nights if Noah was with me. I didn't feel I could ask him to run that far, especially at the pace I jogged, because he'd have to sprint the entire time to keep up with me, due to his shorter legs.
After I finished my jog and got back to the house, I showered quickly and fixed myself something to eat, and then I sat down and started going over what I had planned for the following day. I wanted to make sure I didn't forget anything, because I wanted the boys to enjoy this adventure, even though it was quite different from the other things we'd done. Unfortunately, I had some doubts, and that's why I wanted to be certain I knew exactly what we'd be doing, so our little adventure didn't end up falling to pieces and turn into a total disaster.
When I woke up the next morning, I dressed in shorts and a polo shirt, fixed myself breakfast, and then I drove to the park to meet up with the boys. Noah and Sam were waiting for me when I arrived.
"Wow! You two must have gotten here early."
"Yeah, I was excited bout doing this again," Sam answered.
"And we're glad to have you back."
"Gus isn't happy that I'm gonna do this with you today, and he's really mad at his mom cuz she won't let him do it too."
"Yes, Noah told me, and I'm sorry he's missing out."
"He's still trying to get his mom to change her mind, 'specially after my mom said I could start doin' this again."
"I'm sure it must have upset him after he found out that you were going to be joining us."
"Yeah, but he wasn't mad at me or you guys, just his mom."
"I understand."
"So what are we gonna do today?" Noah asked, becoming a little impatient with our conversation.
"I'm glad you asked, because we should be getting started. For today's adventure, we're going to use a time machine that a friend of mine built. He asked me to test it out for him, because he doesn't know history very well and felt he might not recognize where he was. You see, he hasn't been able to figure out a way to pre-set a date on it so he can journey back to a specific time. This means there's no way to know where we've ended up when the time machine comes to a stop, because we'll only have a joystick to use to take us back in time or into the future."
"Sounds like fun, so where's the time machine?" Sam asked, playing along.
"Right over there," I said as I pointed and led them over to the park bench where Noah and I always ate lunch. "Just duck down when getting into it, because I don't want you bumping your head. Once you're inside, sit down and buckle in so we can get started."
Both boys bent over when getting into our pretend time machine and they quickly sat down on the bench. "Sam, would you please slide over, because you're in my seat. I have to sit in the middle so I can handle the controls."
"Oh, ok," he replied as he moved over to let me sit between him and Noah.
"Seeing I've never done this before, and since there's no other way to tell where we're going to end up in time, we'll have to be very careful when we're getting out after the time machine comes to a stop."
They both nodded that they understood, so I made believe I was starting up the time machine and then pretended to push the joystick forward to take us back in time. I did that for about thirty seconds before I told them we'd come to a stop, and then I shut down the time machine, opened the door, and stepped out first.
"Ok, you two can join me now. I'm not sure where we are, but it looks like we're in a large field, possibly on a farm. Follow me and we'll check it out."
I carefully made my way out to the middle of the park, with both boys at my heels. As I glanced to my left, I noticed something and shouted to them. "Quick! Get down!" I then dropped onto my belly on the ground, with both boys doing the same thing.
"What's wrong?" Noah asked.
"There's an army coming in this direction, and their carrying old style rifles."
"Are they our army?" Sam wanted to know as he stared at me, wide-eyed.
"I'm not sure, because they're dressed in old fashion blue uniforms. Stay low and follow me before they get this far."
We hurriedly crawled on our hands and knees in the other direction, heading toward the bushes where we'd found the treasure chest on a previous adventure. We were halfway there when I shouted at them again. "Get down."
"Why? What's the matter this time?" Noah asked after he'd hit the ground.
"There's another army over there, and I suspect they're either setting up an ambush or merely preparing to be attacked."
"What do they look like?" Sam followed.
"This new group is dressed mostly in gray uniforms, but some of them are just wearing raggedy work clothes. They also have rifles that look even older than what the other group is carrying."
"I'll bet we're in the middle of the Civil War then," Sam suggested.
"You know, I think you might be right. Since we're not dressed like either group, I'm afraid both sides may shoot at us, so we've got to get out of here. Stay low and follow me."
I got into a crouch and urged the boys to do the same, and then we kept as low as possible as we began a mad dash back to the time machine. When we got there, we all climbed inside and buckled in quickly. "We've got to get out of here right away, because I believe their bullets might be able to damage this contraption and then we'd be stuck here."
"We don't want that to happen," Noah gasped.
"No, we don't," I said as I pushed the joy stick forward.
"Do you think they would've really shot us, since we weren't wearin' uniforms and don't have no guns?" Sam asked.
"I'm not sure, but I didn't want to take the chance. It looked like this was going to be a pretty big battle and there would be a whole bunch of bullets flying around, so we could have been hit by accident. I was mostly worried they might damage the time machine, though, and I didn't want to be stuck here with them, one hundred and fifty years before we even left."
"Dang, then we'd never see our moms or our friends again," Noah stated, totally buying into this fantasy.
"That's true, because it would be a really long time before they are even born," I agreed.
I'd been holding the joystick forward during our conversation, which took quite a while, so when we finally landed, I opened the door and looked outside. "Oh, we definitely can't stay here," I announced.
"Why not?" Sam wanted to know.
"I took us too far back in time and it looks like we've landed on earth while it's still being formed. There are volcanoes erupting all around us, and there are lava flows everywhere. We're lucky we landed on a spot that had already cooled down, or the lava would have melted our time machine. Sit down and I'll take us forward in time now."
As soon as we were all seated again, I pulled the imaginary joystick toward me this time, taking us out of there. I paid attention and didn't do it for as long as before, and then we stopped again and I opened the door. "Ok, this looks better, but I have no idea where we are. There's a lot of tall grasses and some strange looking trees and bushes, so we'll have to investigate to figure out where we are."
The boys followed me as we walked out into the park, and I kept glancing around in all directions. "Do you see anything?" Sam wanted to know.
"Yes, I have a feeling I know exactly where we are, but this isn't good either."
"Why not?" Noah asked.
"Because I'm seeing a bunch of different dinosaurs. To our right there's a small group of stegosaurs, and in front of us is a large herd of Brachiosaurs eating leaves from the trees, and on our left is a lone triceratops."
"Will any of them try to eat us?" Noah asked concerned.
"No, they're all plant eaters, but that means the meat eaters are most likely around here too."
"What do we do?" Sam asked next.
"I think we'd better go get back in the time machine, but..."
"What's the matter?" Noah wondered when I stopped speaking.
"The ground is starting to shake. Don't you feel it?"
"Yeah, I do," Sam responded playing along. "Is it an earthquake?"
"No, but oh dear... It's a huge tyrannosaurus and it's between us and the time machine. We can't go that way now or it will see us, so we have to find someplace to hide. Follow me. Maybe we can find a cave in those mountains," I said as I pointed toward the play set with the tower, figuring that made a good looking mountain range. "Quick, in here," I added leading them into the open space beneath the tower. "This cave is too small for the tyrannosaurus to follow us inside, so we'll wait until it leaves. Whoa! Did you just hear that?"
"NO! What did you hear?" Noah gasped.
"Some animal just let out a loud cry. Maybe it did it to warn its young to hide, or it might be trying to scare off the tyrannosaurus."
"What are we s'posed to do?" Sam wanted to know.
"You two stay here and I'll go check out what's happening."
"Don't! You might get eaten," Noah screamed as I started to walk out from under the tower.
"I'll be careful," I replied as I pretended to climb up the mountainside so I could see what was going on.
After looking around briefly, I went back to the cave and let the boys know what was happening. "The tyrannosaurus killed the triceratops, so we'll be able race back to the time machine while it's busy eating. Follow me."
We darted out from under the tower and raced toward the bench. We quickly climbed into the time machine, sat down, buckled in, and then I prepared to take off by pulling the joystick toward me again, which took us forward in time. I did it for about twenty seconds and then brought the time machine to another stop. As I opened the door, I looked out, and spoke.
"It's definitely too cold outside for there to be any dinosaurs around. In fact, it's freezing out there and the ground is covered in snow."
"So is it winter?" Noah followed.
"I guess."
"Do you know where we are?" Sam asked next.
"Not yet, so we'll have to get out and look around to see if we can tell where and when we are now."
I led them toward the playground equipment as we looked around. "No, this isn't winter. We must have landed in the ice age."
"How can you tell?" Sam wondered.
"Because there's a woolly mammoth moving in our direction. Quick, come over here and squat down on this log," I commanded, as I led them over and had them straddle one end of the teeter totter. I went to the other end and leaned on it, lifting the boys into the air, before quickly dropping them back down again.
"Damn, that was close. The woolly mammoth must have stepped on the other end of the log you were sitting on, and that's why you were lifted into the air. We're really lucky that you didn't fall off and get hurt. Remain where you are, though, because now I see why the woolly mammoth was running this way."
"Why?" Sam wanted to know.
"It's being chased by a group of cave men, and they're throwing rocks and crude spears trying to kill it."
"Why are they doin' that?" Noah wanted to know.
"After seeing how they're dressed, they must use the mammoth's hide to make the garments they're wearing to stay warm. They appear to be clad in a piece of the hide from another mammoth, and they're wearing it like a robe. From what I can tell, they've cut off a large chunk of the hide and tore a hole in the center so they could put their head through it. They must have used pieces of the mammoth's muscles or ligaments to tie the hide around them and keep it from flopping open. I'll bet they also make blankets out of the hide too, and they probably eat the meat to keep from starving."
"Yuck," Noah responded. "That sounds awful."
"Maybe, but they have to do it if they don't want to die."
"But how can they kill somethin' that big?" Sam wondered. "A teacher told me that a woolly mammoth was bigger than an elephant."
"Yes, they were, but now I see what the cavemen are doing. They're chasing the woolly mammoth toward a cliff, and if it falls to the bottom, it will either be killed or injured badly enough that they can climb down, kill it, and cut it up."
"That's mean," Noah squawked.
"Maybe so, but they need to do it if they and their families are going to survive. Come on, let's get back to the time machine before we freeze to death."
"Yeah," both boys agreed, suddenly shivering and rubbing their arms with their hands.
Once we were back in our seats, I pulled the joystick toward me again, but this time I did it for about a minute, since I felt we had a long way to go to get back. When I opened the door and looked out, I turned back to the boys. "It looks like we've gone too far. It seems we're sometime in the future now."
"How can you tell?" Noah asked.
"Because I can see a few people and they're wearing clothes unlike anything I've ever seen before. Not only that, but there are all kinds of vehicles whipping around in the air too, so sit down and I'll try to take us back to our own time, but this isn't going to be easy."
"I hope you can do it, cuz I don't want to be stuck in a different time," Noah stated, looking worried.
"I'll do my best," I answered as we sat down and I pushed the joystick forward again. I only did it for about ten seconds this time, and then I pretended to shut it off and opened the door. "It looks good, but let's check it out to make sure."
We got out and walked around, as we checked out the area. "I don't know how I did it, but it looks like we got back to our own time and we're in the park again."
"Good!" Sam stated. "Give your friend back his time machine, cuz I don't want to ever do that again. It was too scary."
"Yeah, I like being in this time, not those other times," Noah agreed.
Either they'd totally bought into what I was doing, or they were very good actors, but I felt I should reassure them. "Yeah, I'll give it back and tell him to destroy it. It's not worth taking those kinds of chances again."
Both boys were nodding vigorously to show they agreed with my decision.
"That was scary, but I had fun too," Sam said after we took a couple of minutes to catch our breath. "Do you have something else that we can do tomorrow?"
"I have another idea, but it's getting hard to keep coming up with new things for you boys to do."
"Yeah, we know, but you're good at thinkin' up stuff, and it's been lots of fun," Sam replied.
"I'm glad you enjoy it, but I think it's time for lunch now, so we'd better get going," I suggested, since it was already slightly past noon.
"Yeah, my mom's prolly wonderin' where I am," Sam agreed. "Thanks for lettin' me do this with you again and I'll see ya in the mornin'."
"Ok, we'll see you then," I agreed, as Sam took off in the opposite direction.
"Mom said I can stay with you again, if it's ok with you," Noah added as soon as Sam was far enough away that he couldn't hear what was being said.
"No, I don't mind, so let's go hop in my car." As soon as we were buckled in, I asked Noah a question. "Do you want to split a sub with me again?"
"Yeah, that'll be good."
"Ok, then Subway it is."
We had a nice lunch, and I spent most of my time eating while Noah told me what he liked best about today's adventure. "Sometimes I thought we were really in those places and doing that stuff, so it was kinda scary."
"I didn't want it to be scary, just exciting and fun."
"Yeah, it was that too, so thanks."
When we arrived at the house, we just vegged out on the sofa and watched TV for a while. The second Hobbit movie happened to be on, so we decided to watch it, as Noah lay beside me with his head on my lap.
"Are you going to take a nap?"
"Nah, just watchin' TV like this."
He stayed that way until Smaug started chasing Bilbo, and then he sat up and leaned against me instead, wrapping both arms around my arm. That's the way he remained for the rest of the movie, as he watched Smaug go on the rampage.
"That dragon was like the one we fought and shot with our arrows."
"Yes, it was. Too bad the people in the movie weren't as brave as you boys were."
He laughed. "Our dragon wasn't real."
"Maybe not, but you were still very brave. What do you want to do next?"
"I don't know. What do you wanna do?"
"I'd normally go out for my jog about now, but since you're here, I think I'll exercise on the machines instead."
"Can I do it with ya?"
"Hmmm, that might be difficult, but I guess we could try."
"K. Thanks."
I decided to use the rowing machine first, so I had Noah sit on my lap with his legs dangling over the side, and he tried to help me row, but that didn't last very long. "I'm getting squished doing this," he griped.
"Yes, this isn't going to work out, because you're too small to be doing these things alone. What if we go out for a walk instead?"
"Yeah, let's do that."
"It won't be a slow walk, though, because I still want to get in my nightly exercise."
"Yeah, it's ok and I'll do it with you."
We then walked around part of my normal jogging route, and we did it at a fairly brisk pace, which meant Noah was basically jogging to keep up with me. He seemed to be handling it quite well, though, but if I had jogged, then he would have had to sprint the entire way.
When we got back to the house, I told him we should shower, and he didn't mind, as long as we did it together and washed each other. I didn't have a problem with doing that either, since I had a feeling it was what he wanted to do, and I washed him first. Once again, he wanted me to wash every part of him, and then he washed me. I had to squat down so he could reach my upper body, and he didn't miss a spot. After we rinsed off and dried, we got dressed in clean clothes and headed out to the kitchen to figure out what we were going to have for dinner.
I ended up fixing some boneless pork chops, French fries, and a salad for each of us. When we finished our meal, we relaxed and watched a couple of programs on TV, and then Noah followed me to my bedroom. After we went through our nightly ritual, we stripped down to our underwear, and got into bed. I have to admit this was starting to feel very normal as he cuddled against me and we fell asleep.
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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/
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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.