Date: Fri, 25 Jan 2008 08:34:57 -0500 From: Joe Barker Subject: The Hunt "Because I don't want to go!" I shouted at my father. "You've never had a problem before..." He shot at me snidely. "That's because you made me go." I retorted. "Your brother is looking forward to it; do you really want to ruin this for him?" His attempt to guilt me in was futile but it did have me glancing over at my younger brother. He is fourteen and this would have been his first hunting trip with my dad. My parents recently got divorced and with my mom no longer in the picture she couldn't stop my dad from taking both of us instead of just me. Noah was just getting into the whole 'I have to be a guy' persona because of puberty and what not, and he thought that hunting with our father would be fun. He was 5'10" and was still 5 inches shy of me. His sandy blond hair was short and usually unkempt, and his eyes were a mysterious amber color. He liked to work out with me so he was getting a nice build. My name is Samuel, and yes my mother had a thing for bible names, and I guess I'm lucky it wasn't Sampson. Either way my friends and brother call me Sam. I have dark hair, so brown it's almost black, and my eyes were blue, a dark piercing blue. I knew that I would end up going, and I disliked my dad for that feeling, because I hate going hunting with him. "Yea dad what could be more fun than going out in the woods, at the butt crack of dawn sitting in the freezing cold, shivering to death, waiting for the small chance that you won't shoot the first thing to move! Yippee." I said this with the most sarcasm I could. I saw out of the corner of my eye that Noah was giggling to himself so that our father couldn't see. "Exactly..." He said this with the most control he could muster. "...so it's decided, go get packed we leave in the morning!" He turned and walked into his room and shut the door to get to sleep. "I can't believe this..." I turned and grumbled around the living room. "...I haven't let him talk me into things like that in so long." I was so angry with myself as well as him. It wasn't that I hated him or even disliked him, but he had away to get under my skin. "I know he is impossible sometimes, but I am glad you're coming." He looked up at me with all the innocents in the world and I knew that his words were true. I smiled at him. "If it wasn't for you lil bro, I wouldn't be going." I said this nicely but he seemed stung. His smile fell and he looked down at the ground. "And I'm not upset that I'm going..." I lifted his head up with my hand. "...not since I'll have you there for company." "How did I end up with a brother as great as you?" He smiled up to me with a hint of tear in his eye, I hated to see him cry, he was fourteen but he only cried every once in awhile. After all a divorce is a stressful thing to go through at that age. That's part of the reason I tried to be good to him, he needed a stable support in his life. "I don't know about me being great, but I know that god's greatest gift to me is you." I looked at him as I squeezed my arm around his shoulders. He gave me a hug as we sat there, and I knew that he was good, and that this was the right thing for me to do. * * * Waking up at five o'clock in the morning was making me regret my decision to go with them but I had packed and I did enjoy the time up in Virginia that I had had before. I couldn't deny that I was excited about going, I knew the place well, I had spent a week up there almost every year and explored every inch of the valleys and mountains. Including the special, secluded places that I had so much fun, but this was the first time that I was going up there for the purpose of hunting. I threw my bag into the back of my dad's pick-up truck and jumped into the seat next to my sleepily yawning brother. His brown locks a mess, telling me I was not the only one that had just woken up. I smiled to myself, a three hour trip to look forward to with my dad's crude jokes, my brother's soft touch and a book in my hand what more could I ask for. I laughed at my own sarcasm, but two out of three positives would keep me sane. The trip was as much as I expected and I was surprised when we actually arrived at out destination, it was not the same cabin as in the years past. We pulled up to the owner's house and there was no one else home. "We have this place this year, Big Sam said that he wanted us to be extra comfortable since we were hunting and it was Noah's first time." He sounded excited and he should have. I had been inside the lodge before; it was nice for a hunting area, kitchen, heat, a/c and television. "You boy's go down stairs and take a room down there, I'm taking the one up here." I took up my bag and walked toward the stairs, going where dad had told us to, he wouldn't be coming down here, he hated stairs and he hated climbing them. I walked into the larger of the two rooms with what seemed to be a queen size bed. I was followed into the room by Noah, and as I set my stuff on the bed to unpack he looked at me. "Are we going to share a room...and bed?" he looked inquisitorial as he placed his on bag on the bed. "If that's what you would like, this one is big enough for the both of us and more comfortable then the two twins." I smiled, I didn't mind. "Ok, works for me." He smiled and began unpacking. After the unpacking was finished I walked through the basement turned lodge to show Noah all the things. There was a common area with a fire place where the hunters hang out. I took him behind the stairs next to the other bedroom, where the bathroom was, in which there was your normal toilet, sink, and a walk in shower. We walked back up stairs to find our dad suiting up in his camo jump suit and picking up his gear to go out. "I'm going out scouting, just around the field in the back, there is a tree stand there and I'm going to set it up. So suit up boys we need to get out there!" He looked boisterous and it was sickening. But there was no arguing this, we turned and grabbed our warmest jeans and tennis shoes with shirts and a jacket. It was cute to see how modest Noah was. He turned as he pulled off his shorts and glanced over his shoulder to see if I was looking when changed into his jeans. After we were changed into our warm clothes we went back up the stairs and out the door to see our dad nearly half way there already. We walked slowly; I knew that I didn't want to be out here in the cold, and I think Noah was starting to feel the same way. "C'mon boys, the stand is right here." We caught up to him and saw a ladder going up the tree into a small platform. The ladder looked wet if not icy. "Ok one of ya get up there." He looked at us expectantly. I took a glance at my brother and stepped forward slightly, I didn't want him on that ladder. "I'll do it." He walked forward and grabbed a hold of the ladder and gripped it tightly. As he held on to the bar he lifted himself up on the first rung, and began to slowly climb. And then a lot of things happened really fast. Dad threw up his rifle and fired a shot off into the distance, there was a yelp of pain and dad ran off into the field. Noah had been the one to yelp as his foot slipped into the ladder and his hands lost their grip. It was like slow motion watching him fall to the ground his back and head hit the ground as his foot twisted into the ladder. I rushed forward to grab a hold of him. I had not heard any breaking sounds but as I lifted him up he was crying in pain. I lifted him into my chest and pulled as his foot slip from the rung. "Are you ok?" I asked as he leaned on my chest. "No I think my ankle is sprained or something. And my leg...it just...hurts." I felt him shudder in my arms and he almost went limp, but I felt him sobbing. "Its ok, you will be ok. What better time to have a CNA as a brother?" I laughed and he just gasped a deep breath. I hoisted him up and placed his arm around my shoulder. I took his hand in mine and wrapped my other arm around his waist, and together we walked back to the lodge. We went in the back entrance so that we would be in our bedroom already. I set him on the bed and bent down in front of him, gently taking off his shoe and sock, rolling up his pant leg. I gently tested his ankle wincing every time he whimpered. "You're really lucky I don't think that you even sprained it, I think it's just twisted and bruised, about a day or two of bed rest I think that you will be able to walk fine." I smiled up at him. "Yea, I am really lucky, because of you." I felt my self blush as he said this. "I just really want a shower. Do you think you could help me over there?" "Do you think that you can shower yourself?" I asked worriedly. "I think so..." He looked up at me. I lifted his arm around shoulders again and grabbed his waist and together I helped him hobble to the bathroom where I sat him down on the sink counter. "Can you help me get my shoes and socks off?" I knew he was in pain but it almost sounded like he was getting the most out of it as he could. Although these thoughts went through my head, I bent down and removed his sock and shoe from his uninjured foot and then moved to his hurt one. I slowly untied his shoe and gently rolled his sock down from his foot. "Ok, I think you can get it from here." I lifted him from the sink and let him lean against it. I turned and walked out the door shutting it behind me, standing just out side it and waiting. I didn't have to wait long until I heard what I was waiting for; it was a crash and a moan. I opened the door back up and looked inside and almost laughed. My brother was lying in the floor with his pants around his ankles and sitting almost in tears. His shirt was off and even though I was almost laughing I began to notice what amazing definition he had, apparently his skating gave him more exercise then any gym could give him. "Are you ok?" I smiled down to him, the most I could do with out laughing. He looked up at me, shirt off, pants around his ankles and his boxer briefs a silky blue. "Do I look like I'm ok?" He looked at me with tears in his eyes and his face flushed the darkest red. I bent down and wrapped my arm around him under his arms and lifted him up letting him catch his balance on me. "I'm Sorry. You can't do this alone, let me help you." I said to him with caring eyes. He dropped his head and I felt him lean most of his weight on me. "Okay..." he looked up to me with tears in his eyes still. "...but you will get yours clothes wet." "No I won't either." I sat him back on the counter as I lifted my shirt over my head. "You ok with that?" He nodded to my question and I unbuckled my belt and slid my pants down to stand there in front of him in my own black boxers. "Do you want to shower in our boxers...or what?" He looked at me with a confused face as if he were thinking about it hard. "I'm ok to shower with out them." I nodded and wrapped my arms around him and helped him down off the sink counter. With his arm around me I slid my boxers down and kicked them off. Many thoughts were running through my head, like 'what if I get a boner in the shower' and 'my god he is so gorgeous'. There was no doubt that I thought the world of my younger brother in more then one way, but through all of this the seriousness of the situation helped keep calm and flaccid. I wrapped my arm around his waist and dropped down to my knees, sliding his boxers down. If he hadn't been facing forward and me to his side his own crotch would have been right in front of my face. A distraction that I was glad I wasn't forced to have. I stood back up and put my arm back under his and lifted him over to the shower. As I slid the door open I stepped into the shower and lifted him in with me. It was weird for us to be in the shower together seeing as it happened since we were back in single digits. I had him standing in front of me with his back to me letting him lean against me, and I took the wash cloth in my hand and began to wash the his chest, pulling him closer to me so I could leave my arms under him and yet my hands free. My hands began to wander of their own accord as he let his head roll back on to my shoulder. His body was beautiful and I could feel every etch of his muscles as my hand ran down his body. My hands reached his waist and I felt his hips buck slightly and noticed that his breathing had become sharp and shallow. I stopped and came back into reality and began to scrub his chest a little harshly so as to bring him back with me. It was cruel but I didn't want to lure him into something that I wasn't sure of myself. I turned him around and faced him. "Put your arms on my shoulders." He raised his arms and slid them up on to my shoulders and I scooted close to him, nearly touching him and wrapped my arms around him. I began to scrub his back with the cloth and felt the water running down his back over my hands. After getting his ankle washed and his legs clean I stood back up and leaned forward across his chest and reached around behind him to cut the water off. It was then that I felt the moist touch of his lips against my cheek. A quick kiss onto my face, I felt myself blush and a shiver run between the two of us. I choose not to mention this fact for both of our sakes. When the water was off and he was as dry as he could be, I lifted him up into a cradling carry. He almost went limp in my arms as he rested against my chest. Together, naked, I carried him to the bedroom and laid him on the bed. He let his head rest on the pillow as I turned and walked to the door and shut it. "Let me wrap that ankle of yours." I walked to the dresser and pulled out the first aide kit and walked back to the bed. "I'm sorry." He looked up to me again with tears swimming in his eyes. "For what, Noah?" I looked up at him again smiling. "For kissing you, it was wrong. I am wrong." I lifted his leg as I tied the last of the bandage around the ankle. "You are not and never will be wrong...and as for the kiss..." I stood up and walked to the head of the bed and leaned down next to him. "...I liked it." I gently let my lips touch his forehead as I place a hand on his steadily falling chest. "I love you Noah, more then you may know." "I think I know, and I love you that much too." He looked up to me smiling as he wrapped his arms around me, our naked chest touching. I pulled away from him and pulled the covers over him. "Get some rest." He reached up and grabbed my arm with his hand. "Don't leave me." I whispered into his ear. "Never in a million years." He smiled up at me and closed his eyes. I walked around the bed and crawled into it with him. I curled up next to him and draped my arm across him, and fell asleep with him. Thanks for reading my story, if enjoyed it please let me know at Jbark217@gmail.com. Also visit my brand new website at http://www.freewebs.com/niftyscrypt/index.htm This is a new site and only has a few stories of mine I am working diligently and getting new stories up as soon as possible.