Many thanks to the readers who have encouraged me to continue with this story. I hope you find the remaining chapters on a par with the originals. So, let's continue...

Chapter 4

In Story Synopsis

 

 

So, what have we discovered about our two characters that might help us to better visualize them? (Absolutely essential for later fantasy fests.) I am going to use this chapter to flesh out our boys (Oh, was that dirty?) based, mostly, on the things they have already revealed about themselves in the forgoing chapters. If you feel you already know them well enough then you might want to skip this altogether and jump right into chapter 5, to get back to the meat of the story, so to speak.

Richard Bambrough: Fourteen years old and a bit tall for his age at 5'8". His hair is blondish brown and cut close to the sides (he is a swimmer after all). The top is longer and quite curly. And because he is a swimmer he has that typical swimmer's build - you know the type, no fat and with rather muscular legs. He has good definition in his arm and chest muscles that also comes from his sport. While we couldn't define him as having a six pack at this stage in his development, there isn't any lack of definition here either. His waist is slim and his abdominals are solid. And, Carl spoke of Richard's cute, dimpled chin which in reality is a distinguishing looking cleft.

Now, you have seen boys hard at play in really cold weather so that their cheeks have that bright, flushed look? Well, Richard has those cheeks year round and it is in these rose buds that his real dimples are so apparent. They are very pronounced when he smiles. And these are the culprits that give poor Carl his pup tent when he stares at him in math class.

He is a rather likable chap. He describes himself as having a number of friends at school. And indeed he does. Most of these friends are of the masculine persuasion as he is not very comfortable around girls. And while he is quite certain that no other boys have his twisted sexual attraction, (read this as homo), it is actually his extreme good looks that have made him as popular as he is. Quite a number of lads and lasses have gotten butterflies by looking into those light, blue peepers of his. And those tingly butterflies tend to turn into flocks of geese when Richard looses one of his dimply smiles. Carl's pup tent aside, there are a number of army and circus tents erected around Richard on any particular day.

His popularity not withstanding, Richard is rather a shy and introverted person. The reflection he sees when looking into the bathroom mirror is somewhat less spectacular than what other people see. As do many of us, Richard tends to look a bit more at his imperfections. He is certain they must be as apparent to everyone as they are to himself. And perhaps what colors his self perception more than anything is his attraction to other boys.

So our Richard is a rather humble, self deprecating sort of a boy. Handsome but rather unaware of his own good looks. Somewhat outgoing with his friends and mates but shy and retiring around new people, or, most especially, boys he feels attracted to. All-in-all the sort of person you wouldn't mind having as your own friend.

Carl Fuller: 14 years old and a bit on the smallish side at 4'11". Although he is not quite the pigmy he perceives himself to be. He has a mop of brown hair that just seems to resist the efforts of a comb or brush. Add to that a rather pronounced cowlick or topknot of hair that wants to stand straight up. Carl wears his hair a bit longish on the sides trying, not very successfully, to cover what he calls his Dumbo ears. Now while they might stick out a bit more to the perpendicular than the average set of ears, they are actually rather small and not so pronounced as he imagines. You would look at them and say they were cute - while Carl looks at them and calls them gross.

Another thing Carl detests about his features, that others seem to like, is a plethora of freckles. These brown spots are a pronounced slash across the bridge of his button nose that end at both upper cheeks . Sort of like an upside down Nike slash mark. They, more than his diminutive size, tend to give him his adolescent appearance. And, if he were to remove his shirt, (please do, Richard would say) both shoulders and his upper back are similarly amassed with these brown spots. His freckles are only as apparent as they are because of a summer spent shirtless under a California sun. They are his body's endeavor to tan. Everything else just gets red and peels.

His body doesn't have quite the athletic build as Richard's. While his mass is proportionate to his height, he does still retain a little baby fat. Richard will later on describe him as having cute widdle pinchy love handles.

Now, did you ever catch reruns of the Andy Griffith show on TV? They were later rebroadcast as Mayberry RFD. Well, our Carl has an amazing resemblance to Opie, played by Ron Howard as a child actor. People would expect to hear him say something like... "Gee paw, how come Barney carries his bullet in his shirt pocket?" Or, as Richard was fond of thinking... "Gee paw, I think that boy likes me. He wants me to play circus with him. He has a tent and everything!"

Owing to his rather small stature and, what he considers, his goofy looks, Carl will usually placed himself in the role of class clown. After all, it hurts much less to have people laughing with him than at him. Lately though, owing to his nervousness of being the new kid (and gay) he has become much more introspective. Can Richard draw him out again?

Well, dear reader, thanks for indulging me in this rather longish break in the story. I just thought it might help you to visualize our characters a bit more clearly. (Wank, wank...I mean wink, wink) So, on with our story.

 

When last we left our heroes, they were headed out the door of their middle school, arm in arm. Let's pick them up from there and see what misadventures apply. Now, on to Chapter 5.

Copyright January 2007. All rights retained. No duplication without author's permission. No minors allowed (unless using a fake ID). Please curb your dog.