Fiction by Straber

Part 5 - Chapters 13-16

Chapter 13

I knew it could be no one else, for this place was a secret world, known only to April and me. But I was supremely surprised that she’d gotten to it without my help. I called out to her and beckoned her to the forest. She ran straight to me, and later I remembered being surprised that she hadn’t ducked into the forest sooner and come to me under the cover of the trees. When she was close enough so I didn’t have to yell, I started to say, “What are you doing here?” but I couldn’t finish the question, so startled because she had practically knocked the wind out of me when she threw her arms around me in a tearful hug. Clearly something was wrong.

I hugged her back and stroked her hair, and after a moment had passed, gently lifted her head off my chest and looked her in the eye. “April, what’s happened?”

“Oh, Gary, thank goodness you're here,” she moaned. A moment passed and then she said, “My parents flipped out when I told them about my interest in nudism.”

“What happened, exactly?” I asked as calmly as I could.

“Well, the conversation started out kind of funny, but got so much worse...” she said, trailing off.

“I'm listening, April. Talk to me,” I said reassuringly. She let go of me and stood up tall, arms akimbo. I sat down on a fallen log.

“Well, my mom told my dad about an interesting question one of her friends asked her today,” she began. “Apparently a couple from your family's campground wants to have a nude wedding there, and during their yoga class the woman asked my mom if my dad might be willing to perform the ceremony. My mom said she had a hard time stifling a big laugh, and my dad and brother chuckled, too, when she told Dad what the woman asked her.

“It was interesting that the campground came up in the conversation just like that. I mean, it made for a perfect link to my big revelation to them,” she continued. “I told them I had recently found out about the campground's existence, and that I had started exploring the world of social nude recreation. I tried to show them how interested I was in it, how much research I'd been doing, how many testimonies I'd read, and how thorough some of the scientific investigations and Biblical studies were that I'd encountered.

“I could tell very quickly that they were not at all thrilled. My brother giggled a lot, Mom rolled her eyes a few times, and Dad clenched his hands into fists and then gripped his hands together like he wanted to say an angry prayer, but I kept trying to explain myself and explain all the information I'd found. Then I thought they could use a bit of a down-to-earth push to help them wrap their heads around the fact that I was serious, so I told them a lot of what I'd learned came from you and your family, and that you all had invited me to the campground for some of the winter break.” She hesitated, looking tremulous.

“Uh-oh,” I said, trying to hide a frown and a furrowed brow.

“Yeah, exactly,” she said, a bit more bolstered, most likely from the anger I knew she was feeling. “We got into a big argument after they immediately said 'Not a chance.' Sam quickly excused himself, obviously noticing that he ought to sit this discussion out. My dad did most of the arguing, but Mom chiming in, trying to play the rational reason card, did not calm me down at all, and she certainly didn't do much to calm down Dad.

“I was expecting a somewhat cold reception to the idea of the invitation to the campground, and to my interest in general, but when they forbade me from going over to your house anymore and even from calling you, I stormed out of the dining room, ran upstairs and tried to call you.

“Your dad had just told me you'd gone for a walk when my dad picked up the call and angrily reminded me I wasn't allowed to call you anymore. I hung up the phone, screamed, and grabbed my jacket before heading back downstairs to get out of the house. I told my mom I was going to take a walk and that I had my cell phone. I was expecting her to protest a bit, but instead she just said, 'Wait, honey. Take a flashlight, it's getting dark.' When I went into the kitchen to get a flashlight, I heard my dad still on the phone with your dad. It sounded like your dad was trying to calm my dad down, to give him some information about the campground and your parents' experiences there, and before I ran out the door I heard my dad yell, 'And what makes you think we would want to come over for dinner with you weirdoes?” She had been pacing a lot during her rant and at that point stopped and looked at me for a reaction.

“Ouch,” I said, pausing briefly to come up with a short, reassuring remark. “That had to be rough. I'm sorry.”

“Yeah, well, I was so angry and wanted to get out of the house so badly that I didn't really think about what to do once I left. I guess it was nice that my mom didn't come down on me like my dad, that she was trying to keep everyone level-headed... but she really threw me when she suggested I take a flashlight.” Her face was gradually easing out of a furious scowl into more of an exasperated grimace. “I hope she has calmed my dad down and scolded him for yelling at your dad.”

“I'm sure she will. Anyway, my parents have been called worse things than weirdoes.”

“I'm sorry, Gary,” she said, frowning.

“It's okay, April,” I said quietly. “But how in the world did you get here?”

“I know, crazy, right?”

“Amazing!”

“Well,” she said, her face perking up, “when my mom gave me that jolt of practicality, I realized that I didn't actually want to wander around outside in the dark much; it was getting chilly and I wanted to be someplace warm and sunny,” she said, her face brightening up even more.

“I instantly thought of the valley,” she went on, “and so I turned off my phone, walked down the driveway and jogged a ways down the main road until I noticed a really misty patch of fog in the nearby pasture. It was pretty dark there already, and there weren't any cars coming, so I went down to the gate and hopped over, and then crouched down in the space next to the driveway that was a little bit below the main road. I stripped down and bundled my clothes inside my jacket, peeked up to see if any cars were coming, and then when I saw that there weren't any, I walked into the mist and concentrated so hard on the valley, like we do when you take me, that I guess I teleported here all on my own.”

“I agree,” I said, smiling. “It's incredible, April. And while you've been telling me all this, I've noticed something else amazing.”

“What's that?” she asked with a curious grin.

“Well, I think because you were so upset by your parents' reaction that when you were concentrating on the valley, some of your emotion transformed the weather into that thunderstorm that made us duck into the forest here.”

She contemplated what I said for a moment or two, and then, looking all around, peeking into the meadow, and then walking out there, exclaimed, “But Gary, it's gone! The storm, the clouds, the rain... they're all gone!”

“It was you, April,” I said, beaming. “That whole time while you were explaining what happened at your house, while you were calming down and working through what happened...” I said, trailing off, trying to find the words.

“The weather changed,” she said, comprehension dawning wonderfully upon her. “I feel it - it's warm and breezy like usual. And listen,” she said, happily. “The birds are chirping again!”

“I don't know how you did it, April, but it's obvious that you can teleport here all by yourself. You can even change the valley yourself,” I said with a pensive expression on my face.

“Gary, I think I can change more than the weather.” She was grinning wildly now. She took my hand and pulled me up. “Follow me!” she cried, running deeper into the forest.

I trotted after her and called out, “Where are we going?”

“You'll see,” she yelled back, getting further ahead. I picked up my pace, and as I started taking deeper breaths, I realized I could smell something I hadn't smelled before in the valley, something I hadn't smelled in the real world in a long time, either.

It was the salty smell of ocean air. I saw April make for a bright gap in the thickness of the trees, and when I got there, I slowed down when I saw the sand at the edge of the forest. I came to a halt after I walked through the gap, squinting in the brightness of the sun, my eyes dazzled by the glittering sea that lay before me.

April had turned and was walking back to where I stood. “Welcome to the beach, Gary.”

Chapter 14

We frolicked up and down the shore, tried to build a sand castle with our hands, and watched as the sun kissed the horizon, casting brilliant hues of orange and red and purple across the sea and sky. The stars came out and when it started to get a bit too cool for our naked bodies, April suggested we start a fire. It was then that I realized how much time must have passed.

“April, you've got to go back home!” I exclaimed. “Your parents must be worried sick - we've been here for so long!”

She frowned a little, and then brightened up right away. “Fine, but we need to come back here again soon. You bring matches; I'll bring stuff for s'mores.”

I rolled my eyes a bit and said, “Uh, if we can figure out how, then you've got a deal. Anyway, I should get going, too. Race you back to the oak on the hill?”

“Ha! Just you try to catch me!”

We dashed through the trees, the forest floor free of brush and bramble, soft and smooth to our bare feet. April was a fast runner, and I think she held herself back a little so I could keep up. Once we reached the meadow, however, she took off like a bullet and practically flew up the hill. I was gasping for air at the top, and she was panting, too, but then she sat down between two of the big roots. I followed her lead and plopped down onto the grass. She smiled coyly, and then leaned forward on her knees and gave me a short kiss on the lips, then disappeared right in front of me.

I let myself fall back onto the grass, staring up at the starry night sky, and praised God for the evening I had spent with April. I prayed that he would bless her return home, and that her parents wouldn't be too angry with her for staying out so late. Then I sat up, closed my eyes, and teleported back to the woods by my own house.

After I got dressed, I hurried home and walked in through the side door, initially unaware of exactly how late I was since I had forgotten my phone and hadn't worn a watch. But when I called to my parents, I heard my mom say, “In the dining room, Gary. We started without you, but hurry up because your food's getting cold.”

I did a mental double take, then looked at the kitchen microwave clock. It read the same as the clock on the oven and on my parents' coffeemaker. Hardly an hour had passed since I went for my walk.

After dinner, my family and I packed up for our weekend trip to the campground. During dinner, and again during the car ride to the campground, we talked about what April's dad had said to my dad. My parents told me I had to respect her dad's wishes and not call April that weekend. We said a prayer for her and her family, and I tried to enjoy the weekend with my family and friends. But in the back of my mind was the amazing fact of Friday's long afternoon and evening with April that had only lasted an hour in the real world. I couldn't wait to see what she thought of that and find out if she'd experienced something similar when we saw each other at school on Monday.

* * *

It turned out that April, too, got back to her house only an hour after having stormed out. She told me during homeroom that after she realized the discrepancy between the time we spent in the valley and the time she was away from her house, she was too intrigued to be wholly upset with her parents. She said she knew I would be away for the weekend with my family, and so decided to go back to the valley to explore this strange phenomenon.

“It took me awhile to figure out a time and place when no one might need to find me or even contact me and where I could safely hide my clothes,” she said, her eyes shining with the kind of excitement that comes from telling a wonderful story. “I knew I couldn't risk just teleporting out of my bedroom or bathroom, hoping very little time would pass in the real world while I investigated my beach a bit, because even if I were only gone for a few minutes, my parents or Sam might call me or even come get me for something. And if I weren't there, I'd have bigger problems than not being able to see you outside of school.”

“Where did you go, then?” I said, eager to hear more.

“Well, after lunch on Saturday, the best opportunity presented itself. I mean, I'd thought about trying to convince my parents that a walk would do me good, but I couldn't think of a good place to hide my clothes that was in a safe place to begin with. I couldn't go back to the pasture during the day; there would be more cars and my clothes would be in plain sight.” I gave her an urgent look that could be read well, then, what? Just say it!

She smiled. “Sorry,” she said apologetically. “I can tell you're clearly interested! Well, at lunch my mom brought up the fact that she thought we didn't have enough flashlights, and that the ones we had were old and not as bright as the newer LED flashlights that the big retail stores carry. My dad seemed to realize that she might be voicing a shopping list for stuff that's hard to find in Oakwood, so he added that he had seen a converter kit that took old types of audio media and changed them into digital format, like turning cassette tapes and vinyl records into .mp3 files.

“I knew I could convince them to let me go out for them to get these things, because they know I like to shop and browse and compare different products and find the best prices. I piped up and said I had been wanting to look for a new pair of sneakers at some of the bigger shoe stores and department stores in Springfield.”

“That's about an hour and a half from here,” I said, sensing that April had found a perfect excuse to get out of the house and out of contact for a good four or five hours.

“They were happy to let me go since they both had things to do around the house and in town. Of course they gave me the 'drive safe, wear your seatbelt, don't spend too much money' routine, but they let me go and I had already decided to 'forget' my phone in the van while I was shopping.

“I got to Springfield pretty quickly, after speeding a little bit but otherwise driving safe, and easily found some good flashlights and the converter kit. I decided to buy one of those landscaping and gardening design magazines as a kind of peace offering to apologize for losing my cool with them Friday night.”

“Nice move,” I said. She was about to continue but the bell rang sounding the end of the homeroom period.

“I decided to use the hunt for shoes as my excuse to teleport to the valley,” she said quietly as we walked out into the hallway. “I'll tell you more at lunch.” She squeezed my hand and disappeared into the throng of students moving through the corridors.

Chapter 15

I told a few of our friends during my morning classes that April and I needed to do a few last minute preparations at lunch for a presentation in our afternoon history class, and I thought I detected a hint of suspicion from Abby, who I knew was. April's best female friend. She must have known something about April's actions toward me lately... the kiss in the courtyard, the frequent study sessions at each other's houses, maybe even the hand squeeze that morning.

Yes, I found April attractive, and certainly plenty of fun to be around, and a wonderful friend with whom to share the valley and keep as our special secret. I definitely could see us spending even more time together, dating and such -- but were we ready to move from friendship to romance, especially with her parents' feelings toward me and my family now up in the air? I decided I would broach the subject at lunch, if there was time after she finished telling me about her weekend adventure or adventures to the valley.

When I saw April enter the cafeteria, it looked as if she had thought I would be at our usual table, because she was getting directions from Abby to where I was sitting. She waved to me when she saw me, and after getting her food from the line, she came over. I stood up, more as a formality than to greet her with a hug or high five or something, but after she set her tray down, she kissed me on the cheek. It startled me a bit, not because of surprise so much but because I instantly tried to keep my reaction in check - can't smile too big and look giddy and in love, but probably shouldn't let my eyes widen in a stunned reaction either. I curled my lips ever so slightly into a very small smile, remembering my desire to talk about our feelings soon, and sat down across from her. However, she went straight into finishing her recount of her weekend trips - to the city and to the valley.

Between taking bites and listening to my questions, she told me how she had gone about making the trip to the valley from somewhere out of sight where she could safely hide her clothes. She laughed at herself for having initially thought of looking for a deserted alleyway, dumpster corral, or grove of trees before she realized that the minivan's back windows were all tinted, recalling, in fact, that she and her brother had made “wardrobe adjustments” in the back seats when they were younger without any ado from their parents.

Still, she decided to park a bit beyond the main group of cars closest to the entrance of one of the bigger retailers but not too far away that it would be somewhat dangerous or look too remote. She climbed into the back seat without getting out of the car, but made sure all of the doors and windows were locked. She was thankful that the sunshade was still in the van, and so put it in the windshield in order to block anyone from being able to see through the front of the car and possibly watch her disappear or reappear.

After she put her clothes under one of the seats (just in case anyone peaked inside the van while she was gone), she teleported directly to the beach. At this point in her story, her face lit up and it was clear she could barely contain her excitement and keep her voice down so as not to attract attention.

Her ability to change the valley, to expand our world, was not limited to physical characteristics of the land or the weather patterns; she found that as she envisioned an small island not even a quarter of a mile from the shore of the beach, it appeared, just like that, complete with a dock, small boathouse, and a modest cabana at the top of a grassy knoll that overlooked the ocean and beach.

"I could hardly believe it," she said excitedly. "I imagined that man-made stuff, and then it was there! I just had to swim over to the island and see what the boathouse and the cabana were like." She told me about how perfectly crystal clear the water was, and that she had briefly thought that maybe another time at the beach she would create a coral reef nearby so we could go snorkeling to check it out. She described the motor boat and pair of jet skis that were in the boathouse and also informed me that the cabana had lots of fun amenities, like a big hammock outside, hung between two strong palm trees, a wood stove and a water tap that drew cool water that she thought must come from a natural spring on the island, and nice, comfy wicker furniture both inside the cabana and out on its porch and deck; the porch looked out at the beach and the valley and the deck looked out to sea.

"I wanted to try out the hammock, and I did find it pretty comfortable..." She trailed off, and then looked at me intently. "But it would have been better if you were there with me," she said softly. "I missed sharing this fun new stuff with you, Gary. I mean I knew you were probably having fun at the campground, so, really, I just missed you in general."

I smiled and turned red a little. She giggled and then changed her tone back to gleeful excitement, saying, "Plus, when I teleported back to the van, only about 45 minutes had passed, even though I had to have been at the beach for a few hours at least!”

I was duly impressed. “April, that is truly incredible. And I can't wait to see it. I definitely thought about you, too, while I was at the campground, and not only because I was curious if the time-difference thing had happened to you..." I was the one trailing off, and she giggled again. I smiled and then I changed my tone to a wistful one and said, "Perhaps I can add some features to the lake like you did to the beach. A nice tire swing and a canoe would be nice to have...” Yet I caught myself before fazing out too much, and added, “But, hey, we should probably talk about how we're going to deal with your parents' knee-jerk reactions. After all, we can't keep going to this private world of ours, especially with this parentally enforced rift between us. What I mean is that we need to make sure we stay grounded in reality.”

“You're right, Gary. That's absolutely true,” she said, more solemn than I'd ever seen her. “I do want to visit your campground, and I definitely want to spend time with you and your family again, too. That night of nude gaming was really fun!”

“I agree.” I paused for a moment, and clearly I had a serious look on my face, because April asked, “Hey, what is it?”

“Well, April, I want to talk about our relationship, too.” Unfortunately, almost fatefully, the bell rang for the first afternoon class. I scoffed.

“Hey,” she said, looking at me with those piercing blue eyes and taking both of my hands in hers from across the table. “I hear you. And we will. Let's meet in the courtyard again during the afternoon break.” And then she smiled as we got up, and walked her tray over to the tray return, and waved at me as she left the cafeteria. I almost sat back down to contemplate this latest interaction, but I knew I had to get to class.

Chapter 16

“Hey you,” she said as I approached the bench in the courtyard where she was sitting. “Come have a seat.”

“Thanks,” I said, unsure of what she might say next.

“Gary, I think I know what you're thinking and maybe feeling, too.”

“Do you now?” I asked in a playful challenge.

“Yeah, I do. You are wrestling with the idea that you might have feelings for me, given that you have probably figured out that I've got a crush on you.”

“Yeah!” I exclaimed, somewhat relieved.

“It's definitely been written on your face every time I've kissed you or held your hand.” I blushed, and she giggled. “But it's cute. I love it.”

“Okay... So what if I feel the same way?” I asked slowly and nervously.

“If you feel the same way, my winter break will be ten times better, even if I can't see you until school starts up again in the New Year.”

“And if I don't?” I asked cautiously.

“If you don't feel the same way, I'll curb my playfulness and tell my heart, not to mention my hormones, to take a chill pill. I don't know if you've noticed this, Gary, but you attract a lot of attention from the girls here. You are really handsome and you carry yourself really well. Any girl would be lucky to be yours.”

At this point, I'm sure I was as bashful as can be. I mean, I've always been kind of shy and introverted, and April was just showering me with praise and putting out pheromones like crazy. She smelled so good and wore practically no makeup, which I always liked about her. Women care so much about conforming to crazy standards of beauty that they've begun to forget that they're beautiful as unique individuals, in their natural, normal state of appearance.

“Well,” I said, trying to compose myself, “I do like you, April. I could definitely see us, you know... dating and stuff,” I said, a bit sheepishly.

“Yay!" she said jubilantly. I blushed. Noting my bashfulness, she said, "Hey, cutie, we can do this, okay?" She looked into my eyes and smiled. I could hardly stand it, how kind and pretty she was. I chuckled a little, but couldn't think of anything to say. She went on to say, "Listen, how about taking me to the winter dance this Friday? Everyone knows we're really good friends, so if we went together, I don't think it would faze anyone too much. Maybe spending some time with me while amongst our friends will help you relax while you get comfortable with the idea of us, you know?” She waited a moment, and then said, “Plus I've never seen you dance before!”

“Ha!” I cried. “I am a beast at games like Dance Dance Revolution and Just Dance. You're on!”

“Great,” she said, clearly thrilled. But then, a bit of concern in her voice, “I'll just have to lie to my parents about who's taking me, or come right out and 'discuss' our friendship with them again.”

“Wow,” I said, reeling a bit inside.

“Hey, don't worry. I've been going over some of the main talking points in favor of social nude recreation, and I think I can cook up some kind of 'presentation' that will knock their socks off!” She winked as she made that pun. I rolled my eyes and gave her a playful nudge with my shoulder.

“I guess I need to make sure my suit's ready for this weekend.”

“I'll wear a simple dress, just so that it doesn't look like we're all hot and heavy into each other.”

“Thanks, April. That means a lot to me.”

She nudged me back. “I'll see you on the bus.”

* * *

The bus ride was casual, as always. April always got off first, so we spent her portion of the bus ride chatting with our fellow riders. I will say, though, that I had fun imagining what even something as commonplace as a high school bus ride would be like if April and I were an item.

My parents could tell something was on my mind, and when I told them about April's suggestion that we go to the dance together, they smiled at me but then quickly reminded me about the Collins' outburst from the week before. They told me they had been thinking about contacting April's parents to try to smooth things over and start a peaceful discussion about my family's practice of practical nude recreation so that they wouldn't get the wrong idea about April's and my friendship. Little did they know, of course, that she and I had spent quite a lot of time nude together, cut off from society.

Quite a lot happened before Friday night rolled around. My mom was able to chat up Mrs. Collins when they ran into each other at the local market, and my dad made a point to ask Pastor Collins if they could meet together after the Wednesday night service at the church, who agreed, albeit somewhat reservedly. All in all, the parental units agreed that it would be good for us kids to enjoy the dance, and both sets remarked about how mature April's and my friendship was already. My parents, of course, knew that April had told me she had feelings for me; I doubted very much that April would have shared that with her folks right away.

As for April's conflict with her parents about the legitimate goodness and wholesomeness of the nudist lifestyle, things started to improve, too. April shared the basic points with her parents again using a very well-crafted montage of positive stories from the media and quality research studies noting the practicality and basic, genuine fun that true nudism is known for. This presentation helped confirm the points my parents made with April's, but we both thought that it was the support from April's younger brother, Sam, that really spoke to their parents. He confessed that at first he thought his sister was crazy, or crazier than usual, but then pointed out how over-sexualized and mystified the naked body had become, especially among teenagers, who almost never showered after gym class because they are so self-conscious about their bodies, and who cared so much about the latest fashions and styles that the tension about who was wearing the right thing sometimes made school really unbearable.

All in all, the tempest at the Collins residence appeared to be subsiding, and they allowed me to pick April up on Friday night, even welcoming me back into their home and taking a few glamour shots of us together. April was pretty embarrassed and likewise eager to get out the door and on back to the school. She looked gorgeous, and although the dress was understated, her natural beauty still shone brightly. It definitely made me happy that she enthusiastically swooned over the corsage I gave her.

During the dance, I could tell that she was holding something back - a surprise or some new piece of information she was dying to share with me. I finally roped her over to the drinks area and we sat down at a table to cool off a bit.

“What are you being so secretive about, April,” I asked, intrigued.

“I found a way to unlock one of the storage areas under the stairwell just outside the gym, Gary.” She paused, looking to me to see if I was following her. I was, but I pretended not to be to see how she would complete the secret. “I left a duffel bag there this afternoon and stuffed a few flattened cardboard boxes there earlier in the week. We can pop them open for a few minutes, undress, stash our clothes in the duffel bag, and spend some time on the beach and maybe at the lake, too!”

I beamed at the idea. “That sounds great, April. I could use some sun rays before we get hit with a lot more snow and ice.”

We excused ourselves to the bathrooms, not caring what our friends actually thought about where we were going, and carried out April's well-laid plan. After we'd gather our clothes into the duffel bag, we grabbed the boxes, flattened them again, and yanked them back into the storage area before heading out across the nether for a short trip to our private paradise.

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