Date: Sat, 18 May 2013 11:07:07 -0700
From: Elias Donovan Scott <eliassctt@gmail.com>
Subject: Knots - Chapter 1

           This story is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and
incidents are the product of the author's imagination and are used
fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, events or
locales is purely coincidental and no slanderous intent is implied.  Email
me with your comments at eliassctt@gmail.com

*Chapter 1*

            Andy and I were celebrating our 14th summer, the summer before
our freshman year at Edison High School, a school of about 750 students
located in a small conservative town in western Nevada.  That summer and
the year that followed are as clear as a high def digital movie in my
head.

            It's no secret.  Andy was my best friend and I loved him.

            High school is filled with memories *too good* to be
forgotten.  But it wouldn't be real life if it wasn't also filled with
memories *too bad* to be forgotten.

             Looking back on this time makes me think of knots.  You know,
those knots that seem to come from nowhere when it's usually because we
were a little careless and weren't paying attention.  Andy and I tied knots
in our lives that year we thought could never be untied.  But as anyone
knows, who has patience enough, every knot can be undone.  But for some,
the knots remain forever.

            I'm in my twenty's now and look back on that time as one where
we were searching for who we were and our place in this crazy world.  Our
hormones were as active as atoms.  Anything could start a chain reaction
that could change our lives forever.

            *****

            Andy and I mowed lawns to make extra money during that summer.
We'd take our shirts off as the temperature rose.  I couldn't help but look
at Andy's slim, tanned, and toned body.  He'd catch me looking at him and
would smile. His smile drew you in and made you feel loved.  The blue-gray
eyes, nose, ears, and sandy hair formed a perfect head.  He was slender,
but not skinny.  He was my best friend and I loved him, yet I often felt
nervous around him and didn't know why.  There were times I wanted to hug
him like a brother, but I never did. Andy made my insides spin like a
tornado.  Everything in the world seemed right when I was with him.  I
savored our days together.

            Girls didn't do that to me, but then I was only fourteen and
most of my friends were guys.  But of all my friends, only Andy made my
insides tumble. We were tied together in a square knot.  But anyone who
knows anything about knots knows a square knot gets its strength under
tension.  It clamps down on itself.  Yet, when the tension is released,
it's easily untied.  Wouldn't it great if our lives could be like that?

            Unfortunately, the tension made my life feel like it was all in
knots.  I often wondered if Andy felt like I did, but was afraid to ask.
And if he said yes, then what?

*****

            We played basketball and rode our bikes out into the country on
weekends.

            That summer we still thought of ourselves as the big boys who'd
just graduated from the 8th grade.  The reality of being freshmen hadn't
hit us yet.

             Andy came by my house on a warm Saturday in July while I was
mowing our lawn.  He had a rope about an inch wide looped around the both
ends of his handle bars.   He flashed his smile and jerked his head toward
our secret place.  "Let's go," he said. "I finally got some rope for the
tree by the pond."

            I yelled,   "Mom, we're headed to the pond."

            She'd grown used to this and yelled back, "Don't stay too late."

            I slapped the rope that lay across Andy's handlebars.  "I can't
believe we finally got the rope."

            "What do you mean, we?  You didn't do anything but talk about
it.  I did it."

            Andy was right.  He was a doer, and  I was jealous that he'd
beat me to it.  But I didn't care.  We had the rope and we'd soon be
swinging high in the air like trapeze artists and falling into the cool
water of Davis Creek.

            The entrance to the woods was about a mile out of town.  We hid
our bikes in the bushes just off the main rode.  The rope was so big and
heavy I figured it would take two of us to carry it.  But Andy drug the
rope over his neck and under his arm, listing some as a big grin spread
across his face.  *He's awesome, *I thought.

            I followed him into the thick woods down our secret trail where
we'd discovered what we called *Our Swimming Hole*.  Davis Creek flowed
rapidly until the stream bed leveled off and the water slowed and formed a
small pond.  Andy turned and smiled.  "This is just too cool?"

            I nodded as he stripped down to his shorts, tied two big knots
at one end of the rope, and started up the tree, his muscles moving like
snakes under his skin.

            I wanted to be him.   It made me think of the book we'd read in
class called *A Separate Peace* which was about two friends.  One was
jealous of the other, and when his friend was on the branch, he shook it
and the boy fell and broke his arm or leg.  Can't remember which.  He was a
good athlete and couldn't finish the football season.

            I envied Andy for his courage, good looks, and for what he did
to me inside.  My envy was not jealousy thought and that's why I could
never do anything that would hurt him.  I was greedy for his courage and
everything that made him special.  But even then, I couldn't tell you what
it was.

            Andy climbed out on the tree branch.  "Can you believe we're
really doing this?  I thought we'd never do this Matt.  We're always
talking about it.  I finally decided it was time."

            My heart thumped  when he said, "we're really doing this."  And
I guess we were.  He got the rope, but we were putting it up together.

            I stripped to my shorts, jumped in, and tread water under the
branch, waiting for the rope to fall. The water was cool, but the during
the warm summer days was no worse than a swimming pool.

            Andy tied a huge knot at one end of the rope and dropped it so
it hung three or four feet off the water.  He used the rest to tie the rope
to the tree using whatever knot came to him.  "I'm tying this into so many
knots there's no way it's coming loose," he yelled as he looked down at me.

            I just looked up at him and saw Andy grinning in amazement.  I
squinted in the sunlight that flashed from behind him, making him look like
some supernatural being.  "How we going to get the rope to the bank?"

            "I already thought of that."  He reached into this shorts and
pulled out a thin rope about eight feet long.  "Here, tie this to the end
of the rope and we can use it to drag the rope to the edge."

            "Looks like you've thought of everything."

            "Yep, I'm sooo cool."

            I looked up.  "Yeah, as cool as day old dog shit."

            "Fuck you," he said as he moved off the branch and climbed down
the tree.  "Bring the rope over.  Let's swing."

            I grabbed the small rope and swam to the edge.

            "Hang on.  I'll pull you out."  Andy took the end of the small
rope and pulled me and the large rope on the edge of the pond.  I scrambled
up and stood next to him, waiting for him to take the first swing when he
said,  "Matt, I want you to go first."

            "You did all the work.  You should go first."

            "I know, but I want you to go first."

            "It doesn't feel right."

            "Don't worry about that stuff.  Get your ass on that knot."

            I climbed out of the water, put the rope between my legs, sat
on the knot, and swung out over the water holding on tight, a little afraid
to jump off.  The swinging tickled my stomach. "Andy, this is awesome."

            "You don't get to ride forever.  Jump off so I can ride."

            I pulled back on the rope so my back was parallel to the water
and slid off into the coolness with a small slap and a big splash.

            He motioned with his hand.  "Bring the rope over."

            I handed it to him.  He jumped on and walked way further back
than I had and swung far out over the water, making me look like an
amateur.  He jumped off when the rope hit its highest point.  The water
splashed and hit me.

            "Andy, that was awesome.  You were flying."

            We took turns swinging, challenging each other to ever-higher
heights until we both got out and laid on our backs in the grass, breathing
hard and exhausted.

            I glanced over and admired Andy's smooth skin and nicely formed
body.  He and I were only fourteen, but he looked muscular for a fourteen
year old.  I felt inferior to him even though I was in good shape.  But I
didn't have muscles like Andy.  He turned over on his side and looked at
me.  "Let's swim naked."

            I hesitated.  "What if someone comes?"

            "Who cares.  There's nothing sinful about swimming naked.  I've
done it before and it feels great."

             My eyes followed his perfect body as he stood up.  He pulled
off his shorts and underwear, and  his penis dropped.  Of course it was
bigger than mine.

            I glanced quickly as his penis and his body and didn't move as
he jumped in.  "Come on Matt."

            Modesty hit me as I turned my back to him and pulled off my
shorts and rushed into the water.  The coolness on my penis and balls was
like being weightless.  I'd never felt so in touch with my body.  It didn't
compare to being naked in the shower.

            Andy swam across the pool, did somersaults exposing his butt,
and then coming up and blowing water from his mouth like a whale.  I did
the same.

            We swam around the pool like boxers preparing to fight.  He
swam over to me.  "Isn't this just too cool?

            "Huh, huh, yeah."

            He moved closer to me and for a second I thought he was going
to give me a naked hug and kiss.  I moved back a little and he flashed me a
devious smile.  He just beamed with what I now know was the beauty and love
of youth.  Neither of us knew it then.  My feelings for him were deep and
wonderful and I didn't understand them.  He was beautiful in a masculine
teenager way, and what I thought was perfection in another human being.  I
wanted to hug him and let him know how much I loved him, but was afraid it
would change our friendship, and at that moment, it was the friendship I
valued more than anything else in my life.

            Andy splashed water in my face.  "What are you looking at?"

            "Oh nothing. Just thinking."

            "About what?"

            "How great it is being here with you.  My balls and dick feel
so free. Let's do this every time we come."

            He splashed water on me.  "We can if you want. Is your cock
hard?"

            "None of your business."

            "Mine is.  You want to touch it?"

            "Fuck you, Andy."

            "I was just joking.  Mine's hard though."  He rushed toward
me.  "Let me see if yours is hard."

            "Get away from my Andy."

            He grinned.  "Just teasing," he said as he grabbed the rope and
climbed out.

            I stared at him when his back was to me and noticed the perfect
dimpled butt and the V shape of his back.  He was tanned except for his
butt.  He had perfect fourteen year old legs, shaped in proportion to the
rest of him.  Jealousy and envy filled me as I again thought of the book, *A
Separate Peace.*  I swam to the shore as he jumped on the rope.   "Give me
a push and swing me out as far as you can."

            I put my hands on his back and felt his smooth wet skin.  I'd
never touched another person like that before except my brother and sister
and it wasn't the same.  "Let me know when you're ready."

            "Go"

            I pushed him hard as he swung far across the pond.  He pulled
himself up the rope like an acrobat.  I stared in awe.  He threw his feet
up the end of the rope, and on the next swing, let go and dropped head
first into the water with hardly a splash.

            I wanted to be him so much.  I wanted everything he had.  It
may have been this that I felt inside. The love I felt was envy.  I wanted
to feel and sense everything like he did.  It was impossible, but being
with him was the only opportunity I had.  I relished and savored it, hoping
it would never end.

            Andy walked to our clothes. "Got to go.  Mom told me to be home
before 4:00.  Has some work for me around the house.  Let's do it again
tomorrow."

            "Let's.  This was the best day.  I'll come by your house, K."

            "No, let's meet here around 1:00."

            "Sounds good."