Date: Sat, 20 Nov 2004 21:20:27 -0500
From: Frontrnrusa@netscape.net
Subject: A World Apart - Part I

This story is fiction and resemblance to anyone living or
dead is purely coincidental.  I hope you enjoy the story. If
you have suggestions or comments, please email me I look
forward to hearing from you. Frontrnrusa@netscape.net

Copyright 2002 Holloway H.


                        A World Apart
                     Part One - Zachary


     I was born in Iowa in 1923; my parents were dairy
farmers with a herd of 300 cows.  I still hear my father's
voice yelling, "Zachary, grab that pail and pay attention to
what you're doing."

I looked at poppa, "yes sir."  It took me a minute to get my
bearings and realize where I was and what I was supposed to
be doing, I must have been daydreaming again.  My long legs
didn't appreciate the short stool I sat on to squeeze the
udders of hundreds of cows, filling bucket after bucket with
warm fresh cream.  By the time the cows had been milked, fed
and turned out it was time for school.  Poppa would yell at
me to get washed up and hurry on my way.  I'd run upstairs,
scrub my face, comb my hair and run out the front door and
almost a mile to school.  As soon as I hit the schoolyard
I'd seek out my friends and soon we'd be engaged in
conversation and imaginary baseball.  Girls in my class
walked around in a small group they were always making eyes
at me and giggling. I didn't much care what the girls were
saying; my friends would rib me no matter what.  I was
taller than most boys my age and I knew my looks were
striking; I'd seen many people look at me and once I figured
out I wasn't deformed I knew. Sometimes at the pictures when
I was allowed to go alone I'd be sitting in the corner and
an older man would sit next to me and his leg would rub up
against mine, I didn't move I liked the feeling.  Instead of
looking like a typical 15 year old, I looked seventeen or
eighteen.

     Once the school bell rang everyone ran for the
classroom and their seat, everything was business.  Mr.
Herndon didn't care much for cutting up and was known to
have a mean swing with the heavy rod he carried up and down
each aisle.

"Zachary, stand up."

"Yes sir."  I stood at attention looking neither right nor
left.

"Zachary I want you to recite the preamble to the
constitution."

My mind raced a hundred miles an hour and I could hear Mr.
Herndon walking up behind me. "Sir, `We the people.'"
My mind continued to feed the words to my mouth until Mr.
Herndon put his hand on my shoulder and told me to stop.
His touch sent electricity throughout my body and I lost all
memory of the constitution, it was a good thing I didn't
have to recite more.  I felt the slight squeeze he gave my
shoulder before he dropped his hand and picked on the next
person. I watched Mr. Herndon in his suit, he was a young
teacher, he wore glasses and I considered him to be
handsome. Hearing someone cough brought me out of my
daydreaming trance, I sat and listened as each person was
tagged to repeat the next section of the chosen recitation.
Mr. Herndon didn't have to wait long to use his ruler on the
shins of some forgetful soul.

"Tyler standup and continue."

I watched as Tyler came to his feet quickly and stood like a
good soldier at attention.  I noticed his worn clothes,
ragged haircut and saw the slight trembling of his lip.  He
too was tall almost as tall as me he had wonderful bright
gray eyes and dark black hair.  He talked with a slow, more
thoughtful manner, considering what he was going to say
next.  He began to recite from the point where the previous
person had left off, he came to a part he could not remember
and the familiar whack of the ruler slammed against his
shins, he didn't wince or move until Mr. Herndon told him to
sit and then he returned to his seat without any expression,
looking straight ahead at the blackboard.  I watched Tyler
for several more seconds until the voice of the next person
reciting took my attention.  After the Constitution was
completed we spent the remainder of the morning with
bookwork and penmanship.  During recess I stood leaning
against a tree and watched as Tyler went off by himself and
sat under a large oak his back resting against the trunk, he
was completely out of sight of everyone.  I talked with a
few boys before wandering over to where Tyler rested.  As I
walked up on him he looked at me then closed his eyes, I sat
next to him without asking, he opened his eyes and looked at
me sideways never saying a word, but between us was an
immediate unspoken understanding.  We sat in silence for a
while then I looked at him, "You like to camp?"

He turned and grinned, "Yeah, I love camping."

"I like camping too, but not by myself, how about Friday
night?"  I asked.

He nodded his head, "Okay."

We talked about hunting and family, we got so caught up in
our conversation the bell startled both of us as we raced
back to our seats.

     After class Mr. Herndon made me stay behind.  He had me
clean erasers as he closed up the schoolhouse then we walked
next door to his house, he said he wanted to give me a new
book to read I loved reading and borrowed books from him all
the time.  He handed me a book on Greek History telling me
it wouldn't be appropriate to show my parents the book. I
looked at him understanding his concern.  We sat beside each
other as he took the book and opened it to a section and
began reading about the Greek's.  I felt my face turn red
and at the same time I felt Mr. Herndon's hand on my leg, I
didn't move the feeling was electric.  He looked at me and
his hand traveled further until I was straining for release.
He led me back to his bedroom he removed his glasses, knelt
in front of me, my fingers greedily moved in his hair as I
held his head and my body moved of it's own accord soon I
felt my knees buckle.  Mr. Herndon looked at me and removed
his clothes, he lay face down, I knew what to do I'd done it
before, I soon lay on top of him, he cried out several times
and finally my body shook and I collapsed, he didn't move. I
could smell the hair oil he wore and was excited once again.
Mr. Herndon had already had enough, but I'd already begun to
move and he had to deal with my youth once again, his body
was quick to move in unison with mine, my body shook and I
collapsed on top of him.  He rolled me off, cleaning off my
private areas then he hurried me off.  I ran all the way
home and was only an hour late I used the book Mr. Herndon
had given me as my excuse.  I quickly got my chores done
before heading to my room to read.

The First of Many Camping Trips -

    I looked forward all week to camping out with Tyler.
Over the next three days during recess Tyler and I made
plans for our camping trip, we wanted to camp somewhere out
of the way.  With our supply list readied we counted down
the time until we would setup camp.  Friday afternoon as the
school bell sounded Tyler and I raced back to my house.  We
gathered my camping supplies, Mom packed food for us to take
on our trip.  I slung my canteen over my shoulder and put my
sleeping roll on my back, Tyler carried the tent and we both
carried the canvas sack with our food.

"Zachary you boys be careful."  I kissed my mother on the
cheek,

"Yes momma."

Tyler looked over at my mother and smiled, "We'll be fine."

She smiled and we were off.  Almost an hour later we arrived
at Tyler's house, it was pretty run down, they hadn't
planted much crops this year.  Tyler's dad was a large man
and he appeared much older than my dad, he acted like he'd
been drinking.  Tyler's mom had died from the fever three
years back this past November.  Tyler and I gathered his
supplies as his father watched.  As soon as we were ready to
depart he looked at us, "be careful."

"Yes, sir," we replied in unison.

     Traveling through brush and trees for almost three
miles we reached a small pond completely shrouded by trees
and brush.  Across the pond was a clearing large enough for
a tent.  Tyler told me to wait while he went around into a
clump of bushes and pushed out a wooden raft, we loaded our
supplies onboard.  Tyler used a pole to get the craft moving
across the shallow pond.  Once we hit the opposite shore and
unloaded our stuff we hid the raft out of sight and
proceeded to get our tent set up.  It was still hot as the
sun began to set, we stripped and ran to the water, then we
swam as fast as we could to the middle of the pond and back;
we wrestled with each other playfully until we were both
tired out.  Tyler and I dried off, then gathered wood and
started a fire, we fixed something to eat and listened to
the silence until mosquitoes started buzzing around us then
we climbed inside the tent and pulled the flaps shut.

     Tyler lit a candle in an old lamp and we played war
with a deck of cards until we'd both won an equal amount of
games.  We lay back and Tyler blew the candle out to save
light for tomorrow night.  We lay in the dark talking about
school, families, and what we were going to do tomorrow.
After a while I heard Tyler's breathing soften I knew he
must have fallen asleep. I could feel the warmth of his body
radiating and my skin was thrilled by this sensation.  I
closed my eyes and slowly let my hand fall close to the top
of his head, his hair felt soft on my fingers it was hard
for me to refrain from playing with his dark hair.  Tyler
turned toward me lying on his side and rested his hand on my
stomach.  I moved my fingers in his hair and he moved his
fingers across the skin of my stomach.  We soon lost our
shyness and began to explore each other, never in my life
had I touched a boy my age and I'd never felt this way when
Mr. Herndon touched me. Our hands explored the forbidden
parts of each others body finding warmth and excitement with
each touch until we both fell asleep from the excitement and
exhaustion of our explorations.  We slept well into the
morning, I was the first to wake, Tyler's head rested on my
shoulder.  I turned my face into his hair and moved my
fingers up the back of his neck.  Tyler woke and looked up
at me without a word, our shyness past, we hurriedly
explored the limits of our excitement and we did the
unthinkable, we put our lips together the way a man kisses a
woman.  I held Tyler's lips against mine and we moaned and
writhed against each other as we erupted in passion and need
for one another.  We rested for a while then we swam
together cleaning our bodies in the cool water, watching
each other intently.  Breakfast was delicious neither of us
had ever tasted anything as good, we looked at each other as
we ate and before long we were once again inside the tent
our bodies pressed one against the other.  We began to
realize the impact of our actions.  We looked at each other
with confusion over what we had done, it was at that moment
I became afraid, not at what we'd done but by the fact that
I needed something in my life I'd never even thought about.

Tyler looked up at me, "Zachary I'm not sorry we did things
together."

I looked at Tyler, "neither am I we mustn't let anyone know
or they'll put us in jail."

Tyler shook his head acknowledging what I said as true.  He
climbed up next to me and leaned against me, my whole world
had changed in one night.  The heat of the day made being in
the tent unbearable.  We loaded my rifle and headed out in
the brush to hunt for dinner.  Tyler found an area where
rabbit droppings were plentiful; we sat beside each other
and waited, our bodies pressed together, as the first rabbit
entered the small clearing Tyler took aim and with a pop the
rabbit's body jerked a few time then was still.  Tyler ran
out and collected his trophy then resumed his place the dead
rabbit lay next to us.  After another hour and three more
shots we had a good dinner.  We returned to our campsite and
cleaned our catch.  Tyler was quick with removing the
rabbit's head and pulling off their pelts.  He soon had them
all cleaned while I was still stretching out the skins to
dry.  We pulled out a can of beans and a jar of preserves to
have with our rabbit.  Tyler slowly turned the rabbit over
the open fire watching as fat turned to liquid and exploded
on the hot embers sending flames into the air.  Once cooked
he removed the rabbit from the stick and placed them on our
tin plates, he looked at me as he handed me one of the
plates,

"Zachary what are we going to do?"

I had already taken a bite of rabbit, "about what?"

Tyler tried to smile, "what we've done, do you think people
can tell by looking at us?"

I studied his face, wiping my mouth with the back of my
hand, "we're friends, we're staying friends, you look the
same as everyone else, we didn't do nothing wrong, I mean
it."

He shook his head, "You look the same too, could we go
camping again sometime?"

I reached out with my clean hand and messed his hair, "all
the time."

The next day of our camping trip we spent together hunting,
swimming and worrying about having to return home the
following afternoon, it seemed at fifteen nothing in our
lives would ever return to normal.  The more time we spent
together the more natural it all seemed.

     Monday morning I returned to school, Tyler waited for
me and once I'd said something to my friends I dragged Tyler
into the group.  Tyler was mostly a listener, when he did
say something it seemed everyone waited for him to finish,
while I hung on to each word, eventually he was a part of
the group and I didn't have to worry about him being a part
from me, but I did find myself worrying about something new.
I worried about him doing something with other boys.  I'd
already been with Mr. Herndon again but I wasn't about to
let Tyler be with anyone but me.  Mr. Herndon needed what I
could give and he wasn't a threat. Tyler and me saw each
other at school but had little time even on weekends to
visit.  I worked from the time my homework was completed
until it was time to go to bed and Tyler did the same.  When
we had weekends where I could get away, we camped out but
only for one night, my father wanted me home for various
reasons.  When Tyler and I had a night together our shyness
was gone and we sought only to please each other until we
both lay in the dark exhausted and deeply in love with each
other.  Tyler's head on my stomach, my fingers moving in his
hair was all I needed to be happy.  I decided to tell Tyler
how I felt, as we lay in the tent I stuttered as I tried to
explain to Tyler, he looked at me, his expression torn
between anger and understanding,

"I understand, what you're feeling but we'll grow out of
this, we'll meet girls and get married."

I shook my head in agreement giving up on honesty.  We lay
in the dark listening to each other's breathing neither of
us moving.  I was fifteen and anticipation was hard to
control, I couldn't control my urges but I could control my
hands.  It seemed like an eternity passed before, Tyler
placed his hand on my chest and I put my arm under his neck.
We lay a while longer before either of us was bold enough to
break the silence with a question,

"What if we don't like girls this way?"

Tyler thought about my question before answering, "we'll see
what happens, like daddy always says don't count your
chickens until they hatch."  His hand found its way down my
stomach and my hand did the same.  I'd always thought about
doing this with a boy but always thought it would be nasty
and I'd never think about it again, but it wasn't. I never
touched Mr. Herndon's private areas he was always the one
doing the touching.  Tyler made me want to touch all of him
and all the sermons about hell fire and everything else
didn't even enter my mind anymore.

The Farm -

     Farm life keeps you busy, makes you strong and healthy
until it drives you into your grave.  My father was of
German descent, he was strong willed and determined to never
count on anyone but himself.  At times he worked so hard
he'd fall asleep in the barn without eating.  Momma was
German too and just as strong willed except when it came to
daddy.  She loved him something terrible.  They were always
real practical except when it came to each other.  I'd go
into town with my father and he'd always spend an extra
nickel to pick momma up something.  It didn't matter what he
got her, it only mattered that he remembered her.  I was my
parent's only child, they couldn't have no more otherwise
I'm sure we'd of had a house full.  While I was being born,
the midwife said there were terrible problems and by the
time they was able to get a doctor, I was half out and momma
was in severe pain.  After I was delivered the doctor looked
after momma, she got real sick and daddy nursed her the
entire time.  The Doctor told momma and daddy a few weeks
later momma couldn't bear any more children, her insides was
messed up from my birth.  I was never sure if it was my
fault or not and I was even more uncertain whether they
blamed me or not.  My parent's loved me I think.  I don't
remember hearing them tell me that exactly, they would make
a big deal of good grades and medals for baseball or
running, but I don't remember hearing them say `I love you'.
I looked a lot like my father, at 35 he still looked like a
young man.  His hair was blond and thick, his eyes as blue
and lively as mine and he was tall, we were both tall and
the spitting image of each other.  Daddy took Momma and me
to town when the photographer came through and had our
pictures made, he got two and let me put one in my room.
Momma was a good mother and a better wife, she never talked
about not being able to have other children at least not
that I heard.  She kept the house clean as a whistle and she
cooked like a chef in one of those high priced restaurants.
Momma was our cook and our housekeeper she sewed, washed and
nursed us when we were sick.  She was the last one to sit
down to dinner every night and the only one of us that
didn't want something from town or anywhere else always
saying she was content with her lot.

     I on the other hand wasn't content.  A year passed,
Tyler and I saw each other every chance we got.  It was
becoming more than either of us had ever considered.  During
the summer, Tyler's father had taken him to see kin in Pavo,
Georgia.  While he was there he met a girl from town.  They
went to a dance, but soon ended up in the back of the Ford.
Tyler said he couldn't go through with it and told the girl
he was scared of getting caught.  She called him a bad name
and ran away.  He told me about it when he returned, he
couldn't look at me as he told me the story.  We didn't talk
about what was happening between us, seemed a distance was
springing up without words.  The few times we could have
gone camping we didn't.  At school we were friends but not
as close. Over a long weekend a group of us decided to go
camping, we asked Tyler too but he said no, even though he
knew I was going.  I saw him look over at me like he wanted
to say something but didn't.  The camping trip was fun, we
fished and swam down by the river, the bugs were bad at
night but overall I had a good time.

     The following Monday at school the gulf between Tyler
and I widened all week until Friday when he almost ordered
me to go camping with him.  We managed to get our supplies
together and then we walked to our campsite with less than
10 words between us. We swam and played around but we were
restrained in our actions with each other.  As night fell we
climbed in our tent and got settled Tyler didn't want to
play cards so we lay in the dark.  You could hear the
mosquitoes buzzing outside the canvas walls.  Crickets
played their fiddle legs and owls hooted to their hearts
content.  It was warm and I lay there shirtless my underwear
wet from sweat, I had almost fallen asleep when I felt
Tyler's hand on my body. He moved in next to me and
whispered his question in my ear, "Did you mess around on
the camping trip?"

I breathed hard, "No, I wouldn't dare."

We talked until we'd settled the fear both of us felt then
we sealed our pact with blood from our little fingers; we
poked each other with a pine needle causing a drop of blood.
As we lay back Tyler lay on his stomach and I took him the
way I'd taken Mr. Herndon.  I didn't even get to enter him
before I was shaken by my excitement.  Tyler turned over and
in the dark his hand touched the side of my face, I bent
forward and kissed him and he told me he loved me, nothing
had ever made me as happy or given as much purpose in life
as those words spoken that night.  At 16 and half we were
two farm boys who violated God's law as the preacher had
preached from his pulpit by loving each other in physical
ways, but it didn't matter cause even the heat of hell
seemed all right as long as we were together.  Over the next
year and a half we spent summers together camping and
winters in Tyler's barn loft. In a little less than a year
and a half we'd both be eighteen and high school graduates.
I wasn't sure what I wanted to do for a living but whatever
I faced it wouldn't be alone.

A Death -

     We never tired of each other or camping or lying
together in the dark of a tent. We talked often about Hitler
and Germany, listening to the exploits of pilots on the
radio and daydreaming of flying. In May of the following
year many things happened. Tyler's father died and the land
and farm was sold to satisfy debts.  Momma and daddy allowed
Tyler to stay with us until he graduated from high school
then he could get in touch with relatives.  It was during
the time he lived in my room that I learned how independent
I was of the world and how dependent I was on Tyler and him
dependent on me.

In 1940 I wanted to be a Pilot and I wanted to spend the
remainder of my life with Tyler.  People had been put in
jail or insane asylums for wanting the same as Tyler and me
and getting caught.  I daydreamed about the two of us
working a farm after the war. Tyler smiled when I told him
about my thoughts, "I'd like that too."

     There wasn't anything soft in Tyler's appearance or
manner it was in the way he was when we were alone,
something that belonged only to me. On a Sunday afternoon
almost a month after his father died the Sheriff auctioned
off the farm and all the equipment.  Sheriff Potter was a
good man and he was sure to get the best possible price for
everything.  There was a crowd of about 25 people listening
as each item was described before being put up for auction.
Tyler and I sat behind the crowd and listened, I looked over
at Tyler and could see anger and sadness in his eyes he'd
turn his head and wipe his face like he'd been sweating.
When it was all said and done, the farm, equipment and 300
hundred acres brought just over 2700 dollars.  The sad part
is the debt owed was only 1500 hundred dollars.  Since Tyler
was under 21 at the time he couldn't assume the debt so they
sold his homestead.  Three days after the auction, the bank
manager came down by the house with a check for 1200 dollars
made out to Tyler.  Tyler held the check for a few moments
before handing it back and saying he wanted to open an
account.  The following afternoon we walked into town went
to the bank and signed the papers to open a savings account.
I was listed as his next of kin just in case something
happened to him.  He made his first withdraw of 10 dollars,
we both got haircuts, a cold drink and a real wristwatch.
"We'll need the watches if we're going to be pilots."

"You're right." I replied a smile covering my face.  We
walked to the bus stop and took the bus into Atlanta almost
two hours away.  We got there just after one in the
afternoon and had no problems finding the Army recruiter.
The recruiter was an older fellow and he seemed nice enough,
we talked about the Air Corps, he said we had to be high
school graduates we told him we would be in about two weeks.
He gave us paperwork to complete and a test, after looking
at everything he said to us, "if you pass the physical you
both can enlist in the Air Corps."

We slapped each other on the back.  The recruiter gave us
tickets to catch the bus back home and another ticket to
come back in three weeks and take a physical.  We were
excited as we talked in the back of the bus.  I don't know
what I was thinking when I looked at Tyler and said, "what
if they transfer us to different units?"

He smiled at me, "you and I are going to earn as much money
as we can in the next two years then we'll move someplace
we can live together without people wondering."