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“The beginning is the most important part of the work.” ~Plato

Welcome back to Writing Wednesdays!

Today, I am introducing the novel that I wrote for NaNoWriMo 2013. I hope you enjoy it! It’s a little longer than my 2012 attempt, which was I was originally striving for. One of these days, one November, I hope to reach the ultimate 50,000 words in 30 days.

But, for now, I’m just happy that for three years running, I’ve bested the previous year’s word count.

Enjoy the beginning!

Working Title: “Specialton”

Word Count, as of November 18, 2013: 14,247 words

A builder had a vision. John Alspice built a reputation from the ground up, literally. No one in his family had ever gone into construction, much less earn a Master’s degree. In the early 1950s, his father was very high up in the local bank; his mother, a homemaker with another daughter and son to raise. Through age-old hard work and perseverance, John studied architecture and business throughout college and graduate school, holding on to his dream of building the best neighborhoods for the most amazing families. He never realized that he would become part of a neighborhood so astounding. John built the neighborhood and then never left. He’s 85 years old and his proudest accomplishment, in his illustrious six-decade career, is Specialton.

John was 25 years old when he received his Master’s in business that May, bound and determined to settle the post-war land into sprawling suburbia for those who wanted the American dream. His family was surprised, but proud. His father had seen his architectural renderings. John had studied and admired Frank Lloyd Wright, he didn’t want to build another cookie-cutter Levittown. He wanted his houses to be unique, yet affordable.

Thank goodness John’s father was a banker with seniority. That’s where he started to begin financing his company – JLA Construction. However, it took more than one loan. But John started with what he was given – He was raised that way. He knew he had to be careful with the $25,000 that was offered – He didn’t know what would come next.

After securing the generous loan, John sought out his first workers. He naturally turned to his architecture classmates for their input. A couple of them signed on immediately, intrigued by John’s drive and vision – Robert, Frank, Donald. Those who didn’t want to commit right then, mostly those who were either engaged or married, promised to spread the word. Within a few weeks, John had assembled a stellar team of 25 designers and workers, ready to kick off JLA Construction. They also broke stereotypes – They had a female designer, Evelyn, and a few black construction workers – Howard, Carl, Albert, and Louis.

The next step was to work together to create a strategy and secure more funding. John didn’t realize it at first, but the team he’d assembled was more than just designers and construction workers. Several of the families of these 20- and 30-somethings were very well-off and used their social graces to drum up contributions and ideas. And those who weren’t wealthy contributed in other invaluable ways – Food, office supplies, and best of all – their mouths. Word spread like wildfire from place to place.

Word spreading wasn’t always positive, however. John almost immediately ran into naysayers and some stiff competition. John knew how to deal with the naysayers and the prejudiced – He ignored that and focused inwardly on his vision. He was fortunate that there were enough people behind him to mainly protect the women and the blacks, since there was still great turmoil in America then.

Weeks went by, then months. By November, six months in, no land had been purchased. John was trying to pay everyone fairly, but more money was going out than coming in. Some of the team members were becoming restless, especially the construction workers. Suburbs were popping up everywhere and cities were developing higher and fancier office buildings – Workers were in constant demand.

Carl and Albert left first, almost without warning. They couldn’t be dragged away from the offer in Chicago. Although discouraged, John worked hard to keep up morale.

Another seven months, and still nothing. John was running out of money and growing desperate that June. He’d lost over 40 percent of his original team. They weren’t angry with John – but most were starting families and needed stable income to support them.

Those who were left – John, Evelyn, Howard, Frank, Billy, Mary Anne, plus the construction team – were still holding on to John’s vision. These people were convinced that John would realize his dream, no matter how long it took.

Evelyn was one of John’s biggest supporters. She’d been attracted to him right after he hired her. She wanted to impress him as a ground-breaking female architectural grad from another college. She loved design, both inside and out. Evelyn not only wanted to help design John’s dream – She wanted to design the perfect family. However, she knew that love and marriage would come after the company started succeeding. She was okay with that – She was in for the long haul with John.

Finally, on an unseasonable chilly and rainy July afternoon, the phone rang. Mary Anne, as the secretary, picked it up and said in her syrupy voice:

“JLA Construction. Mary Anne speaking, how may I direct your call?”

“Yes, ma’am. This is Edward Clinton with the county. I believe we may have a tract of land for sale …”

Mary Anne struggled to maintain her composure, but Evelyn saw right through it. She banged, hard, into John’s office door, even though he despised being distributed. Her grin made his annoyance go away.

“There’s something? Finally? Is that Ed? Mary Anne, put him on my line, now!”

Mary Anne, startled, started stuttering. When she realized that Mr. Clinton was still on the phone, she flushed a deep crimson and apologized profusely.

“Mr. Clinton, I’ll transfer you to Mr. Alspice now. Thank you.”

Once she transferred the call and heard John start to speak, Mary Anne jumped up from her desk and hugged Evelyn like they were schoolgirls. They celebrated briefly, then calmed down.

“Let’s not get carried away, Mary Anne. This may not work out … but it does feel wonderful. This is the best news we’ve had in months!”

After what felt like an hour, John hung up the phone with Ed, even though it had only been 25 minutes. He made some notes and leaned back in his chair for a moment. Evelyn and Mary Anne perceived relief through the frosted glass but couldn’t quite tell. Finally, John opened the door.

“Well, girls, it’s ours for $15,000. Its 25 beautiful acres in the next town. We got it!”

Now they celebrated. It was complete pandemonium. The cheer spread like an infection. Nothing could wipe the smiles off anyone’s face. Calls were made immediately – Champagne, chocolates, a top-of-the-line floral arrangement were all delivered within the hour. The team partied for several hours in the office.

John and Evelyn finally consummated their relationship with a champagne-flavored kiss. And that wasn’t the one – Several other trysts occurred within the team throughout the night. No one cared who was with whom in that office and what anyone was doing – They were celebrating their first victory.

After the team staggered out, drunk and happy at half past midnight, only John and Evelyn remained. Their kisses turned into embraces, and soon a trail of clothes led the way to John’s office. Evelyn danced, naked, on top of John’s desk. She drunkenly kicked his neat and organized files on the floor. John staggered about to save the paperweights and lamp, then encircled her hourglass waist. He carefully helped her lay down on her back. She shivered as her skin touched the smooth wood, but she flamed and moaned as John entered her. They made love for the first time right there, kicking off the first drawings in Evelyn’s design.

John called everyone the next morning – He told everyone to take Thursday and Friday off, plus the weekend.

“Relax, spend time with your families – Because on Monday, we’re hitting the ground running. And we’re not going to stop until we’re done. Prepare yourselves. Step one is done, but we’ve got a marathon ahead of us. Good work – See you Monday.”

John and Evelyn shacked up for those blissful four days, just enjoying each other. And it wasn’t just the sex, although that was a major bonus. John admitted that he’d been smitten with her since her interview. She was stunned, but thrilled.

They both felt guilty about leaving John’s office in shambles the previous night, but no one would know since they’d be the first two in the office, bright and early on Monday morning.

She admitted that she’d never had sex on a company president’s desk while drunk and in the heat of passion, and she’d was hungry to do it again.

John just smiled, took her hand, and proceeded to make love to her in every single room of his house.

Monday morning, John and Evelyn arrived two hours earlier than clock in time, hand in hand. Before reorganizing John’s office, they made love on his desk again, and it was just as wonderful as the first time that chilly Thursday morning. Then they got to work, making sure everything was ready to help JLA Construction start down their first solid path.

The first order of business was to finalize the $15,000 payment to the county. Not wanting to overwhelm the county clerk with the whole team showing up all at once, John only took Mary Anne with him. Evelyn pined for him the entire time they were gone, but she knew that he would never touch Mary Anne. Besides, Mary Anne had called on Friday, saying that she was thoroughly enjoying the extended weekend with Frank.

John and Mary Anne returned after lunch, deed and county maps in hand. They pushed all the tables together in the middle of the office to spread out the maps. John had made it clear that everything was to be studied, no stone left unturned. He wanted to know anything and everything – good or bad – to help make this happen. Everyone was high on energy and analyzed every square inch of those 25 acres clear through to 8:00 that night. Notes were taken frantically and ideas slowly began to take shape.

John only had one request once the process kicked off that Monday afternoon – Everyone on the team should contribute ideas, and every idea should be considered.

Within the first week, plots and plans were in full swing. John and the others put their heads together and figured out that if every home was built on a quarter of an acre, then they could build 100 houses on that 25 acres. But then they laughed – Where would the streets go? Would there be a neighborhood park or community space? Besides, 100 houses was a lot for just one neighborhood in the county.

Back to the drawing board they went, and the ideas just kept flowing. They didn’t want a neighborhood, they wanted a community where people could live and grow for years.

The team started touring other neighborhoods, both old and new, within 100 miles of their land. John called them field trips, and he would rotate the team so that everyone would have a chance to explore and contribute. No field trip was complete without visiting the land offices for maps and other information gathering; it was research. Everyone was brainstorming and helping each other out, and everything seemed to be going splendidly.

The planning continued. The enthusiasm was high for the first two weeks, then it started to wane. Everyone was contributing ideas, but there was tension with some of them. The designers and the construction workers started to clash over building materials. John was the center of this brainchild, and he became increasingly frustrating that little disagreements were turning into bigger and bigger fights and arguments.

Even relationships started to be affected, especially with John and Evelyn. In the beginning, everything was practically perfect, with the sale of the land and the excitement over creating something amazing for their county. However, Evelyn was the first to notice more alcohol flow into the office, and then seeing the majority of those bottles heading to John’s office.

She didn’t mind that he drank; she knew that it was in part stress relief for him. He’d been under tremendous pressure to get the business off the ground, with generous loans to repay and a pretty big payroll to fulfill. Now that they had a massive tract of land, the pressure was only building. She also didn’t mind that his drinking fueled a lot of their sexual experiences, since all she wanted to do most workdays was send everyone else home and just shack up with him in his office or at his home.  But it wasn’t long before she started to grow concerned about him. She wanted to be as supportive as possible, but knowing the times, she knew that she needed to be submissive as well. Even if she didn’t want to have sex one particular night – If he wanted it from her, she make sure that he’d get it.

One Tuesday night in early September, Evelyn finally reached her breaking point. John was starting to get drunk during the workdays – So much so that he could barely take phone calls because of his alarmingly slurred speech. Before Mary Ann left for the night, Evelyn asked to review the recent financial records, to see what was happening with the company money. To her shock and disapproval, more than half of that month’s budget was already gone – all on alcohol, expensive drink too. She snapped.

Not caring about what John thought at that moment, she picked the lock on John’s office door with a bobby pin and stormed in. She was in a fury – They had a community to build, and everything was appearing to go straight down the drain.

I hope you enjoyed it!

Come back next week for more.

Until the next headline, Laura Beth 🙂

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“Writing, to me, is simply thinking through my fingers.” ~Isaac Asimov

So after a couple of weeks’ hiatus, I’m back.

To bring you the end.

The end of my 2012 novel, that is.

Enjoy installment #6 🙂

—–

The start was quick. Brennan’s shirt came off first. Kristin shone her flashlight on his chest, taking in his muscles, his skin. Then she took the light away, letting her eyes adjust. She realized that taking the light away only bumped up the allure and the sexiness. She took a deep breath.

“Here we go, the start of something new,” she thought as Brennan’s fingers slipped under the hem of her tank top.

Brennan could barely contain his excitement, his joy. His fingers practically danced their way to the hem of Kristin’s top. He hesitated ever so slightly, hoping Kristin wouldn’t notice.

“Let’s hope I don’t screw this up,” Brennan prayed as his fingertips got their first real taste of Kristin’s skin.

Kristin drew in a sharp breath as Brennan’s fingers and hands settled on her torso, but she kept kissing him with such ferocity, she didn’t know who she was. Not that she cared, or anything. She was on summer vacation, hooking up with this amazing new guy and they were in uncharted territory. And she loved every single second of it.

Brennan didn’t take Kristin’s top off, not yet. He wanted to keep the action going but not go crazy. He was fueled by Kristin’s constant kisses and the beginnings of what he interpreted as horny moans, coming out as barely audible sighs from such a beautiful mouth.

His fingers quickly found her bra straps. He fingered them for a minute, twisting them around. Then he slowly slid them off her shoulders and down to her biceps, where he was taken aback by how much muscle was there, for a 110-pound girl, anyway. He heard an audible sigh-moan then, accompanied by a full-body shudder. Brennan smiled. He knew he was playing his cards right, and headed full steam for the jackpot.

Kristin helped him unhook her bra and carefully extricate it from her tank top. As he set it between them, he got a look at her nipples. The tank top was slightly translucent for one, but he knew she was turned on because they were pea-size already, but to Brennan, they looked like marbles. Brennan’s hand headed back inside via her armpit, but Kristin beat him to the punch by just taking it off. Brennan felt a charge of energy and hormones.

“Dude, she’s a keeper if she practically tears it off in front of me.” His eyes were probably as big as saucers, but he tried not to stare.

Kristin looked down briefly, placed her own hands on her breasts and gave her nipples a little twist. She sighed contentedly and looked at Brennan. She giggled at his shock. “What, a girl’s never ripped off her top for you?” Brennan could only move his head back and forth, stars in his eyes and a complete over-wash of awe, love, respect, and desire for this gorgeous girl.

She knew he was still in shock, so she took his hands from frozen in mid-air to an instant fire up by placing them on either breast. Brennan snapped back to reality instantly, looked at his hands, and kissed Kristin with tongue so hard that they both moaned simultaneously. Kristin let him fondle, twist, stroke and bounce her breasts and nipples to his heart’s content. Her nipples did indeed turn into small marbles.

Keeping time, it was only a few minutes. But Brennan knew time had stopped. It only started again when Kristin intervened again, this time moving his hands down, as in to her tiny shorts.

Brennan couldn’t be more elated. She guided him through the snap and the zipper. He looked down and removed her flip-flops before he helped her to shimmy out of her shorts. As his eyes moved back up to her underwear, he carefully stroked her legs from toes to hip. It was then that his fingers hit her hip. She didn’t have on any underwear at all.

Brennan again registered immediate shock and awe. His jaw literally hit the dock and stayed there. All Kristin did was giggle and smile from ear to ear.

“Good God. This girl is awesome. Now I have to impress her.” Brennan picked his jaw up off the dock, ran his hand through her beautiful hair and kissed her, hard.

As if Kristin could read his thoughts, she whispered during a kiss, “Don’t worry. You don’t have to impress me. I was worried about impressing you.”

Brennan’s mind filled with exclamation points and a few question marks. “Did she really just say that to me? I’m even more turned on now …”

Again, like she was reading him, her hand landed squarely on his crotch, though gently. She started stroking him like a cat, and he started purring on contact. All Brennan could do was to stare at her naked body, the beautiful meter completely off the charts. He did have the sense to slip his T-shirt underneath that gorgeous, hot, sexy ass of hers at one point. So help him, she wasn’t going to get any splinters anywhere on her gorgeous tan body, but especially not there, not on his watch.

As he slipped the T-shirt under her butt, he was made keenly aware that Kristin was headed for the snap and zipper. His penis was completely out of control by now. He helped her tiny fingers, and then before he knew it, she was stroking the cotton fabric, just as quickly headed down under.

She laid a hand on his bare thigh and he about lost it, right then and there. He grunted to get a hold of himself, silently told his penis to pipe down, that they hadn’t gotten to the sex part. Kristin giggled and moved a little slower after that.  

She fingered his waistband. He was taking several deep breaths. He psyched himself up, but then remembered her reassuring words a few minutes earlier: “You don’t have to impress me.”

Then, just as soon as he registered her fingers under his waistband, his boxers were gone. She was staring just as much as he had been over her. She took him in, literally from head to toe. But her focus always snapped back to his penis within seconds. She couldn’t get over it. Brennan smiled in complete relief and satisfaction.

Kristin was in awe. “Whoa. Whoa, his penis is so huge. That’s awesome! I don’t know why I was worried. I mean, his is slim for our age … but he certainly makes up for it here. But, if he’s so big and I’m so small, how can we fit together?”

Brennan basically read her thoughts this time. He kissed her, looked into her deep blue eyes and said, “If you’re worried about, you know, me fitting? I think we’ll be fine. We’ve been a perfect match so far, so why should this be any different?”

Kristin sighed in relief. He understood, and he wasn’t worried. So she decided that she wouldn’t be freaked either. Besides, there were plenty of other mismatched couples, in terms of size, that had bragged about how awesome their sex had been. There was one football-basketball player that was six-three and 250-plus pounds who’d been with one of the 95-pound, five-two flyers on the cheerleading team for years. According to the school rumor mill, they apparently had the hottest sex in the whole school, and in their share of the riskiest of places: On the half-court line in the gym at all hours, buried among the cheerleading mats during practice, under the football stadium bleachers after almost every home game.

She was snapped back to reality by Brennan kissing every part of her, head to toe. He started with her hairline and moved down at an excruciatingly slow pace, but Kristin loved it. He kissed her forehead, eyelashes, shoulders, nipples, belly button, pubic bone, knees, and every single toe on both feet. She sighed with every deep kiss. She giggled at the flicks of his tongue. He even went so far as to suck her nipples hard and gently sucked every one of her toes.

As Brennan’s head came up from her feet, she ceased her maniacal giggles from her ticklish toes and sighed. “You know, there is one place you missed; one other place to suck, that is.”

Brennan cocked an eyebrow, feigning surprise. His penis instantly swelled at the mere thought. “Show me,” Brennan said huskily.

Kristin guided his fingers, and eyes, down to her sweet spot. She scooted backward a few inches, making sure she wouldn’t topple head-first into the lake below in the process. His fingers traced circles along her inner thighs, starting at her knees. She stifled giggles and shudders as his fingers got closer and closer to her vagina. She stopped him just short of her opening, though, and started to gently touch and press her clitoris with her index finger. Her moans started coming uncontrollably and Brennan could see her physically shaking with emotion and excitement. Brennan watched in awe as she expertly pleasured herself. Kristin was putting on a show for him, and she didn’t even know it.

Sure, she had watched a few porno videos a couple of years ago to learn how to masturbate. She was completely embarrassed to ask her mom that one question, but she eventually asked Mom if what she was doing was right. Kristin was floored by her response, however. Mom closed the bedroom door, undressed below the waist, lay on Kristin’s bed and showed her 14-year-old daughter how she pleasured herself, to the point of a rousing and slightly frightening orgasm. Kristin had never seen her mother shudder and literally scream in pleasure like that.

Then, even more shocking, Mom had asked Kristin to model for her. Kristin did pleasure herself and Mom was impressed. She wasn’t even mad about Kristin watching porn, Mom confided that she’d read Playboy and other erotic magazines back when she wanted to learn how. Strange, but cool, Kristin had thought at the time. The only thing that hadn’t happened to Kristin yet, was a true orgasm.

“And now I’m practicing everything I learned in front of the guy of my dreams,” Kristin thought as she touched herself with rising confidence and passion.

—–

Brennan watched, but finally couldn’t contain himself.  

Well, that’s it. That’s the end.

For now.

I am so excited to finish this, to get to the true ending.

At the end of November 2012, this was 26 pages in Microsoft Word.

I hope to write so many more pages.

Thank you for reading this.

Starting next week, Writing Wednesdays will transition to my 2013 novel. I hope you’ll come back then.

Until the next headline, Laura Beth 🙂

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“Writing is, in the end, that oddest of anomalies: an intimate letter to a stranger.” ~Pico Iyer

Almost halfway through February. Happy Valentine’s Day on Saturday 🙂

Enjoy installment #5!

They’d been holding hands ever since dinner had started, when Brennan’s left hand had slipped from the table down to Kristin’s knee. Kristin responded almost immediately, with a jolt.

With a flick of the wrist, her fork flew into her left hand; she was fortunate that she had learned to be ambidextrous at a young age. As soon as her other fingers had grasped the fork, her right hand jerked away to meet Brennan’s waiting hand. Their fingers interlocked then, and they’d barely let go of each other since. When they had to part, it took everything in their power to do so. It was like they hadn’t touched in years.             

—–

The memory of dinner made them smile from ear to ear. Brennan’s thumb stroked Kristin’s skin ever so gently. She was so relaxed, but also so horny at the same time. She wanted to find a place to sit down, actually lie down, with complete privacy with the guy whom she’d instantly fallen in love.

They reveled in the crickets and the bullfrogs for a few minutes, their hands holding on to each other for dear life. Brennan’s thumb strokes along Kristin’s thumb sped up a little. But that couldn’t match their heartbeats. Kristin was almost hyperventilating. Brennan kept swallowing, his Adam’s apple fluttering up and down like a red and white fishing bobber on the lake’s surface would with the fish biting.

As they listened and reveled in the sounds of rich nature, Kristin’s fantasy came rushing back. She had a feeling that they were meant to be at the lake first, though, for some reason. She wanted the cabin scene to come later anyway. Brennan was strong, she knew, and she was sure he wouldn’t mind gathering firewood for a cozy fire. After all, what guy wouldn’t want an excuse to cuddle a shivering girl while warming up? Things could heat up pretty quickly, she knew. And she wanted it to. She was hot enough already, physically and emotionally.

Brennan’s fantasy flooding into his head, but he did not want to scare the girl of his dreams off. Not here, not now. He knew there was a reason that they’d stopped at the lake though. Maybe his ultimate skinny-dipping fantasy would come true sooner than he thought. He swallowed hard and shut his eyes briefly. His thoughts washed over him, but he wanted to focus solely on the girl who stood a head shorter than him. Brennan felt Kristin’s other arm wrap around his waist and her head lay down softly on his shoulder.

“She wants me, and she wants me badly,” Brennan thought.

He considered that a major score in his book, and he wanted to pump his fist in the air. However, he didn’t out of respect. He just enjoyed Kristin continuing to lean into him, her breath ruffling the cotton of his shirt. His pants suddenly tightened as his penis swelled and quivered violently.

Brennan took a deep breath and thought, “If we don’t have sex tonight, I think I’ll go crazy. Oh wait, I’m already crazy. Crazy for this girl, that is.”

He smiled to himself and gathered his thoughts together so he could suggest a place to go sit down. He prayed that the sitting down would lead to lying down. He wasn’t necessarily considering the skinny-dip idea anymore, but he knew one thing for sure: He wanted to see Kristin naked tonight desperately. And not to be egotistical, but he certainly wanted her to see him in the buff too.

Fortunately for Brennan, he actually didn’t have to open his mouth. They took about ten more steps and stumbled upon a small clearing in the trees that revealed an old wooden dock. It wasn’t long or high, like other docks they’d seen in cheesy camp movies and the two others here at Camp. But they both thought it was perfect. They both wanted to run like the wind toward the end of it, but Brennan had a feeling this dock was old, with warped boards.

Before either of them took one step forward, Brennan shone his flashlight beam upon the first few planks to find weathered grey wood. He sighed and looked down at Kristin’s Old Navy flip-flops; just one rusty nail could puncture not only the thin rubber sole, but her delicate foot as well. He knew that she would certainly not want to endure a tetanus shot at all, but especially not on their first night here at Camp. So, Brennan did the only logical thing he could think of: He dropped Kristin’s hand and swept her off her feet, literally.

He scooped her up like a doll, his left arm around her shoulders, his right cradling her lightly tanned, silky smooth legs. She gasped at the suddenness, but just as quickly broke into a huge grin from ear to ear. She swung her feet back and forth with giddiness as he sauntered onto the dock like a puffed-up peacock. He held her close, taking in her smooth arm looped around his neck, the breath from her cute nose whistling around his skin. He hoped she didn’t see the goose-bumps that dotted his bare skin.

She watched his Adam’s apple bob up and down like a frantic pulse and stifled a giggle. “I don’t know if he’s nervous or horny; maybe both. I know one thing though; he’s not going to drop me.”

And as if he had just heard, or read, her thought; his hands and arms suddenly tightened momentarily, then relaxed. She laughed to herself and smiled.

“This is perfect,” Kristin thought.

“I have no idea what’s going to happen next, but no matter what, I’m definitely along for the ride now.”

—–

Brennan held Kristin tightly again his body, hoping immensely that she didn’t feel his body shuddering with a huge range of emotion. He felt horny, obviously, but there were twinges of fear there too. He was mostly happy and excited, however. The fear was pushed down, with a prayer that nothing bad, scary or creepy would happen to them. Not today, anytime but tonight.

Kristin felt completely safe in Brennan’s arms. She really didn’t want him to put her down, but she wanted to see, taste, touch, hear and, smell anything and everything with her and Brennan together.

“In the words of the brilliant Aerosmith,” Kristin thought, “‘I don’t want to miss a thing …’”

Brennan had music playing in his head too: Aerosmith, KISS, Drake, Usher and even some Michael Buble. He smiled to himself, knowing Kristin would be surprised and pleased that he had Michael Buble playing along. As the notes swirled through his head, they found the end of the old dock.

Brennan leaned down so that he could gently sit Kristin down on the warped, grey boards. “Careful,” he warned, “there are probably splinters and rusty nails. I wouldn’t want your beautiful skin to be marred by some old wood.”

Kristin chuckled and smiled at his thoughtfulness. “Well, I wouldn’t want you to get hurt either,” she said sincerely, “It’s bad luck to have to go to the infirmary less than 24 hours after arriving at the most peaceful place in the whole world, you know.”

Brennan laughed, causing Kristin to dip her head as she blushed in a fit of silent giggles. Brennan saw her head go down, to which he responded with his thumb and forefinger gently grabbing her chin. He carefully lifted her beautiful face up to meet his eyes, which were dancing among the LED lights that shone between their closely-pressed thighs.

To Brennan’s immediate relief, Kristin didn’t push his fingers away; she only hungered for more. Her eyes were dancing too, he noticed, the flecks of brilliant green and grey sparkling among the deep blue lake. Brennan kept his fingers on her chin for a few more seconds, stroking her beautiful beige skin with the slight farm tan. Then, ever so gently, her blinking doe eyes watched his fingers leave her chin and move up to carefully sweep a strand of her soft, silky hair off her forehead. She exhaled happily. Brennan sighed in both happiness and relief. Everything was working out great so far. He congratulated himself briefly before planning his next immediate move: He wanted to kiss her.

As Kristin felt the strand of hair being brushed off her forehead, she sighed as her entire 110-pound body started to tingle uncontrollably. She was able to hide it from Brennan’s view, but now she was completely head over heels. She longed for a guy who was funny, romantic and gentle; Brennan was clearly the right guy. All she wanted in that moment was a kiss. She lacked the courage to lift her face another inch, and she was grateful when she felt Brennan’s breath across her cheek and then she felt his lips on hers.

The next few moments were a complete blur. They knew they were lip-locked, slightly parted, scarcely breathing. Their eyes were shut tight, drinking everything in. Everything else in terms of feelings, sights, thoughts were in a crazy mixing bowl. Neither of them wanted their first official kiss to end. But, as their lips parted and Kristin’s head settled on Brennan’s shoulder, they knew there was another one not far behind.

—–

They kissed and kissed, and kissed some more. Around the sixteenth (but who was really counting), someone’s tongue breached the part in their lips. And they tasted each other. They explored the insides of their cheeks, tongues, teeth. Their breaths, already rapid since before the first kiss, were to the point of frantic. They had to pull away several times to breathe on their own, but as soon as the fresh forest air entered their lungs, they were right back where they’d started.

Kristin appreciated the fact that Brennan’s hands had stayed relatively still, almost in the same place. She was initially afraid that Brennan, being a typical red-blooded male, would have his hands all over her. She didn’t want to become scared, or worse, put off by the guy with whom she was already madly in love.

Fortunately for her, Brennan had all the respect in the world for her. To prove this point, he wanted to go as slowly as possible, while still holding her interest and passion. To Kristin’s surprise and relief, she noticed that his left hand and arm had encircled her waist from the moment he had gently set her down on the dock. His right limb had only moved from her right shoulder to cradling her neck, which she found incredibly comforting, alluring and overall extremely sexy.

Knowing at that point that he wouldn’t push the envelope made her want him more. She wanted him to push the envelope. She wanted him to slip his hands under her tank top, to feel her fiery skin. She wanted him to touch her bra, to slip his fingers under the cotton to play with her breasts, to squeeze her nipples and make them instantly hard, like marbles. More than anything, though, she wanted to be undressed, and she wanted it to happen soon. It didn’t matter who undressed whom; she was even considering doing a striptease for him, even though she had no idea how to do one.

She wanted him to witness her whole body, her naked skin. And if things led on to others, she wanted him to be her first; she wanted to feel his penis inside her vagina. She wanted to feel all those feelings, those that her mother and the magazines had told her about for years now. She even wanted to experience an orgasm, if she was able. Just thinking about it only made her hunger for it even more.   

Her hands, meanwhile, had been anywhere and everywhere; well, above his waist, anyway: Dangling around his neck, entwined in his hair, on his shoulders, stroking his face. And though she feared Brennan would be upset by this, it was just the opposite. He had wanted to strip her down in the woods, but he’d restrained. He told himself to wait, to be patient until things were the most romantic, when it felt just right. At this point, his penis could barely take any of this anymore. Not that he minded her frantic hands being all over him, changing positions every few seconds. The only thing, he desperately wanted her to move them down, down to his belt and his shorts. He wanted her to touch him so badly. She wanted her fingers to stroke his member for a little while, maybe even put her beautiful mouth on it for a bit. Then, if all went well, he desperately wanted his quivering penis inside of her tender yet horny pussy. He wanted to feel her pulsating clitoris against his shuddering penis.
He wanted to feel every part of her, with all of his being.

He wanted to be naked, she wanted to be naked. They both were about to get their wishes granted.

Until the next headline, Laura Beth 🙂

Image Credit: http://www.todossantoswritersworkshop.com

“Your writing voice is the deepest possible reflection of who you are. The job of your voice is not to seduce or flatter of make well-shaped sentences. In your voice, your readers should be able to hear the contents of your mind, your heart, your soul.” ~Meg Rosoff

Hello, February! One month closer to spring, hooray!

Enjoy week numero cuatro!

As her thoughts swirled, Trevor gingerly moved his gargantuan hands underneath the hem of Kristin’s shirt, her favorite cotton tee with the cherries. She willingly let him explore her skin, her breaths coming faster and faster, the sweat was starting to bead on her forehead. All the while, she was getting excited, though a little nervous. She wasn’t feeling it in her clit or breasts, but she was willing to let Trevor play around.

She relished in his gentleness. He explored every inch of her torso, and before she knew it, he’d slipped the tee over her head, balling it up behind her head as a pillow. He kissed her hot skin, with a few flicks of the tongue that made her giggle. He gingerly moved his hand to her bra, his fingers trembling slightly as he moved the straps off her shoulders. She unhooked her bra and let it fall. Trevor stared for a few seconds, taking in her creamy skin and pretty nipples. He ran his fingers up and down and around. Kristin tensed, but loved it. He gently twisted her nipples and kissed them, which made them hard. Trevor liked that, she remembered.

Topless, Kristin pushed herself up onto her elbows to kiss him. Like Trevor had earlier, she moved her hands underneath the hem of his John Deere tee, and he inhaled sharply. She kissed him full on the mouth, flicking her tongue inside his mouth. He breathed harder as he realized that her hands were headed for his jeans.

He helped her with the button and zipper, unable to take his eyes off her gorgeous, full breasts, and hard nipples. He turned sideways to slip his jeans off. He left his boxers on to let her explore. She started at his knee and slowly trailed her hand up toward his package. He had an evident hard-on, with his penis quivering. Trevor kept a hand on Kristin’s breasts, attempting to steady his breathing as her hands got closer.

She reached the middle of his thigh and noticed his Adam’s apple was going crazy. She filled with renewed excitement. She was actually going to touch his penis, his balls.

In a surprising move though, when Kristin’s hand reached the waistband of his boxers, she moved both hands to them and tugged down. Trevor’s eyes went wide, but he didn’t resist. He helped her. Finally, she was staring at his package. She gingerly touched his balls first, and then moved to his shaft and tip. Trevor’s breathing was out of control at this point. He steadied his hands on Kristin’s shoulders, never taking his eyes off her breasts. She stroked his penis just like he’d first masturbated, four years prior. Finally, he realized he was going to ejaculate, and soon.

His only words were, “Baby, I’m going to …” and Kristin responded by shoving his penis between her breasts. This made him come with a ferocity he’d never experienced, watching his sperm and fluid spill all over her beautiful skin, her big, bouncy breasts.

They breathed in silence for a few minutes until Trevor fully realized that she was covered in his fluids. He gently cleaned her up with his boxers. They re-dressed each other, kissed one more time and then Trevor drove her home.

They ended their relationship mutually two days later, right before second period.

——

Kristin suddenly shuddered as she came back to the present, filled with memories. Yet, she smiled. She knew, in her heart, that having experienced what she and Trevor had together, she was better off because of it. Yes, it was painful to break up so suddenly after that amazing Saturday night. But it was mutual, all the same. Trevor didn’t dump her, and she didn’t flake on him. They talked about it later that Monday, deciding to be just friends after all.

They both said they were grateful that they went as far as they did, but glad they hadn’t pushed the envelope. What they ended with was enough for the both of them. It left them with a certain amount of dignity.

That Saturday was almost the light bulb that showed them that continuing their relationship was not going to end well. They both shed tears and were remorseful to one another, but they ended up becoming closer friends. They kept their distance for a few days, but the weekend after their farthest push, they were right back to bowling and hanging out with their same group of friends, almost as if nothing had happened at all.

Her heart hurt a little over the memories and feelings, but she smiled as she looked back out the window toward Brennan. The visions of Trevor quickly faded away as she turned her full attention to Brennan’s sexy body; quirky, nerdy personality; bright smile; high-pitched laugh. She was filled with such a thrill that she wanted the waves of desire and pleasure just roll her down the aisle and the steps of the bus and wash her up at his feet. But she waited until every other person was going in the opposite direction of Brennan.

Brennan was overjoyed that Kristin had been looking at him practically the entire time he’d been helping unload the luggage. He didn’t even think it was creepy; frankly, it made him only more turned on than he already was, and he had no idea how that was even possible.

He smiled to himself, thinking, “I bet she had no idea that I was watching her, too. I think it’s so sexy that she can’t take her eyes off of me. Man, I can’t take it anymore. I need to at least kiss her at some point today; otherwise I think I’ll explode. Although I know that my guts splattering all over her beautiful body would certainly not be a turn-on …”

As he tried not to visualize his graphic explosion, he realized that Kristin was no longer staring at him through the bus window. He swiveled his head around to see where she could be, since he couldn’t let her out of his sight. That is, both figuratively and literally.

Unbeknownst to each other, they had become obsessively defensive of one another, even though they’d only met an impressive four hours beforehand. They didn’t want anyone else of the opposite sex to come within a few feet. They just wanted to be near each other, all the time. And they’d barely touched each other. However, both of them definitely did not want that trend to continue! They both shared a fierce hunger to touch skin, lips, and everything in between.

They both had their own fantasies, but with certain similarities. One thing that they both agreed on, though: They both passionately desired to make love to one another, that very night if at all possible. Kristin had dreams of having a cabin for just the two of them, undressing each other by firelight. Brennan wanted to take her to the massive lake, make out and then slip into the water and skinny-dip. Both of them wanted their fantasies to happen right then and there, but they both knew that waiting for the night sky was not only more romantic, but greatly reduced the chances of being discovered by anyone!

Besides, they both knew, with the hormones that had been raging on the bus for two full hours, they were certainly not the only ones desiring privacy. However, Camp had so many great, romantic hiding places. And there were only about 100 Campers altogether, so how hard could it be to find some privacy in such a massive orgy of nature, peace, quiet, and stars?

——

Boy, were Brennan and Kristin sorely mistaken! It seemed like every feasible hiding place was taken as soon as the last plate was scraped from dinner. They tried the lake, the edges of the woods, the well-worn trails, and the babbling brook. Almost all of the cabins, that were originally meant for a small group of 7-8 with a mix of cots and bunk beds, were taken by couples evidently shacking up for a long first night together.

Both Brennan and Kristin were surprised at the number of girl-on-girl pairs they came across, but they weren’t shocked in the slightest. Both of them had lesbian and gay friends at their schools; in both of their opinions, gays and lesbians were just like boys and girls together. No matter the pair, they all had the same feelings, emotions, actions. No big deal to them, except Kristin and Brennan were getting frustrated! Why was this so hard?

Despite the lack of immediate privacy, Kristin and Brennan continue to talk and laugh amongst themselves. They took their time exploring the massive Camp grounds, which seemed to run on for forever in every feasible direction. They both carried strong LED flashlights, with Brennan pocketing extra batteries in the deep pockets of his cargo shorts.

Every few minutes, Kristin shone her light down on the rough map that a couple of the so-called “counselors” had drawn up for the overly-eager crowd of Campers. These weren’t your typical “counselors” with line-leading, activity-coordinating, song-singing and lights-out-proclaiming. No, these guys were just like the Campers, just as hormone-ravaged and eager to explore. They did have their eyes peeled though, just in case any emergency were to arise at any moment. They weren’t stupid, that’s for sure. There had been some injuries and close calls in years past, and they of all people didn’t want anything bad to happen to anyone, so long as they could help it.

Finally, as it seemed like Brennan and Kristin had circled the expansive lake for the fifteenth time (and it wasn’t a short loop, either), they came upon sudden silence. Only the chorus of crickets and a few lonely bullfrogs sang among the pair’s whispers.

Until the next headline, Laura Beth 🙂

Image Credit: http://www.d.umn.edu

“Writing is an exploration. You start from nothing and learn as you go.” ~E.L. Doctorow

Welcome to the last Wednesday in January, already!

Enjoy the third installment!

——-

Brennan and Kristin only half-listened to the overly-excited and high-pitched announcements that echoed from Rainbow Plaid Guy. Meanwhile, the two of them were almost giggling like schoolgirls over Rainbow’s exuberance.

“He must be gay, or close to it,” Brennan breathed, almost dying of laughter. Kristin had suspected something from the moment she had heard Rainbow’s voice in the baggage claim, but she was glad that Brennan was brave enough to actually say something. Kristin actually had a vengeance for gay-bashing at home, but she knew that Brennan was only joking, playfully at most. Besides, she took great pleasure in seeing a boy her age giggle, turn bright red and be able to scarcely breathe while trying to laugh and talk. It made her feel better. It helped her confirm that this was just one more thing that she and Brennan had in common.

Although Kristin had never really been involved in any kind of a serious relationship, she had one rule in determining a potential friend, or boyfriend for that matter. They had to have at least five or six things in common. Back home, there were very few people who met this criteria of hers. She could only think of three true candidates: her best friend since kindergarten, Anne-Marie; her best guy friend since middle school, Blake; and the most recent potential boyfriend material, the artsy Trevor. What these things were didn’t matter, as long as Kristin could recognize somewhat of a share interest between the two of them.

For Brennan, however, his numbers were off the charts. Forget five or six, Kristin had lost count at 14, halfway through the bus ride to Camp. There were probably even more, at least she hoped, anyway. In a nutshell, Kristin recognized commonalities in movies, music, love of reading, eating, social events; high school likes and dislikes; religious views and even their take on the government.

“This is crazy …” Kristin thought. “I haven’t even known him for half a day and already he’s so much like me. But I know we have differences, we have to! That’s how a couple’s relationship works; we have to have some things that are uncommon … right?”

As she thought, she kept stealing glances, and it made her blush a rosy pink every single time. “I cannot believe I just thought the words ‘couple’ and ‘relationship’. I know I’m moving too fast, but I can’t seem to stop myself. It must be my hormones, they’re driving me crazy. Crazy for this Brennan kid, that is …”

Brennan was having a similar train of thought as Kristin, though neither of them knew it. He too was absorbed in why he was so attracted to Kristin, not even five hours after they met over Kristin’s zebra-print bags in baggage claim.

“I’m just starting to get over Ashlee, which I know is a good thing … but am I falling for Kristin already? I don’t want to screw things up again, although I know Ashlee and I weren’t meant to be to begin with. I wanted to go out with her and try it. I’m glad we didn’t do anything we regret, so glad about that,” as he wiped the beads of sweat from his forehead.

He sincerely hoped Kristin wasn’t noticing his sweating.

“I know it’s hot on the bus and it must be close to 80 degrees outside, but Kristin is the hot button here for me.” Brennan tried to stop his thought train for a second to reevaluate his last thought, which came to a screeching halt.

“Whoa, dude. Slow the hormone party down a second. Did I just associate Kristin with ‘hot button’?” It was Brennan’s turn to blush furiously. He’d easily lost count of how many times that had happened over the course of the last three hours.

“We have so much in common, which is awesome! I totally want to get to know her better over the course of Camp.”

He took a deep breath and swiped his hands on his shorts, hoping and praying to calm his throbbing erection, along with the manic desire to dip her and start making out with her immediately.

“I haven’t had this many erections since Ashlee and I first started going together. That was nine months ago. She wanted me, and originally that’s what I wanted too. But it fizzled quickly, for me anyway. I can’t believe we lasted the seven months that we did, and that’s a record for a lot of high-school relationships. Again, I’m proud that we didn’t have sex or anything, but Kristin is making me want it so bad, so right now.”

Brennan breathed in again, trying desperately to steady his frayed nerves and his rapidly-quivering penis.

“Crap. I need to jack off, like right now, but I can’t. Not here, not now. I really, really hope our cabins are at least semi-private, or that the bathrooms have stalls. Otherwise, I’m going to look like a complete idiot in front of the girl that I most desire. Not just sexually, but overall. She’s wonderful, and I want her to be mine.”

Finally, Rainbow Plaid Guy finished his last set of instructions about cabin and latrine locations before letting everyone go. Brennan tried not to race off the bus, but he knew he was rushing.

He lamely said to Kristin, “I need to get off; um, I mean, get off the bus, to help unload the luggage. I’ll put yours beside me so no one will, you know, steal it or anything. See you out there in a bit.”

And as quick as The Flash, Kristin watched him disappear down the aisle and out into the dust and dirt that welcomed them to Camp at last.

She wondered why exactly he was in such a rush. He was practically dragging himself alongside her at the airport to be close to her. She shrugged and looked out the window at him, watching his lean, muscular body heave the menagerie of suitcases and luggage into waiting girls’ arms and hands, sweat pouring through his shirt and dripping from his hair. She couldn’t help but giggle, blush and wonder why her breasts and vagina were pulsating with every look he shot her through the dusty window.  

——-

Kristin watched every move that Brennan made with bated breath. She couldn’t wait to be by his side again, once the large crowd of gawking girls left, that is. She was so defensive of him! She didn’t want to see any girl around him. She knew that was wrong, but Kristin couldn’t help it. She wanted him all to herself.

A crazy thought suddenly popped in her head as she continued to stare at Brennan’s back, and backside.

“What if this is the summer I lose my virginity? I wouldn’t want it to be any other guy except him …”

She had never, ever thought about having sex of any kind, with anyone, until this moment. Sure, she and Mom had had the “birds and the bees” talk several years ago, and Mom assured her daughter that she could come to her with any questions, at any time, and she would answer them to the best of her ability. Mom said that she would even talk about her own experiences if that would be beneficial to her only child. And Mom had made good on her promise.

Kristin had asked several based on what she’d heard around the school, and Mom never batted an eye. Kristin relished in the fact that her mother was concerned, but also completely open and honest. She had confided in her mother about oral sex, orgasms, hormones, intercourse, unprotected sex, what a condom felt like and much more. The sex-education class through the school had been a joke, in Kristin’s opinion. There were a few girls who got pregnant every few years, and Kristin knew that her parents were not like many in their small farming community. In fact, Kristin knew the only other parents that were even close to her mom and dad were Blake’s, and even the pairs of adults agreed that they didn’t use the same ways in raising their children.

Kristin felt extremely lucky that her mother had taught her so much on such a tough and controversial topic. Her mother didn’t bring down the pre-marital ultimatum, but Mom strongly encouraged the use of birth control and condoms at first. Kristin appreciated the freedom, and although she’d been on birth control for the last several years, she just hadn’t felt attracted to anyone enough to desire it. Even though she and Trevor had technically been boyfriend and girlfriend for several months last year, the farthest they’d gone was hot and heavy making out. Well, sort of …

There was that one Saturday night, after bowling with a ton of friends, when they were making out on the bench seat of Trevor’s crew cab in the back of parking lot. They both wanted some privacy before heading home for the night, which certainly was not common in their world.

They kissed and kissed until Kristin’s head spun. All the windows quickly steamed up, so much so that no one, even the sharpest of eyes, could see in or out. Kristin wondered where they were headed, but she was calm and just living in the moment.

She’d thought, “Hey, if we do have sex, I know I’ve been on the Pill for a long time. Besides, I know that Trevor keeps condoms in his glove box in his special silver box. Besides, I think we’d both enjoy it. If there’s only one thing that I’m sure of, I know that we’re both turned on, based on the windows right now …”

Come back next week!

Until the next headline, Laura Beth 🙂

Image Credit: http://www.collectorsweekly.com

“Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing.” ~Benjamin Franklin

Welcome to Wednesday! Woohoo – We’re officially halfway through the work week!!

Without further ado – Enjoy the second installment of “Experiences From Camp”!

… The group of Campers numbered around 100. Kristin glanced around several times and noticed the youngest looked about 13 and it went up to college-age, possibly mid-20s. She was surprised to see the age variation, but also pleased. One of her hopes was to make a good number of friends to stay in touch with after their adventures, whatever those may be. She eyed a few potentials: a girl with similar animal print tastes, a guy in a surf shirt, a girl with a slight peace sign obsession, plus a girl who appeared to be an astute scholar in college. And then there was Brennan, of course.

After 15 minutes of Rainbow Plaid Guy’s announcements & briefings, the group made their way out the doors to the waiting buses. Brennan & Kristin both noticed the converted school buses with the word “Camp” adorned all over the forest green buses in every color imaginable, in every style: Graffiti, cursive, bold, italic, block, squiggly, even dots on every end of the letters. They both wondered if they themselves would get the chance to write their own version of Camp on a bus during their time.

They confirmed each other’s thoughts with their simultaneous exclamation: “Whoa, that’s so awesome!”

After their unison outburst, though, they both sheepishly looked away and blushed. This was getting awkward. Hopefully, they both silently prayed, they would keep up their conversation and the awkwardness would dissolve quickly.

Seat assignments weren’t necessary since the three buses were all headed to the same place. But Rainbow Plaid Guy insisted, in a very high-pitched, frazzled voice to be orderly with their luggage storage underneath and then attempt to make single file lines for boarding. This was to no avail, as a general feeling of elation, excitement, and hormones took over instantly and bedlam ensued, and the huge group dissolved into an organized chaos. The few guys in the group, about 20 in all, took over loading the luggage. This act of chivalry thoroughly impressed Kristin.

Brennan whispered in her ear, “Save a spot for me?”

Kristin jumped, startled by his breath tickling her ear. As she heart thumped wildly by his sudden, and daring, act she smiled broadly and said, “Of course, for the nicest guy here.”

Meanwhile the girls held spots in line in the hopes of sitting next to new girlfriends or potential crushes. Kristin noticed that several girls, particularly the younger ones, were visibly fawning over a few of the guys. A small number were whispering back and forth, and giggling like mad. Almost immediately Kristin’s thoughts rushed back to Brennan.

She glanced over to him as he wrestled with one of her bags and the peace sign girl’s enormous suitcase. “I really, really hoping that none of them are thinking about Brennan,” she thought defensively, with a twinge of jealousy.

She snapped out of the thought just as quickly. “What is wrong with me? I’ve known him for maybe 45 minutes and I’m already becoming defensive? Retract the claws and green monster eyes, Kristin. Geez. It’s not a contest.”

However, she really couldn’t help it. He basically singled her out in baggage claim, and she felt he was special because of that alone. Besides, when he’d whispered in her ear a few minutes before, she could tell that he was only leaving her side to help out. There was a ton of luggage, after all.

Kristin really couldn’t blame the girls whispering and trying not to stare. A good number of the guys were in excellent shape, though there were two or three that looked a bit overweight. No matter though, all of them immediately fanned out in evenly-numbered groups to reduce the three mountains of backpacks, duffle bags, suitcases, and laundry bags thrown at the curb of each bus.

After what seemed like forever, Kristin was snapped out of her daydream of Brennan (Who else?) by the man himself. He tapped her on the shoulder, motioning with his thumb that their line was starting to move toward boarding the second bus.    

The bus was old, but clean. Kristin was flooded with memories of the old, yellow buses with their dark green seats and occasional rips exposing fluffy white stuffing that bounced her along the country roads to her schools back home. She shared the visual with Brennan, who nodded and grinned.

The back of the bus was basically full. Brennan whispered to Kristin, “Those kids,” with a shake of his head and a chuckle, “they’re already hooking up back there, I know it.”

Kristin’s heart leaped forward at Brennan’s off-hand “hooking up” remark.

“I’d like nothing better.”

She suddenly gasped in horror and her hands flew to her mouth as she realized her thought had escaped as words to Brennan. She flushed a furious red and stole a glance at Brennan’s face behind her in shame.

But Brennan only laughed and responded, “Hey, you never know. I certainly wouldn’t mind ‘hooking up’ with such a beautiful girl like you.”

Kristin immediately noticed the huskiness in his voice that she hadn’t heard before. She was surprised at it, but not put off. Some of the guys back home had tried to come on to her in a similar way, but Brennan sounded genuine for some reason.

Kristin’s flush disappeared as her smile appeared from ear to ear. “Is this seat good with you?” She pointed to a seat toward the middle of the bus that wasn’t overrun with hormone-crazed kids.

Brennan nodded sincerely and held his hand out toward the seat. “After you, milady.” Kristin gleefully sat down next to the window as Brennan took the space beside her. Somehow, Kristin gathered, she knew that she wouldn’t be staring out that window like she had for so many bus trips to all those camps in the past. She shivered with excitement as Brennan started to ask her what movies she’d seen since school had gotten out for the summer. She listened intently as she wondered if this was as close to heaven as she could get, on that bright early June day in the arrivals lane of the airport in Bangor, Maine.

——-

The bus ride passed way too quickly, and Kristin dreaded the bus stopping, for she knew that she wouldn’t be sitting next to Brennan any longer. At the same time, though, she couldn’t contain her excitement, because she knew they’d be at Camp by then and all the adventures lay in wait.

Kristin and Brennan made good use of the bus ride. The elapsed time, from the arrivals lane of Bangor International Airport to the check-in cabin inside the Camp gates, was a total of two hours and thirteen minutes. Not that Kristin or Brennan was counting or anything like that. No sir. Brennan used the stopwatch feature on his diving watch to time it, just out of curiosity. And they didn’t stare out the window, except to glance every few minutes at the changing scenery. The airport and downtown Bangor gave way to two interstates and a jumble of state routes and highways before the bus came to a wheezing stop.

Thanks to technology and the shock of almost-constant Wi-Fi for the first hour, they shared music, YouTube videos, movie trailers, and each other’s Facebook pages. Kristin was impressed, though not put off, by Brennan’s only mild obsessions with video games, Star Wars, Star Trek, Marvel, and Wicked. Brennan was happy to hear that Kristin disliked romantic comedies and was totally into kung-fu movies, Marvel, medieval history, Stephen King, and certain horror movies.

“My kind of girl,” Brennan thought eagerly as Kristin chattered on about the Die Hard movies and wondered what Stephen King would next release.

Everyone looked up and around, even though entrenched in the back with whatever activities they had been engaged in for over two hours. There, about 50 feet in front of the bus windshield, was a grand sight.

A huge sign stretched long and high above the entrance to the dirt road, with the words “WELCOME TO CAMP” carved into the weathered wood. The massive trunks, the size and shape of telephone poles, were carved and painted like totem poles, with different animals from top to bottom. Cameras were pulled out and started flashing immediately. Kristin pulled out her Canon Powershot and snapped a couple, while Brennan fiddled with his iPhone.

Kristin wondered if he was using Instagram, but then she realized there was barely any phone service here, which meant there was a slimmer chance of having any shot of getting Wi-Fi. So she chalked it up to just the camera, but who knew. She was pleasantly surprised, however, when Brennan turned the camera lens toward them and put his left arm around her shoulders.

“Say cheese!” Brennan snapped the picture and it dropped obediently into the waiting cube on his phone. He saved it and, turning away from Kristin for a minute, he secretly smiled and made that picture as his newest wallpaper, banishing “The Dark Knight Rises” to join the old wallpaper club.

As Brennan pressed the button to turn off his phone, the bus doors clanged open and Rainbow Plaid Guy appeared front and center, with a hearty “Welcome to Camp, everyone!”

I hope you enjoyed this week’s installment!

As always, I welcome any comments. Feedback is most appreciated. I know it helps my writing!

Come on back next week for more!

Until the next headline, Laura Beth 🙂

Image Credit: hearthstonechampion.com

“In a mood of faith and hope my work goes on. A ream of fresh paper lies on my desk waiting for the next book. I am a writer and I take up my pen to write.” ~Pearl S. Buck

That quote jumped out at me on the computer screen. I may not be writing by hand, with a pen, but I use my fingers to type!

I’m so excited about this! I’m starting a new series!

I really loved doing my NaNoWriMo posts every week a few months ago. I loved posting excerpts of my writing on a consistent basis. It was a great challenge and motivator for me.

Best of all, I knew there were people waiting to read them.

As I ended that month of posts, I thought about my two other attempts at NaNoWriMo, in the years 2012 and 2013.

Well, with some encouragement and many kind words, I’ve decided to share excerpts from those novels as well.

I want to do this for several reasons:

1. I want to re-read my attempts thus far, though it makes me absolutely cringe to no end!
2. I want to get them out of my computer, to y’all, my amazing readers!
3. I want to make myself go through the editing process, finally.
4. I want to be inspired to continue writing these stories.
5. I want to be inspired to FINISH these stories, to make them into novels, for potential publication 🙂

So, introducing … the first installment of Writing Wednesdays!

I’ll be publishing a new excerpt every week. I’m starting with the 2012 novel. Once that one ends, I’ll start the 2013 novel.

I definitely plan to add more to these two stories; just not quite yet. I want to give you what I have written, so far, and then we’ll go from there. One bite of the elephant at a time, as my boss at work likes to say.

I hope you enjoy! As always, I welcome any comments, and feedback is certainly appreciated!

Y’all are the best readers, I hope you know that 🙂

Enjoy!

Working Title: “Experiences From Camp”

Word count, as of November 25, 2012: 10,212 words

—

Kristin woke with a start. She knew she was blindfolded and she figured it was dark, wherever she was.“I guess I’m inside a closet or something. The prank war finally fell to me,” she thought, rolling her eyes.

Then she felt a slight breeze on her skin, making her shiver uncontrollably for a few seconds. “Okay, so I’m outside under some trees. No biggie. No prank is bigger than I am. Wait ’til everyone hears about this in the morning … or maybe it is morning already. Yeesh. It’s not cool to drag someone out of bed at 2 a.m. Wait … how did I get here again?”

She let the thoughts roll for a minute, which quickly turned to panic. “Crap. I’ve been taken. Just like that chick in the movie that came out a few years ago, when her dad got super pissed and went to France to find her. I’ve gotta get out of here.” Then, she heard the sound of heavy breathing in her left ear, like someone was lying down beside her.

She felt a hand move along her shoulder and then darted away, like that boy in seventh grade who wanted so badly to hold her hand, even if it were for five seconds. Although her panic level was rising, the heavy breathing in her ear was strangely comforting. And whose hand was that? Kristin thought she’d reached for her shoulder to quell the goose-bumps she had from the chill.

Then she realized, in utter horror, that her own hands were tied to something above her head.

——-

Okay, let’s back up for a bit. Kristin, who you just met there, is a 16-year-old girl who comes from the Midwest. She is a simple girl who was raised on a dairy farm. She is considered a typical girl in her high school, one of who blends into the crowd. She’s been kissed several times, but never had a serious relationship. Well, there was Trevor … but we’ll get to that part later.

She left her sophomore year for the summer yearning for something different, something adventurous. There was one girl, a freshman, and a guy, who graduated this year, who participated in this thing called Camp. Kristin had heard the rumors and the little bit of trash talk associated with their “adventures” and “gallivanting,” but at the beginning of that summer, she yearned to find out what Camp was all about for herself.

Kristin discovers that she is one of the “newbies” at Camp. She isn’t alone. There are a different number of people who come to Camp. Ages range from 13 up to late-20s. They are from all different walks of life, from all over the country. No two people come from the same place in a single session. And it isn’t just in the summer. Camp isn’t open year-round, but there are “sessions” two or three times per season. However, the one similarity is that every single person who comes to Camp leaves utterly changed, but it is unspeakable. Not in the forbidden way, but those who have had Camp experiences simply can’t describe them to the inexperienced.

“Kind of like those ghost hunters or people who have near-death experiences,” Kristin mulled, but with a bit of uncertainty.

The day came to leave for Camp. Kristin’s instructions in the weeks prior came through a series of texts on her phone. Her parents probably wouldn’t be happy about her phone bill, but she didn’t really care and that point. She was getting out of her little town for almost a month and she couldn’t have been more excited.

She had her zebra-print bags packed. Her dad drove her to the airport in their beat-up pickup truck. Kristin’s exhilaration surged halfway there, knowing that no one in the town would be with her during these experiences, whatever they may be. She had no reservations, strangely. She’d been on an airplane a couple times before, so the mode of transportation certainly wasn’t an issue. She’d been to camps throughout her childhood: Girl Scouts, symphonic band, watercolor painting, soccer and a whole menagerie. The only major differences: this Camp was all the way in rural Maine, the focus was not specified at all. Plus, Camp was capitalized.

“That’s significant in some way,” Kristin thought as the truck bounced along the highway. Suddenly, the control tower of the airport came into view and she was lost in thought & daydreams. Only her imagination could carry her to Maine and Camp now.

——-

One minute, Kristin was settled into her seat on the plane, checking her phone one last time and clicking on her iPod for her playlist that included Taylor Swift, Rascal Flatts, Brad Paisley and Nickelback, among others. The next, it seemed like, the captain announced they were making their descent into the Bangor airport. From there, according to the most recent text from Camp, Kristin was to collect her bags and look for a 20-something-year-old guy in a brightly-colored plaid camp shirt, Bermuda shorts and Sperry Top-Siders.

“That should be easy enough,” Kristin thought. “It’ll probably be deserted in baggage claim and he’ll pop right out to my eyes.” She was wrong!

Baggage claim was extremely crowded, so much so that Kristin started to get a bit claustrophobic.

“Well, it is early June, so all these people must be tourists.” According to the visitor’s guide of Maine that Kristin had purchased, Bangor was encircled by lakes, rivers, the Appalachian Mountain Club 100 Mile Wilderness Conservation Area, and even a golf course or two. There were five expansive recreational areas within Bangor’s city limits alone. Kristin stood in awe. She was so entranced that she almost missed her zebra-print duffel bag and roller suitcase on the carousel.

Fortunately, a handsome guy, maybe a little older than her, managed to grab both off the carousel and somehow correctly identify that she was their owner. Kristin was beyond impressed.

“Hi, I’m Brennan.” They shook hands, Kristin still in bewilderment over everything that had just happened.

“Hello? Are you in there?” Brennan waved his free hand in front of Kristin’s shocked face.

“How, how did you …” Kristin trailed off. “Whoa. Sorry. I’m Kristin. But I guess you figured that out with my luggage tags. Thanks for grabbing them for me.”

Brennan shrugged, but not in a jerky way that the guys at Kristin’s high school did for the awestruck girls. “Hey, I don’t mind. I noticed your zebra-print ID tag on your backpack there, and just kind of put two and two together. Besides, most of the girls your age are crowded around Rainbow Plaid Guy over there.”

Kristin nodded and let go of his hand as Brennan jerked his thumb toward the large crowd that was gathered two baggage carousels over to their left.

Kristin laughed. The guy she was instructed to look for did indeed have on an extremely bright, almost neon-colored plaid shirt, two baggage carousels over. His white dry-erase board just simply said “CAMP.” An abnormally large number of teens, mostly girls but also a few guys, were crowded around him.

Brennan offered to carry Kristin’s backpack as she got situated with her other bags. “Geez, I think I overpacked. I know the text said to bring enough supplies for almost a month, but now that I’m carrying it, I’m regretting it,” she sighed as she heaved the duffel bag across her body and adjusted the handle of the roller suitcase. Brennan chuckled to himself and smiled at Kristin.

“I like her, and we just met. I’m so stoked that we’re headed to Camp together … Crap, I haven’t even said that and here I am offering to carry her backpack. Oh well …” Brennan mulled.

“Hey, Kristin, did I mention that I’m going to Camp too?”

Kristin felt a surge of warmth throughout her body, though she wasn’t quite sure why. “No, you didn’t. But that’s totally awesome! Otherwise, I don’t think you would have offered to help me with my backpack so quickly. I appreciate that so much, by the way. Thanks!”

Brennan felt his cheeks flush and experienced similar warmth spread over all his body, but particularly below the belt. “Oh God, what is wrong with me? I just met this girl maybe ten minutes ago, and the first major emotion I feel is a hard-on? This is going to be a challenge, no doubt about it …”

He swallowed hard, fought to control his oncoming erection and briefly glanced at Kristin. “She’s gorgeous, has a cute country-like accent and she genuinely thanked me for helping her out. No wonder …”

Still, Brennan was thoroughly embarrassed at his hormones, silently cursing them over and over.

Brennan and Kristin walked toward the large crowd at arm’s length, but couldn’t take their eyes off each other. As they stopped at the fringe of the group to listen to Rainbow Plaid Guy’s overly-excited and nasally-sounding announcements, both of them hoped and prayed they’d at least get to sit together on whatever mode of transportation that would eventually deposit them at Camp…

Well, there you have it! I sincerely hope you enjoyed week 1 of the new series. Come back next Wednesday for more!

Until the next headline, Laura Beth 🙂