Laura Lee was 18. Well, two weeks from tomorrow Laura Lee would be 18. Having graduated from high school that year, she was aware that her future lay ahead of her, but she had no idea what that future would hold. She had been dragged along with her parents to visit her Grandma Mandy who lived way down in the Florida swamps. Grandma Mandy was 98 at the time and some say she was the family witch or shamaness.

She found herself with nothing to do most of the time when she first got there. Her grandma lived out in the boonies, alone, and without transportation. Her folks had decided to arrive early to spend time with Ma Mandy before everyone else started to arrive for her 99th birthday celebration in two weeks. Her birthday was on the same day as Laura Lee's. The only hope she had for any entertainment while she was here would be when her cousin Brent arrived. He and she had played together many summers in the past while they were children. His parents had moved to France when they were 11 for a number of years. This would be their first year back in the U. S. and she couldn't wait to see him.

In the meanwhile, she visited with her grandmother. One day whe was helping her organize her many jars of teas and herbs. This was something she'd done in all the years' previous visits, as well as helping with the gardening and harvesting of herbs. Sometimes, her grandma had even shared a few secrets with her about how she worked to heal people. Laura Lee had never taken it seriously. All the while they worked in the small pantry, Ma Mandy kept up a steady dialogue with her grand daughter.

"This one here chile. This red leaf here is good for what ails you. I take a little every now and again in my tea to ease the ache in these old bones. My ma first gave it to me when I had my first period and flowered into a young woman." She smiled as she set the jar back on the shelf.

"What is this awful looking stuff, Gram?" Laura Lee was looking at a jar which contained a dark, gelatinous mass.

"Oh, that be the stuff that keeps evil away. It's very strong. It works every time. But, be careful, it's very strong stuff." She turned to the shelf she'd been muddling through and picked up an old dusty jar.

"Ah, this be what I'm looking for. This girl is what will make a man hot for you and make him love you from moon rise to moon set. If you want to be with child, it makes him potent. He'll be like a bull with a cow in season. But, you must drink of it, too, before the moon sets, if you don't want to be with child when the sun comes up. It only works on the night of the blue moon."

"Blue moon? Gram, you're teasing me. I have never seen a blue moon." She put her arm around the old woman's shoulders and hugged her.

"The blue moon is the new moon which appears twice in the same month." Grandma Mandy handed the jar to Laura Lee. "You'll need this before the summer ends and you leave here to go home. You're pretty enough, you got your grand daddy's blood, but you got my gift. You'll be takin' my place when I die. You, of all the grand children and all my children, are the only one with my gift." She turned and left the pantry.

"Grandma, you still have many years left. Don't talk such about dying." Laura Lee said as she followed the old woman out into the living room. She studied the contents of the jar and laughed a little to herself.

Sure she was fairly nice looking with her obviously mulatto features. She'd been told she had the same sea green eyes Grandpa Leon had had. There were no pictures of him, she only knew he'd been handsome and of mixed blood when he was younger. Though he'd been born to slaves, it was common knowledge their master had sired him.

All Grandpa Leon and Grandma Mandy's children had the carmel coloring and curly hair, all their grand children came in hues from dark chocolate to cafe au lait. But, only Laura Lee had the green eyes of her grand sire.

"You laugh now girl, but I tell you you'll have need of that before too long. You're too young to marry and old enough to be a woman. Your heart will tell you I'm right. Then you'll use the tea. I used it once long ago, and married the man. I chose to have a child, your mother. But, you chile, will not marry this one." Grandma Mandy sat in her rocker and picked up some quilting that laid next to her on the table.

"Really, Ma. You shouldn't be filling Laura's head with such things. We've been

blessed with such a good girl and don't want that to change." Laura's mom got up from the couch she was sitting on and gave her daughter a peck on the cheek. "All she needs is to find herself a nice young man to marry, and we'll be happy. You never mind your grandma girl. She's just disappointed none of us children have been called to her brand of religion."

"Esther, don't talk like that. She has the gift, she just don't know it yet. I'm going upstairs to take a nap." She left the room and climbed the stairs. Laura Lee watched the matriarch leave the room and had to blink her eyes as her grandmother passed the mirror because she thought she'd seen a face similar to hers, but with brown eyes.

"Ma, I'm going for a walk. Wanna come?" Laura Lee yelled as she got up from her seat.

"No, dear, you go without me. Tell your father to come in for a while if you see him. I'm going to start dinner." Her mom called back from the kitchen.

Laura wandered through the dense woods which surrounded her grandma's property.

She came to a stop when she got to the edge of the marshes. She sat on a dead tree stump and thought about what her grandma had told her earlier. Why her? What makes Ma Mandy so sure that she, Laura Lee DeVries, has the gift? Why was it so important that she become a woman as Grandma Mandy had put it. Sure, she'd had a few boyfriends, but they were just friends really. She knew about sex, but really wasn't interested. Not that she didn't feel urges, she just wasn't interested.

She remembered the time she had made out with Sam at the school picnic in high school. They had sneaked off to climb boulders and found themselves a cave to explore. Since they were both breathing hard, they had decided to stop for a rest. He'd

showed her a picture he kept in his wallet which he said reminded him of her. When she'd looked at it she'd seenthe naked woman in the picture did resemble her. She knew the body didn't look like hers, but was flattered. She'd leaned over to kiss him and he held her close and kissed her back.

"I want to see what you look like." He had said.

"What? Why?" She'd asked shyly. She could still feel the flush that had risen in her cheeks then, as she sat there thinking about it now.

"Can I tell you a secret, and you won't tell anybody?" He'd asked. When she'd nodded yes, he continued. "Sometimes, I lay in bed at night and think of you and all I can see

are your eyes, and all I can feel is you skin against mine. I don't know why. I just lay there and make my hard on go away as best I can. I don't think I love you or anything, I just think I want to know you in that way."

"Yes, you can. I'll tell you a secret too. Sometimes I wonder what it will be like for someone to touch me like I'm a woman and I lay there and feel that I'm all wet between my legs, but I guess I've been too shy to find out." She'd let her hands find the hem of her tee shirt and she'd raised it above her head. "What do you think?"

"Nice. I like them better than the woman's in the picture. Can I take off your bra? I've always wanted to do that. I've peeked at my mom sometimes and wondered. Her tits kind of fall out of the cups and sway a little." He had reached behind her when she'd nodded. He'd touched first one then the other as it was released from the bra. Then he leaned forward and before she could stop him he had taken one of her nipples in his mouth. She'd gasped, and he'd pulled back thinking he'd hurt her. But, she'd pulled him forward again and relaxed while she concentrated on the pleasant sensations. Slowly he had pulled away and she could see the color in his face had changed. He was almost a deep red color and his eyes had looked funny.

"Are you okay?" She'd asked, concerned.

"Yes, but now what do I do about this?" He'd looked at the fly of his pants and she had seen a bulge there. She hadn't known what to say.

"Is that your, uhm... Can I see what it looks like when it's hard?" She'd reached delicately into his crotch.

He'd spread her fingers out around its mass and then pushed her hand towards it more. After letting her get a feel through the cloth of his shorts, he'd opened his pants and used her hand to pull it out. She'd used both hands to feel it and then had leaned over really close to look at it.

"Would you, could you, please lick it with your tongue?" He'd asked when she was examining it. She'd looked at him quizzically, then did it. The taste and the musky odor were still fresh in her mind while she recalled that day. After allowing her to lick it for a few minutes he had jerked of so she could see. She'd let her hands stray to her crotch to play with herself through the denim of her shorts while she watched him. She'd thought the gooey stuff he'd called "come" had been interesting and she'd even tasted it. Then he'd told her to back up against the side of the rock behind her. He had opened her pants and slid them over her knees and removed them. Carefully he'd pushed the crotch of her panties aside and then began to give her face. She'd wanted him to stop when she began to shudder, but he'd promised her she'd like it if she'd let him finish. She had liked it and even dipped her finger in her snatch when he was done so she could taste it. It had had a slightly tangy flavor.

She remembered asking if this was all there was to sex and he'd said no. There was more, he'd told her, but they weren't prepared and he didn't want her to get pregnant. They'd heard voices outside of the cave just then, so they'd dressed hurriedly and headed back to the picnic.

The whole time she was sitting there remembering that day, she was dimly aware of the throbbing in her crotch. When she'd finished her reverie she was aware of the wetness in her crotch. She straddled the log she was sitting on and began rocking back and forth. She had used this log before. She liked to squeeze against the firmness of the bark with her inner thighs. She scooted along until the rough knot on the log was putting pressure against her crotch. She rocked until she felt that familiar shuddering she'd experienced several times, when she fingered herself at night, in bed. Then she leaned back and arched forward.

On the walk back to the house she found herself wondering what her cousin was like now. She imagined he was probably very sophisticated, and very worldly. Not at all like the common place individual she'd turned out to be. When she mounted the stairs to the porch she noticed another vehicle parked next to her parents'. When she opened the door she recognized her Aunt Edna and Uncle Paul and her Cousin Brent. She gave both her aunt and uncle a hug, but when she walked over to her cousin, she drew back as though shocked. He gave her a puzzled look then smiled a bright, welcoming smile. She settled for a hand shake then went over to sit on the hammock next to her grandma. The commotion in the room died down as every one found seats and turned to Ma Mandy. Laura Lee eyed her cousin discreetly and was embarrassed several times when he returned her glance. No one else in the room seemed to notice her discomfiture. She couldn't even say what was causing her confusion. But, she appreciated his good looks and could see he'd filled out a great deal from the skinny little boy he'd used to be. But, then she reminded herself that she hadn't done too badly in the looks department herself.

All that evening the grown folks chatted while she and Brent listened. Dinner was a nice occasion and Brent spoke only when asked a question. Occasionally, Laura Lee caught her grandma eyeing her and Brent. She wasn't sure what was going on in the old woman's mind, but she felt decidedly uncomfortable. One thing she noticed; however, as she looked around, was that there were no physical similarities between Brent's mother and himself. He had hiss father's sile and twinkling eyes. It was apparent though, that her aunt and her mother were related.