Chapter 1

The young girl crouching in the tall grass in that corner of the back yard, too difficult to mow because of the number of large stones and jutting tree stumps that seemingly had a life of their own raised her head to peer intently at the intruder into her daydream.

“Lucy, Lucy, I have some nice lemonade for you, honey. Come get it while it is nice and cold.”

Lucy hoped her mother didn’t see the lurking tiger hiding behind the boulder right in front of her. Of course, she might think it was only Oscar, the striped tabby cat they had rescued from the pound even though they had all sworn a pact that it was “only” a fact finding mission and that they had no intention of actually adopting one of the poor creatures.

Lucy’s mother saw her daughter looking straight at her and she felt satisfied that at least she was wearing the separated shorts and not the miniskirt that tended to show more of her business than was appropriate for an eighteen year old girl. The older woman knew it was strictly a generational problem for her because the teenagers on television these days seemed totally comfortable with showing everything they owned like they were in a contest for the girl with the least amount of modesty in mixed company. All this foolishness about “booties” and making a fuss over young girls with larger than normal backsides seemed downright nonsensical to her common sense thinking. She hoped her Lucy would have enough moral character to keep her male friends away from unnatural funny business with her virginal buttocks and act like a proper young lady at all times.

She was more than pleased with Lucy’s ability to make her own games and her own ways to amuse herself. It freed her to more important things like writing her column for the local newspaper. She was even able to work on her historical novel that never seemed to get closer to being finished no matter how much time she invested in it at. It was that time of her life when each hour was like a precious gold coin slipping from her fingers no matter her reluctance to lose a single minute.

“Mom, I have to finish this first. Just put it on the table and I promise I will drink it as soon as possible.”

It was enough to mollify the mother because she knew Lucy might be a bit scatter-brained when it came to reality and fantasy, but she was the kind of child that always told the truth and did what she promised no matter the consequences.

Rufus, the tabby cat slinked back behind the stone. The regal cat was too proud to acknowledge the presence of a ruling species that took their control as complete and never-ending in a world of infinite change. It was time to find a shady place to clean its paws because cleanliness was more important than anything else in the realm of cats.

Lucy Lipinski was a bit of a wisp, a real heart-breaker from the very beginning. She never really did anything slutty or unfeminine that could be criticized by total strangers, but one got the sense that she had a quality of promised depravity just sitting there waiting for nocturnal privacy. I should explain that I am her cousin Rocky and I generally hung around Lucy because she could make me go all to pieces inside with the hint of a smile or the touch of her little pinky. Sometimes, when we were stripped down for a dip at the pool or just in those short little periods of skimpy attire just before or after getting up from horizontal dreamtime, her luscious curves were visible to those around her and she was not at all uncomfortable in sharing her wealth of physical beauty. Lucy was kind enough to allow me to touch her female treasures when we were alone in complete privacy because she knew how much I lusted for her pretty young flesh. I knew how far I could go and we were comfortable with the fact that it only took a few minutes for each of us to get each other to the finish line like a pair of boxers sparring to improve our skills. We both knew there was no “Romance” involved and we were circumspect in keeping our contact truly a secret known only to us.

She confided in me because she knew I would never repeat a single word unless she directed me to transmit it others. I guess I was hooked but the bait was so tempting that even as I was being scraped into the frying pan, I had a smile of contentment just to be near her and hear the sound of her words falling from her ruby red lips that needed no lipstick to enhance her perfection. All I really needed was to be near Lucy to make my day. I never really expected her to give me much more than that because I was not one of the beautiful people she liked to surround herself with like some shield against the reality of the hard, cruel world. The fact that she was generous to me in terms of physical contact in private was a source of unspoken contentment that sealed my loyalty forever and a day.

“Do my back, Harry, use the new bottle of lotion. I don’t want to get sunburn and you know how sensitive my skin is when I am near a pool or the beach.”

I happily unscrewed the cap and drizzled the tropical fruit scented oil onto Lucy’s lightly tan shaded skin carefully keeping my fingernails away from the surface. The last thing I wanted to do was to mar that beautiful skin with one of my unruly paws like some country bumpkin reaching for the golden ring that was always just out of reach and only a symbol of unfulfilled desire so familiar to males with urges that exceeded the boundaries of their league. I knew the feeling and I respected the territorial limits of my closeness to Lucy. She knew I was docile and no threat to her tranquil state of mind that projected excitement. I could be counted on to stay far away from the fires of passion burning deeply inside me just another male drawn to her aura like a moth to a flame and unable to draw away even knowing that such proximity meant certain destruction.