Preamble

Not all young males mature at the same time. Some mature early, and some mature late. By early, I mean in their early-to-mid teens, and late being ... well ... maybe never. This story is about one of the early ones and the consequences of his being normal in every respect yet more mature than his peers. It’s my usual romance/plus, so I hope you enjoy it.

In the middle of my second to last year of high school, my father had a job offer he couldn’t afford to refuse. It was a senior management position at a major fertilizer company located in ... well ... the middle of nowhere. I don’t know if you’ve ever even heard of Clarksville, Oregon, but that’s where we would be living. Thoughtfully, my parents decided to leave me at the school where I was presently enrolled to finish my junior year. Then, I would join my parents in our new home for the summer and my senior year of high school.

We’d been living in a very nice suburb of Davenport, Iowa, the only home I’d ever known. My grandparents, my father’s parents, were unhappy that we would be moving so far away, but were pleased that I could spend my last half-year in their care. I was somewhat less than delighted, since my grandparents were older and didn’t relate well to me. My interests were so much different from theirs. They were quite nice people, of course, but the subjects of our conversations were very limited. Fortunately, my time in their care would close when the school year ended. Perhaps I was shallow and unfeeling ... but that was me.

I really wasn’t looking forward to moving all the way west to Oregon. It wasn’t that I thought Iowa was the finest place in the country, but I had no idea what to expect of my new home territory. I spent quite a bit of time on Google Maps and Google Earth, looking at what was going on in Clarksville and the surrounding territory. There wasn’t much doubt that some of it was farming and ranch territory. Near the coast was heavily forested, while the mountains separated the coastal area from the inland plains. There was also not much doubt that my new home appeared to be located in the most barren part of the state. I was hoping for something nearer to the coast ... but no such luck.

When I looked up the town on Google Earth, it didn’t seem to be near anything. It was located in what appeared to be rough country east of Bend and south east of Redmond, another pair of medium sized towns in the middle of nowhere. I remembered when Dad had to travel to Saskatchewan to visit a number of very big potash mines and I wondered if Clarksville was in just such an area.

Whether I liked it or not, for at least the next year, it would be my home. After that, perhaps a college in a more populated area? Dad had promised me a summer job at his new plant and I knew it wouldn’t be a nice cushy office assignment. More likely, I’d be lugging sacks of fertilizer to earn my keep. I have to admit, I was not looking forward to this new location and I wondered if I’d survive the next year with my usual optimism intact. If nothing else, my job would keep me in good physical condition if it didn’t kill me first.

Chapter 1 »