The doctor sat Carol down in a comfortable chair, took a deep breath and then started to explain his diagnosis. Unfortunately, he said, her tests were all positive and she had an advanced and very aggressive case of ovarian cancer which meant that she probably had less than six months to live. He had a sad look on his face, told her how sorry he was, and then he referred her to an oncologist for further treatment. After hearing his diagnosis Carol was devastated and she drove home and cried for two days solid, then, resigned to her fate, she made an appointment with the oncologist to discuss her treatment options.

The oncologist was a gray haired gentleman who calmly explained all of her options and as thin as they were she chose radiation therapy even though he told her that it would do little good. Carol started her therapy in April but by early June she had already decided to quit; mostly because her disease was terminal so what was the point but also because it was taking such a toll on her body. From the waist down she was just a fucking medical mess. In just two short months her pubic hair had fallen out, her stools were not only loose but she was having serious bouts of diarrhea almost daily and the heat from the radiation was drying up her vagina and scaring her labia.

She asked her chemotherapist about the pro's and con's of having sex and she referred Carol back to her oncologist who explained that she could still have sex if she wanted too, it was just that she wouldn't enjoy it as much. Oh and by the way, he said, she also wouldn't get as wet as she was used to and she wouldn't climax as much as she had before — so what in the hell, she thought to herself, was the point of having sex?

Carol, armed with all of the reasons she shouldn't have sex, had just one date after ending her therapy and it was with her long time boyfriend Jason. After a nice dinner they retired to her bedroom and were in bed when Jason rose up on one elbow and sniffed the air and then asked her if she could smell that awful smell... something, he said, smelled like it was burnt! She knew exactly what smell he was referring to was and that was her last date.

Late on a Sunday afternoon Carol was sitting on her front porch and she decided that she wanted to see her only living relative, her little sister Mary, before the end. The more she thought about the visit the more it seemed like a good idea, the only problem was her diagnosis. Whether or not to tell Mary about her medical condition was a quandary that had been running through her mind for over a week. In the end Carol made the decision while she was waiting to board her flight to Iowa - she wouldn't tell anyone that she was terminally ill. Carol just couldn't stand to hear the outpouring of sympathy that surly would follow an announcement like that, no way was she mentally capable of handling it.

Carol boarded a morning flight out of Mobile, Alabama and arrived in Des Moines some three and a half hours after changing planes in Memphis. Mary, and her three kids, ages 4, 6 and 7, met her at the airport and after all of the hugging and kissing they jumped into Mary's SUV and left for their house which was just outside of town.

That happy reunion had taken place three days ago and now Carol was just plain worn out, both by her disease and by her sisters' kids' with their enthusiasm and their demands on her time. One morning after finishing breakfast Carol went back into her room to clean up for the day. She was standing in the shower and the warm water felt nice running down her body, it was so soothing for her worn nerves. After she dried off she sat down in her bedroom and tears filled her eyes. She was clinically depressed about her disease and she was just plain tired from trying to hide it from her sister. She sighed then decided that what she really needed was to get away from the house and kids even if it was just for a couple of hours. With the decision made she pulled on a pair of shorts, grabbed a blouse and sat down and laced up her walking shoes then went out to the kitchen where Mary was busy baking cookies.

"Hey sis," she said, "I think I'm going for a walk."

Mary looked up at her sister as she walked into the kitchen. "Okay, where are you headed?"

"I'm not sure I just need some quiet time to myself. Is there someplace around here that I can get some peace and quiet?"

Mary thought for a minute. "Uh... well there is a regional park about ten blocks east of here. Just stay on Elm Street and you'll run right into it."

Carol hugged her sister, then stepped back and looked at her. "Thanks honey... look I don't mean to sound like I'm not enjoying myself or anything, I'm just not used to having three children with so dammed much energy running around the house."

Mary hugged her back. "Oh trust me sis I've often thought about running away myself, now go on out and enjoy yourself!"

Carol left the house and leisurely walked down Elm Street looking at all the houses as she headed for the park that Mary had described. In less than twenty minutes Carol spotted a wooded area up ahead and noticed that there seemed to be several trails leading into the park. As she came close enough to read the park signage she saw that one trial led to the main playground and with a shrug of her shoulders she stepped off the sidewalk and headed down that trail. The trail wove through the trees and bushes for a couple of hundred yards then came out on a huge playground area. There was a baseball field off to the left with a set of metal stands, a cinder block bathroom, a couple of basketball courts off to her right with a young man shooting hoops all by himself and, of course, the requisite sandy area with a jungle gym, slides, swings and the like. Carol found a bench near the basketball court and sat down and turned and watched the boy shooting hoops. As she watched her mind drifted back to her college days when she had played ball and as she watched she admired his skills on the court, he really looked good.

The young man was working out hard taking shot after shot from various angles on the court. He was wearing a pair of shorts and tennis shoes and nothing else as he took a shot from the free throw line then ran up and caught his own rebounded. His next move was to his right as he ran and took a quick jump shot from about 20 feet. Carol could see that he was sweating profusely as beads of perspiration ran down his well toned body. She thought that he was probably still in high school and he looked like he was a good six feet two or so. He ran to the top of the key, stopped and she watched him do a pretty fair imitation of Kareem's skyhook shot — and... nothing but net! The boy had sandy colored hair and after making a shot from the corner he looked over at her and smiled, then he waived and she waived back. Well, she thought, the kids are certainly friendly here in Iowa as he walked over to where she was sitting.

"You want to take some shots with me lady?" He asked her.

She smiled up at him. "I don't know I haven't been on a basketball court since you were probably no more than a baby."

"Really? A baby you say... well you don't look all that old."

All that old, gee, thanks a lot kid. "Well I am. I turned thirty one last month." And I'll never see thirty two she thought.

"Thirty one, I see, well that's not all that old." He held out his hand to her. "I don't think I've seen you around here, I'm Mark."

She took his hand and shook it. "I'm just visiting my sister and I'm Carol."

He motioned towards the court. "Come on Carol let's see what you've got." He bounced the ball to her.

She grabbed the ball and stood up. "One-on-one or horse?" She asked as she walked out onto the court with him.

"Well let's start with horse and see what happens."

"Fine with me." She bounced the ball a couple of time than ran quickly to her right and made a twisting jump shot, all net.

"Hummm very nice, was that luck or are you that good?" He moved to his right and took the same shot she had — swoosh, all net.

"Well some luck is involved I'm sure of that." She bounced the ball as she moved over to the right corner of the court and banked a shot off the backboard and through the net.

"Nice shot!" He said as he walked over to the corner, bounced the ball a couple of times and then made the same shot. He quickly rebounded the ball and passed it back to her.

Carol thought about her next shot for a moment. She had played ball while she was in college even though it was as a reserve, a walk-on player, still she had seen plenty of playing time at Baylor. She stepped up to the free throw line and hooked a shot that hit the backboard then the rim and bounced away. Disappointed she said, "Okay, your turn." Then she laughed as she gathered up the ball and passed it to him.

Mark though for a moment then went back to half-court, turned and gathered speed as he raced for the backboard, leapt and made an easy lay-in. He grabbed his own rebound and passed the ball to her. He watched her as she walked back to the end of the court and started running for the hoop. He actually knew that it was going to be an easy shot for her but he didn't care, he wanted to see her running, wanted to watch her breasts bouncing up and down inside her blouse.

As she ran the same route she felt a pain in her abdomen, it felt like she ripped something inside and she winced with pain but she kept running. Carol made the lay-up, turned and stuck out her tongue at him. "There you go hot shot."

"Okay I'll give it to you that you're a good shot but let's see how you handle a little one-on-one? You want to be shirts or skins?" He smiled at her and she smiled back at his obvious sexual reference.

"Well you don't seem to have a shirt with you so why don't you be skins." She retorted as she smacked the ball away from his hands. "I'll start." Bouncing the ball she went back to half court and then started moving in, keeping the ball on her right side, her left side blocking him. He moved closer up to her left side and hip checked her and slapped at the ball. Carol laughed as she easily moved away from him and closer to the net. Once again he moved close to her this time lining up behind her. He put one hand on her lower back as they moved together in what looked like a coordinated dance. As she made her move to her left his had slipped down over her ass and his immediate thought was that it felt nice and firm.

"Watch your hands mister, that's my ass you're playing with." She laughed.

He laughed back. "And a nice ass it is."

The game went back and forth each of them making one shot after another. They had been playing hard for almost a half an hour and Carol was sweating so much that her blouse was thoroughly soaked. In fact it was soaked enough that her bra was plainly visible to Mark's eyes and she knew that he was looking and even though he was just a teenager the idea that he was even remotely sexually interested excited her, something that hadn't happened to her in months. As they played hard both of them had inadvertently touched each other, sometimes on their backs, sometimes on their butts and once he had reached across for the ball and rubbed her left breast. The score was tied at 22 when Carol called a time out. "Look Mark I need to get a drink of water and to rest a minute, remember I'm an old lady."

He laughed at her. "Sure, no problem... old lady." He set the ball down on the foul line and they walked over to the drinking fountain. Mark turned the handle and the water squirted up almost a foot in the air and he drank until his thirst was quenched. He turned to Carol, "Hey would you mind holding the handle down while I get some water?"

"Sure, no problem." She reached down and held the handle and Mark cupped his hands together until they were filled then he poured the water go over head, the cool water running down his chest and back, cooling him off. She smiled thinking that it would feel good too. She looked around the playground and saw that they were still alone. "My turn, hold the handle Mark."

He looked at her funny but he did as she asked. Carol sipped the water for a minute then she filled her hands and poured the water over her face and it ran down her blouse and onto her shorts. She cupped another handful of water and poured it over her head getting most of her back wet with that handful. It was apparent to her that Mark could see her bra and as she looked down she realized that wasn't the only thing he could see, as wet as she was he could also see her nipples through the thin material. She shrugged her shoulders thinking that it was kind of sexy to tease him just a bit.

They left the fountain and moved over to the bench by the court and sat down. "You're a good player Mark, are you going to college and make use of your God given talents?"

"I hope so, at least if things work out. I've been playing forward on our high school team but my coach say's that I would make a good college point guard and I've had a couple of colleges call about scholarships so we'll see what happens. No matter what though, I'll still need money to get by on and my family isn't in a position to help so we'll just have to see what happens. Say, did you ever play college ball?" Although Mark was talking to her, his eyes were riveted on her breasts and she could see the sexual hunger in his eyes.

"Some. I was a walk-on at Baylor but I averaged about 12 minutes a game."

"Wow that's pretty good!"

"Well I always liked playing and used to spend hours practicing but no college ever showed any interested in me, I was too small they said, still I could make some spectacular shots from the three-point line."

"I can tell, even being out of practice you're still good. My special shot is the half court shot, ever since I saw a guy make one on ESPN I've wanted to do it in a game too. I've practiced since I was a kid and now I can make about three out of four."

"Really, three of four from half court? That's kind of hard to believe."

"I'm not joking, I've practiced that shot for almost six years and I'm good at it."