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Copyright © 1994 David Gullen.
All rights reserved and reproduction without written permission expressly prohibited.
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I am not really like that. So perhaps it was the heat followed by rain. I was
drenched by the time I reached the supermarket, but I did not mind. I love the water;
rain, rivers, cool water flowing over my naked skin. In another life I was a silver-flanked fish cruising dark oceans.
I stood beside the freezer too long, my bare arms elbow deep in the cold air.
People stared as they walked past. I was thinking of snow and firelit nights half a
year away.
My clothes were starting to dry by the time I reached the queue for the
checkout, though my t-shirt hung heavy against my stomach and my jeans clung to
my thighs and calves.
The girl at the checkout was new; young pretty and dark. She had one of
'those' faces, not beautiful, but fascinating.
As I moved closer in the queue it was difficult to stop watching her. Loose
loops of brown hair fell over her face, I only had glimpses of her eyes, her mouth
and white teeth. I was lost in her contemplation, my eyesight was unusually acute, I
saw each soft crease in her lips and wondered what it would be like to kiss them.
It was only when I reached the till and began unloading my basket that I saw
she was not a girl, but a boy. He was one of those rare sensual teenagers, his
complexion and temperament unmarked by his recent change to manhood.
I could not think. I was not like that! I felt confusion and - shame? I took a
note from my wallet and held it out. What was there to be ashamed off? When he
gave me my change, he smiled and said, "Wake up."
Because I was looking into his face, the coins he handed me slipped through
my fingers. With a clever flick he caught them, pressing the money back into my
palm. His fingertip's touch made my palm tingle electric.
"You need an early night," he laughed.
I was halfway home before I calmed down.
In the evening I was still wondering what those lips and clever fingers would
feel like against my skin.
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