Parks and Recreation

Part 1-Parks

Spring fever was running rampant throughout the body and soul of every human being in my little town. Everyone was affected by it. All the retired folks were lounging on their porches, sipping lemonade and chatting amiably. Homeowners everywhere were proudly mowing their lawns for the first time that year. Happy gardeners were tending to their prized gardens, trimming bushes and pulling weeds. And I could already smell the first of the year's barbeques.

But no one here was ever more affected by the changing seasons than the children. Kids of all ages relished the chance to enjoy everything that spring had to offer them. Toddlers giddily stomped around in the freshly cut front lawns of their parents. Elementary school children rode around on bicycles and skateboards. Some young teens on my block organized teams and played rugby in the street, as they do every year.

And me? Well, I didn't really enjoy any of that stuff. But I loved to be outside all the same. As soon as I caught that first whiff of springtime air I had to surround myself in it. I've always hated being cooped up indoors. Fresh air was my best friend. Well, fresh air and Jonny. Thus Jonny was the unfortunate soul I dragged along with me after school hours on the first warm day in months.

"Where are we going?" he asked with mock annoyance.

I grinned rather widely in his direction. "The park, obviously."

He rolled his eyes. "I should've known."

Yes it's true, I was a sixteen year old boy who loved nothing better on a spring day than to visit the park. Jonny always told me I was like a giant five year old. I can't say I disagree with him. I loved the park more than any other place. I felt kind of bad dragging Jonny along with me. But I really needed this today. School had been rough.

It had started off quite well. I found out that I had gotten the lead role in our school's musical. Apparently Jonny wasn't lying when he told me I was a great singer, although I still wouldn't go so far as to say I was great. But I was good enough for my school, and that filled me with joy.

I was elated. No one could bring me down. Well, until some gang of senior guys did, literally. They saw me in the hallway, merrily humming a little tune as I walked to class. They surrounded me with surprising speed and knocked my books onto the ground, shortly followed by me. The warning bell rang and they scurried away, laughing.

I tried hard not to cry, but I was really hurting. My knee had made contact with the floor, hard, and left it bruised and swollen. I couldn't keep a few tears from sliding down my cheeks. I suppose I should've known this would happen. I was accustomed to being bullied at school. Jonny always told me that he wished I had never admitted being gay, because he couldn't stand to see me getting abused this way. But I wanted people to know. Even if it meant getting beat up on a near daily basis.

But boy was I lucky to have Jonny. That time, like so many other times before, he helped me up and gave me some comforting words, and I forgot all about my injury. They were always along the lines of how I was better than they were and that they were just jealous. It was all so ridiculous, but it made me feel better. Without him I don't know how I would have survived a single school day.

I think my bad experience that day was a large part of the reason that Jonny agreed to accompany me on my crazy park visit. We walked side by side, not saying a word. With us it wasn't always necessary to communicate verbally. Some things we just knew, like our mutual desire to silently enjoy the lovely weather. I felt the warm sun on my face and the gentle breeze on my skin. In what felt like no time at all, we had walked the up the path that lead to the quaint little park.

It was quiet and secluded. All around us were trees with brand new leaves, freshly cut grass, and flowers. But I set my sights immediately on the swings, my absolute favorite thing there.

"Race you!" I shouted playfully at Jonny. I saw him roll his eyes again, but he nodded and after my five second countdown we were off. I won easily as I had always been an excellent runner. I had already made myself comfortable on a swing by the time Jonny caught up, breathing heavily.

"Chris," he gasped, "your energy level astounds me." I just grinned and began to pump my legs. Jonny hopped on the swing beside me and did the same, although much slower. Jonny had always been a more laid back person than me. I was just a big ball of hyperactive energy. And swinging was an excellent way to get it out.

Soon I was flying high above the ground, stretching my feet up towards the clouds, only to be whisked back down by gravity moments later. Pathetic as it sounds, this was a real thrill for me. I loved the feel of the wind on my face and the pull of my muscles as I exercised them further and further. Sometimes I would close my eyes and lean my head back so that my curls nearly grazed the ground below.

This would really freak Jonny out. His eyes would widen and he would beg me to stop. I would just laugh. Jonny acted like a doting parent towards me. He was so cautious. I guess that made us perfect for each other; one man careless and the other careful.

A perfect example of our contrasting personalities was later on that day, when off in the distance I saw the same group of guys that had pushed me down earlier. I called out to them, stupidly. I mocked them and called them names, shouting insulting things to the heavens. Jonny tried to shut me up, but I was on top of the world.

In one dramatic motion I jumped off of the swing and landed with a graceful thud on the dirt below. I waved my arms wildly and beckoned to the guys, daring them to come over. I should probably take this opportunity to point out that I do really, really brainless things-a lot. I must really stress Jonny out with all of my ridiculous antics.

On that day I could see how anxious he looked. His brow was creased into a deeply worried line that stretched across his forehead. He finally managed to convince me to shut my big mouth, but by then it was already too late. The guys were already approaching us. I suddenly began to sweat. I didn't' feel so cool anymore, that's for sure.



Part 2-Recreation

Soon the biggest of them was right in front of me. He grinned nastily.

"Oh look, the little girlie wants to play." The other guys snickered. "Well okay, Chrissy. Let's have ourselves little fun, shall we?"

He raised his fist and I braced myself for the blow. But it didn't come. I cautiously opened my eyes and was shocked by what I saw. The guy had been forced backwards on his feet and into his friends when his face came into contact with a fist. Jonny's fist. Bleeding from his upper lip, he shot us looks of pure hatred. We looked at each other and our eyes said the same thing. "Run!" they cried, and we ran.

I got ahead of them quickly, but Jonny was much slower and soon the gang was catching up with him. In a panic I ran back to Jonny and tried to pull him along. But it was too late. They had surrounded us. The main guy didn't waste any time. He raised a fist towards Jonny.

"No!" I cried, and jumped in between the two of them. I had some sort of strange delusion that this would make them go away and leave us alone. What happened instead was me receiving a fist square in the face. It was so forceful that I fell back and landed on the ground in the dirt and the mud. Moments later Jonny was sprawled beside me, having met the same fate.

Then the guys left, cackling like hyenas and high fiving each other. We had mud all over us. Both of our faces sported red marks that were quickly darkening into bruises. Slowly we turned to look at each other, bruised and lying in the mud, and we began to laugh.

We laughed and laughed, and soon our laughter turned hysterical. We laughed until we cried and until our sides ached with the effort. Then we just lay there, the sun warming our bruised faces and drying the mud on our bodies. Again we turned to look at each other.

I am not sure what came over me then. I had never been attracted to Jonny before. But at that moment the green of the surrounding foliage was nothing compared to the green of his eyes. And I don't know, maybe it was the injury keeping me from thinking clearly, or maybe it was the warm weather that was making me loopy, but I leaned in and kissed him passionately on the lips.

He didn't respond negatively. He didn't pull back, or even hesitate. And maybe it was his own bruised face, or the nice weather, but he wrapped his arms around my neck and forcefully kissed me back. It could have been a number of things, but whatever it was, it was empowering.

Our kiss stretched out to fill seemingly endless lengths of time. All the while we grew more forceful and more passionate. Our tongues intertwined. Jonny let out a soft moan, and I pushed myself onto him, so that I was on top of him completely. Still there was no protest. I took that as a green light, a go ahead signal.

Still kissing him, I slowly began to unbutton his shirt. I was glad he had worn this shirt today, and not some regular t-shirt, or I might have had to stop kissing him to remove it. And that was the last thing I wanted to do. The shirt was off now; I had thrown it into the mud. I slid my hands down his sides and he shivered. I began to move my lips down from his mouth to his neck, and finally down to his chest, stomach, and abdomen.

I grabbed at the button on his pants. He grabbed my hand. "Wait," he gasped. He reached out and unbuttoned my own shirt, throwing it casually to the side.

"I want to know how you feel too," he whispered. He gently skimmed my chest, stomach, and sides with his fingertips.

I shivered with pleasure and then could wait no longer. I forcefully grabbed at his pants. It began to rain. It was to be expected. It was England, after all. The precipitation didn't stop us though. The increasing mud made it easy for me to strip Jonny of his jeans. The motion also caused him to slide closer to me. He grabbed at my own pants, and soon we were pressed close to each other, only our undergarments between us.

"Are you sure you want to do this, out in public and everything?" Jonny asked.

The rain answered his question by suddenly coming down much harder. We could hardly see each other's faces, with the already dimming light of the evening made even less by the sudden downpour. To anyone else around we were invisble.

"Yes," I replied and immediately reached down to remove the last bit of clothing from Jonny. Jonny followed suit immediately.

"I want this," I whispered in his ear.

"I need this," he whispered back. And then we were rolling around with each other, completely naked, yet clothed in mud. The rain soaked my hair and it hung down in my face. Jonny brushed it aside and pinned me down with a kiss.

I don't know just how or why, but on that evening we not only wanted to have each other, we needed to have each other, in this way and every way. Maybe it was hormones, maybe it was the fever. The spring fever. I'm sure if anyone else had known about our actions that time in the park, they would all have their thoughts, their speculations.

I've got my money on the fever. In fact, I think I've still got it to this day because ever since then, whenever I look at Jonny I feel things I never thought I would feel. Yes, I believe on that night I caught the spring fever. And over the years I've learned something. This kind of fever isn't something that goes away after a few hours or a few days. No, this fever burns forever in your heart.



THE END