A narrow shaft of sunlight, stealing its way inside closed curtains, played on the face of a young
man, while he lay sleeping peaceably in the safety of his own bedroom. As the unaware man slept,
there was no way for him to notice the doorknob as it slowly turned. There was no sound that a
sleeping man’s ears could detect.
Walking as quietly as it possibly could, the intruder edged its way toward the sleeping man. One
step, two steps, and finally the intruder was beside the bed. All. of a sudden, with a loud roar, the sleeping figure sat up and grabbed the totally shocked intruder. Very much in control, the
awakened man pulled the other onto his bed. Even as the intruder fell, it screamed out a name in a very frightened tone.
“Greg!”
After a short struggle, the intruder was pinned by the other.
“Good morning, mother,” replied the once-sleeping figure.
“You let me up this instant and get your lazy butt out of bed.
”First mother, you tell me what you were doing.”
“I only came in here to get your dirty clothes. Now let me up, if you want some breakfast.”
The young man turned loose of his mother, and she got to her feet. As the middle-aged woman rose, she gave her son an astonishing look.
“What did I do to wake you up?”
“Nothing. I just happened to wake up, and you were beside my bed, so I decided to rough you up, a bit.”
Satisfied with her son’s reply, the woman turned and left the room. The now wide-awake man lazily climbed out of bed and slipped on a pair of cutoff jeans. After spending a moment searching, he got on a pair of sneakers. The young man made a quick exit through the house, and as he headed, out the front door he paused only long enough to tell his mother he would be back shortly.
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| Greg Vancover |
At age twenty-one, Greg Vancover was a man known to be friendly, and almost everyone that got to know him grew to like him. Barefooted, he stood six feet one inch tall and weighed a muscular two hundred ten pounds. The well-developed youth had long chestnut brown hair, an above-average handsome face, and green eyes.
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| Greg Vancover |
Being quite a sportsman, Greg enjoyed doing a lot of different exercises to keep his body in tip-top shape. His regulars were weightlifting three times a week, jogging one mile, every day before breakfast (when the weather permitted), calisthenics, and numerous stretch exercises. He loved sports such as football, tennis, and swimming, although he was on no kind of athletic team.
Overall, Greg was a very well-developed man, especially for his body size. Few, except a
professional athlete, could have competed against him. Even though he was a very active weight
lifter, the long-haired youth looked more like an Olympic gymnast than a bodybuilder. Instead of
being overly muscled and bulky, he was lean, and each muscle seemed to be exercised just to a
point where it brought out the best definition. Although the young man worked hard to develop
strength, his main objective was to develop grace, flexibility, and speed.
On this particular morning, Greg jogged around the block at an easy pace while enjoying the
beautiful August day. As he ran, it seemed his bare flesh soaked in the sun’s powerful rays, deep
into his body. Not once, did the young man feel the pains of exhaustion, for he made this run
most mornings, and his body was well prepared for it? As the youth jogged his mind was filled
with many thoughts. One was why he strived so hard to maintain physical fitness.
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| Greg Vancover |
It all started back around 1973, when Greg and his two best friends, Jack and Bill, were still fairly young boys. They met and became friends with a much older girl, who had moved from California
to their hometown. Naturally, being younger than her, the boys tried to act more mature. At the
time they met Nancy, the boys were just beginning to date and were listening to teen bands like “The Monkees” and “The Association.”
Their new friend, however, was old enough to be married, and she was raised with the more liberated kids of the West Coast. She had at one time dated a member of a motorcycle gang and experimented with drugs, as many did on the West Coast at that time, wore miniskirts, and liked more progressive rock bands such as “The Beatles,” “The Rolling Stones,” and “Steppenwolf.”
Nancy enjoyed the boys’ company, and she often went camping with them in the summer, and
sleigh riding in the winter. Whenever there was a school dance, or a party, somewhere. Nancy
always went along, and soon she was just part of the gang. It was her influence that caused the
boys to also experiment with drugs, start growing long hair and abandon their teen bands for the
much harder rock-n-roll. It was also because of her, that the three experienced their first real
violence.
Being from the West Coast, Nancy was about five years ahead of the people that lived in the
mountain town where the boys were from. She probably wore the first miniskirt, the town had
ever seen, outside of a magazine, and that was what caused the boys their first real trouble.
One night, Nancy wore one of her miniskirts to a high school dance. Like always, she danced
equally with all three of the boys, for she never showed any favoritism toward any one of them.
It was while Jack was dancing with her, that the trouble started. A couple of the school roughnecks
took their cowboy hats off and waved them in a fanning motion behind Nancy’s rear.
The crowd of rednecks thought the joke was quite amusing, but Jack did not much care for it.
Before he could react, however, the music ended. None of the roughnecks had physically touched Nancy, and since Jack was an easygoing, fellow, he just gave them a dirty look, and the couple walked off to rejoin their friends.
In the following song, Nancy danced with Greg, but she nonchalantly led her partner to a different
location on the floor. By the end of the song, the roughnecks had worked their way over to the very attractive woman’s new location. This time, however, none of them tried anything for even then,
Greg was much bigger than boys his own age.
After the music ended, the girl, sensing brewing trouble, sat out a couple of songs. To even further help ease the growing tension, the band then took a break. After a fifteen-minute rest, the musicians started back up with some “Rolling Stones.” Since that was Nancy’s favorite band, she grabbed a dance partner and went back to the floor, hoping the rednecks would not follow.
This time she danced with Bill and again went to a different section of the room. By the middle of the song the roughnecks had located them and formed a half-circle around the dancing couple. It was by now quite obvious the group had been drinking, for they were becoming louder, and their unamusing jokes were much bolder. Bill, however, was not the one to fool around with.
Although smaller than Greg or Jack, Bill was much more spirited and hot-tempered. One of his
drunken schoolmates took his cowboy hat off to fan Nancy’s behind once more, but this time
received a fist in the eye for his efforts. Immediately, some of the roughneck’s friends jumped in to help, which in turn brought Greg and Jack into action.
By the time the teachers got the boys separated, it was quite clear Greg, Jack, and Bill were
getting the better of their opponents. Needless to say, both sides got into trouble, but the
roughnecks were more so because they were drinking. This, however, did not end the feud, for a couple months later while at the skating rink, by himself, some of the same roughnecks and their older brothers jumped Bill and worked him over. The boys eventually got even, but it was not
long after that incident, that the three began taking karate lessons and working out with weights.
After three years, Greg and Bill more or less gave the karate lessons up, but Jack went on to
achieve his black belt.
Also, while the three were growing up, it was the local redneck fad to haze and intimidate
longhairs, because most of them were skinny little shrimps that would not stand up for themselves.
It was not at all uncommon at that period for a gang of men to forcibly down a longhair and give
him an unwanted free haircut. Greg invited anyone that liked to cut hair, to try and cut his.
Although he was not a violent person by nature, Greg could get more than rough when the necessity demanded.
Another reason for Greg’s athleticism was his American pride. The long-haired youth was sick of hearing foreigners talk about rich, fat, lazy Americans. Let anyone talk about America, or mistreat a flag in his presence, and someone was liable to get a busted head. Even so, the young man was not patriotic enough to join the United States military. He was too young for the Vietnam War and
since the draft ended Greg felt no obligation to serve Uncle Sam during peacetime.
These thoughts drifted to the farthest part of the runner’s mind, as his morning jog came to a halt
at his front steps. Greg sat there until he got his breath back, and at the same time enjoyed a little
more of the sun’s rays. Shortly afterward, the young man’s mother shouted breakfast was ready.
Feeling quite hungry now, he went in and filled up on his usual bacon, two eggs, two slices of toast, jelly, and orange juice. After his morning meal, Greg called up his best friends and asked if they wanted to go swimming. He called Jack first, then Bill, and they both agreed.
The year was 1978, and these three still ran together whenever it was possible. Many things had changed since they were young boys running around with Nancy. Their old friend from California finally met the man of her life and settled down. The three still saw her occasionally, but not regularly. She now had a kid and stayed pretty much around home enjoying her married life.
Jack had matured into a well-built young man Greg’s age. He specialized in magic, was an escape
artist, investigated UFO sightings, and was a part-time ghost hunter. studied the occult world, and
other psychic phenomena. Greg’s childhood playmate had enough knowledge concerning psychic phenomena to impress anyone short of an expert in the field. In fact, most of his spare time was
spent at Duke University helping a professor friend conduct psychic experiments and tests.
Jack stood five feet ten inches, and his black hair hung a little past his shoulders. but was still a
good three or four inches shorter than Greg’s. He was very well-liked, and thrilled people
everywhere with his magic. He had managed to keep his one-hundred-and-ninety-pound frame in
top condition, through karate and the exercises needed for his escape tricks. At the age of
twenty-one, Jack was already performing on stage professionally, along the East Coast.
Bill had become a motorcycle mechanic and settled down to a much simpler lifestyle than Jack. He
was now a member of a motorcycle club, called Assassins of Youth, and unlike his two other
friends, he had a bad reputation.
Some stories around the county claimed the biker had whipped as many as three people at one
time. Naturally, his being around trouble more than his friends, he got into it more. Bill rode a
chopped Harley-Davidson Sportster, and besides, motorcycles and a good time, nothing much else mattered to him. What time he was not with his club brothers, Bill tried to spend with Greg and
Jack.
It was nine-thirty by the clock hanging in the Vancover living room, and the three were not to meet
until twelve. Not having anything better to do, Greg decided to read a little to pass the time. He
went over to his reading collection and selected one of his favorites. Almost instantly, the youth
was lost in a fantasy world created by a writer known as “The Master of Adventure.” Intending
only to read a few pages, he had to force himself away after eight chapters. The time was rapidly approaching twelve, so the long-haired man ate a light lunch and got his things together.
At two minutes to twelve, Greg pulled his Chevy Van alongside Jack’s Dodge Charger and Bill’s Sportster. The three loaded into Greg’s van after the biker hired some kids to watch over his ride
while they were gone. On the way to the lake, they purchased a case of Budweiser beer and
smoked two joints of the magical herb. By the time the three reached their destination, everyone
was feeling good. and when their eyes rested on the bikini-clad girls, their day automatically
became a success.
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| Greg's Van |
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| Campton Lake |
The skimpily-clad girls had a portable tape player going, and rock-n-roll is what boomed from the speakers. Greg quickly recognized the tape as being by his favorite band, “Foghat.” While the girls concealingly watched the three men set up their belongings, one of them recognized Bill. She got up from her blanket and walked over to the biker.
“Hello, remember me?”
“I sure do,” replied Bill. “We met each other at a high school football game a couple of years ago.”
"You’re right. I wasn’t sure you would remember me. Would you like to sit here with us?” she asked kind of shyly.
“We sure would,” the biker replied.
It took only a few minutes before the boys were set up once more. Jack with very little difficulty drew another one of the girls into a conversation, while Greg did likewise with the third.
“It is a good day to get a suntan, isn’t it?” began Greg.
“It sure is,” she responded.
“Your name is Sandy, isn’t it?”
“Yes, and your name is Greg? Right?”
The three young couples continued to talk and listen to the music for a while, and then the cooler
went dry. Bill and Janice volunteered to go after some more beer, and Jack and Gail decided to go
for a dip in the lake. Greg and Sandy. not quite yet ready to get wet remained on the blankets.
Greg could not help but eye his acquaintance, as she lay on her back sunning. Most of her very
lovely body was exposed to the sun’s rays, for the white bikini she wore hardly covered anything.
The girl’s long blonde hair, and skimpy swimsuit, stood out vividly from her well-tanned flesh. The seductive blonde’s breasts were firm and filled her bathing suit top well. So, well, in fact, the
imprint of her nipples showed through the material and made the long-haired man lust to touch
them.
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| Sandy |
The girl’s belly was well-developed, and Greg could see no excess fat anywhere. It seemed to him the bewitching beauty’s bikini bottoms were so small that if it should slip down a third of an inch, her hidden hairline would be exposed. Her long lithe legs were well-shaped, and like the rest of her body, seemed to be well taken care of.
Sandy must have subconsciously felt his eyes touching and roaming over her flesh, for she turned and gave Greg a half-knowing look. To his amazement, the blonde winked at him and smiled. She raised up on her elbows and looked the surroundings over.
Jack and Gail were still in the lake, swimming. Bill and Janice still had not returned from the beer store run. Sandy’s eyes returned to Greg, and she appeared to be doing a little looking of her own.
Hey Greg, would you like to smoke a joint with me?”
“Sure would, but we can’t smoke it here in front of everybody, and Bill and Janice have my van.”
“That’s all right, my van is parked over there. Greg looked in the direction she pointed and saw a Dodge van that was customized as well as his own, or maybe a little better.
“Let’s go,” he said.
The young couple got into the van, and Sandy shut the sliding door. The two sat in front. of each other, with their legs, crossed in Indian fashion. Greg could not help but gaze impassively at the blonde’s bikini, which appeared to be little more than two simple twists of cloth, that barely concealed her private area and the tips of her breasts.
He glimpsed a thin patch of light brown hair that had worked its way from beneath the bikini to the inside of her thigh. The man’s attentive gaze was now so intense, that it almost seemed he tried to look through the white cloth and see her naked flesh. Greg felt the desire rapidly building to touch her in those intimate places where a woman so loves to be touched.
Sandy pulled out a folded bag from a concealed place in the van, and a pack of rolling papers. She unfolded the plastic bag and let it rest on her thigh, not two inches from her crotch. Just when the girl reached the point of rolling where she had to use both hands, the bag fell in between her legs and the contents threatened to fall out.
“Greg, would you please get my pot before it spills?”
“Sure,” he delightfully responded.
While retrieving the fallen herb, his fingers could not help but brush lightly against her warm flesh. The craving to feel her voluptuous body almost overwhelmed him. but the youth contained his feelings for he did not want to offend her.
After the two finished the joint, they talked and laughed with each other for a few minutes. Then,
laying his cards on the table, Greg leaned over and gave Sandy a seductive kiss on the lips, which
she took with indecision, but made no attempt to stop. Slowly, the two began to caress each other,
and the aroused man felt her supple body throbbing against his. He became even more excited as her breathing became imperceptible.
Afterward, the young couple lay in each other’s arms and had a pleasant talk. Without warning, there was a pounding on the side of the van. In a frenzy, the lovers jumped up and hastily started grabbing clothes.
“Are you there, Sandy?” a female voice called.
“Yes, I’ll be out in a second.”
“I just wanted to tell you we got back with the beer, and if you don’t hurry, it will
all be gone.”
It took hardly no time for Sandy to slip into her bathing suit, and Greg into his cutoff blue jeans.
Hand in hand, the two then joined their buddies.
“Hey everyone,” Jack said,” let’s go for a swim.”
Bill was all for the dip, but the two still could not talk Greg and Sandy into it, though Janice and
Gail were finally persuaded. Bill stuck his foot into the water for a sample, and immediately
pulled it out again, for the first touch was cold. The biker took a deep breath and started to wade
out into deeper water, with his three friends right behind him. When the couples got waist-deep,
they dived into the cool, refreshing water. Not a worry in their minds, the young people enjoyed, to the fullest, the refreshing water and sunny day.
On shore, Sandy and Greg listened to music and watched their four friends play in the lake. The
well-muscled youth’s eyes roamed over his companion’s luscious body as he admired her fantastic figure. She caught him looking, and his eyes quickly. turned from her to the lake surrounding landscape.
His eyes took in all the beautiful greenery, God had planted there just for men and beasts. around
him, the birds sang, and the insects buzzed, but for some reason, his eyes and ears seemed to
notice them in a different light. The cool blue water was full of people enjoying themselves, and it made Greg want to get in on the fun too.
He could hear the noises happy people make, it made him happy. The desire to be a part of it came
over him. He turned back to Sandy. and pulled up a blade of grass and began to tickle her soft flesh. After a few seconds, she caught on it was him and not insects, that were pestering her and she
playfully slapped the trickster.
Greg gave her a little kiss on the lips and asked, “You want to go swimming with me?”
“Not really, but I’ll go, anyway.”
The two got up and walked slowly, hand in hand, down to the beach. The sand squished in between their toes, and the sounds of a beach full of people filled their ears. Greg could not think of any place he would rather be, or anybody else he would rather be with.
At the water’s edge, like Bill, Greg put his foot in first to check the water’s temperature. The cold liquid caused goose pimples to play down his spine. Reluctantly, he waded out into the waist-deep water, pulling Sandy along behind him. The others shouted for the two to just dive in since it would be an easier way to get accustomed to the water.
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| Campton Lake |
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| Campton Lake |
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| Jack Blair |
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| Campton Lake |
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| Campton Lake |
The boats were so close to the swimmers; that it was evident the two drivers were not going to see them in time. The swimmers took a deep breath and prepared to dive. Even as the boys took that last-second breath, the woman in one of the oncoming boats spotted them and franticly grabbed her husband by the arm. He instantly sensed something was wrong, and on first thought figured he was about to run over a log or some other object. Then in a split second, he realized that he was about to run over humans.
All that entered his mind was missing them, and in his historicalness, the boat's driver swerved into the path of the second boat. With a thundering crash, the racing speedboats collided, and parts of both went flying all over the lake’s surface. That was not all, for the passengers of both boats were airborne too.
When the woman was tossed from the boat, she lost the bundle in her arms, and by chance, it
landed not a foot away from Greg. As it became airborne, the long-haired man heard the sounds of a baby crying and instantaneously realized what was in the bundle of cloth. Immediately upon
striking the water, Greg spontaneously had the bundle safely in his arms. As rapidly as possible, Jack and Bill swam to the wreckage in case someone had been hurt too badly to swim, or someone was unconscious. Only one person. needed some assistance, and the two rescuers gave him.
People on shore stood with open mouths as they witnessed the boat wreck. A passing speedboat saw and quickly rushed to the scene of the accident. It was only a matter of seconds before all were aboard the rescue boat and headed for shore. The mother cried in relief at seeing her child once again safe in her arms. The boy that had been stunned was slowly recovering and was not seriously injured.
It took only minutes for them to reach shore, and not much longer for the rangers to find out and come to investigate the accident. When the rescue boat was unloaded, of its passengers, the rangers separated everyone and questioned them individually. The man with his wife and baby took full responsibility for the accident, and the boat’s owner volunteered that he had good insurance, which would cover all costs.
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| Boat Wreck |
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| Wreck Cleanup |
The middle-aged man and his wife, with the baby in her arms, walked over to the three couples. The kids stood up to meet them, and the man extended his hand and shook with each of the three boys.
“I am Peter Starworth, and I am sorry I about ran you down,” he began. “I guess I wasn’t acting much like an adult out there racing like that, but I just bought the boat and the newness just got the best of me.
We were riding the lake when those two young men pulled alongside us and asked if we wanted
to race. Like a teenager, I couldn’t resist. Margaret tried to talk me out of it, but like a fool, I
wouldn’t listen, and now I see where it got me. Paying for the wrecked boats is no problem
because I have insurance. If I had killed someone, or my baby had drowned, I would have never
gotten over it. I am a wealthy man, and I would like to give you fellows some money as a token of appreciation.”
He reached into his back pocket and pulled out his wallet.
“Thank you, but no thank you,” replied Greg. “We can’t blame you for the accident it could have happened to anyone. As for your racing, what is life without a little excitement? But it was a little foolish doing it with an infant on board. I’m just glad I was in a position to save your baby, that was rewarding enough for me.”
“You are truly a good person, young man.” Reaching into his wallet, the man pulled. out three calling cards with his name, address, and phone number on them and handed one to each of the boys. “If you ever need anything, and I do mean anything, just let me know and I will see you get it, thank you again.”
After exchanging farewells, the man and his wife left to take care of business concerning the boat accident. The three couples remained at the lake until the sun, slowly but surely, began to set in
the western skies. They had spent most of the day together, and everyone had a fantastic time, but
like all good things, it had to come to an end. They loaded all of their paraphernalia into their vans
and took one last look at the beautiful sunset over the lake.
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| Wrecked Boat |
Before leaving, the boys invited the girls to attend one of Jack’s magic shows in a nearby
town, which they quickly accepted. After setting the date for Wednesday, the boys kissed the
girls goodbye, and they climbed into their separate vans and went their own ways.
The following week turned out to be a good one for Greg and his friends. Jack’s magic show
turned out to be a big success, and the three couples went to a large party afterward and had a
great time. It was on that date, that Greg learned, that Jack and Bill had received a letter from Peter Starworth. He was inviting them down to Puerto Rico to his resort for two weeks, all
expenses paid. The only hang-up was, that it had to be between August 18, and September 1,
because of bookings. Jack. had a magic show to do at a large coliseum on the nineteenth, and Bill’s motorcycle club was sponsoring a field meet that same weekend with over thirty clubs planning to show up.
The following morning, they phoned Mr. Starworth and told him the situation and asked if they
could pass for the first week and come the second. He quickly agreed and told them Greg’s
invitation would probably arrive that day. Peter Starworth told Greg if he had nothing planned for
him to come on down for the full two weeks. That way, by the time, Jack and Bill arrived, he
would already know all of the girls, and where the hot spots were located.
Sure enough, that afternoon Greg came home from a long hard day's work to find a letter awaiting him. After finding a comfortable spot on the living room sofa, he opened the envelope and read its contents.
Pioneers On Unium: The Lake
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Exiled On Unium |
