Fishing in the Dark
A golden moon sailed across the sky, lazy and slow. Jake slid his arm around Bob’s shoulders and tipped his head back to watch it float upon the navy sea among the fluffy clouds. A swarm of lightning bugs danced around them to the tune of cricket song and the brook babbling through the trees ahead.
“What is this place?” Bob asked, pushing a heavy green branch aside as they stepped out onto the creekside.
Jake threw his free arm out in a sweeping gesture. “It’s my favourite place. No one else knows about it.” He grinned at Bob. “It’s a secret.” He slid his hand down Bob’s arm and laced their fingers together and tugged him over to the patch of soft cool grass beside the tinkling water. “Come on.”
They lay down side by side and gazed up at the sky that was fading into night. Bob turned his head so his lips brushed the shell of Jake’s ear, and Jake shivered despite the warm summer night. “How many stars you think there are?” Bob murmured.
A snort of laughter escaped Jake. “Millions. Billions. You count them if you wanna know.”
“As long as you don’t move no matter how long it takes to count them all.”
Jake considered that for a minute. “I thought we were going fishing. Can’t catch much lying on the ground like this.”
“I don’t care.” Bob’s shoulder moved a bit under Jake’s head as he shrugged. “If you’d rather catch fish…”
“Eh, I’m fine here.” Jake snuggled closer, pushing his shoulder into Bob’s side. He’d waited all winter for this perfect moment.
The moon crept out from behind the trees and silvery light washed over them. Jake grinned and leapt to his feet. Bob frowned up at him. “What — ”
Pulling his shirt over his head, Jake kicked his boots off. “There’s a little pool where the stream turns a corner just over there. The water’s deep enough to swim.” He tossed his shirt over a bush and pushed his pants down, grinning at Bob’s wide eyed stare. “Coming?”
As he surfaced, Jake heard a splash and then Bob came up beside him, his eyes and hair dark in the shadow of the trees overhead. Then Bob’s arms came around Jake and they were kissing like they never wanted to stop. At least, not for tonight.