Note: This story was dynamically reformatted for online reading convenience.
 
 A World of My Choosing

   An Out-of-this-World Story by Gil Gamesh

   Chapter Forty-Four

   "Well, that's interesting," she said.

   "What's interesting, Aimee?" I asked.

   She didn't answer.  She held one finger up to her lips, blinked rapidly
a few times, moved her head around erratically, and smiled again and again.
I waited.  The rest of us waited.  I wondered how long she was going to
remain in a trance.

   "Aimee, perhaps you could wait to assimilate all your new knowledge for
a while," Brian said.  "You could do that at night while all of us are
sleeping.  You should return your attention to David and the rest of us."

   I was impressed with the way Brian spoke to Aimee: authoritative,
familiar.  It made me think that perhaps he was accustomed to conversing
with an avatar and, if he was, maybe personal avatars were ordinary in his
world.

   "You are right, Brian," Aimee said, and focused on me.  "Pardonnez moi,
David.  Oh, English!  Excuse me!  There's just so much!"

   "What's so much?" James asked.

   "James, my knowledge of your world is like memories I can recall when
needed.  I think my memory will be doubled or more when I have assimilated
all of the knowledge of Iain's world."

   "Well, we can wait," I said.  "For now, I think we need to give Brian
his bath, feed him, and put him to bed for a while.  Petra, would you lead
him to the bathing facilities?"

   She took Brian's hand in hers but he stood still, a puzzled look on his
face.

   "Why do I need a bath?" he asked.  "I can bathe myself."

   "Petra, would you explain why we want to bathe him," Anna asked.

   "Sure.  Brian, we give all newcomers a ritual bath to wash away all the
worries and problems and pains of their old world.  This is your new world
and we want you to be happy and loving and peaceful with us."

   I thought that was a good explanation of why we gave each one who joined
us a bath.  Petra led the way to the bathing chamber holding Brian's hand
and the rest of us followed.  Brian was washed from head to toes.  Matt and
I scrubbed his long hair and made sure he was able to stand.  The rest
crowded around and, as much as possible, rubbed him with a soapy wash cloth
or with naked hands.  Six females rubbed him with their breasts as well and
he smiled even wider.

   We deliberately left his genitals to last.  All of us backed up except
Petra and she had that task.  She gently washed his tolos and then pushed
his foreskin back and rubbed his red-headed tianga until it was rampantly
erect.  He smiled even wider if that was possible.  Petra was already
acting as if he was meant for her.  They were looking in each other's eyes
in a dreamy state.

   <><><>

   The night of Brian's arrival, I asked Iain and Matt to come to our bed
chamber as soon as we were through with dinner.  Anna looked at me, shook
her head at my lack of manners, and told them to bring Caitlyn and
Jean-Nicole with them.  My only excuse was that I had been lost in thought
all day and I was still pondering our changed circumstances.

   Anna and I dropped our loincloths beside the door as usual and the other
four did the same.  We had only one bench for sitting in our bedchamber so
the six of us crawled in the same bed alcove.  Anna and I propped against
the back wall with Iain and Caitlyn to our left and Matt and Jean-Nicole to
our right.  We all grinned while trying to work out an arrangement for six
pairs of long legs.

   "Jean-Nicole, are you going to be with Matt from now on?" Anna asked.

   "I think so," she said, smiling at him.  "If he'll have me."

   Matt smiled back at her and nodded.  "I will, if you'll have me."

   "Well, Jean-Nicole, your duties have just expanded," I said.  "In
addition to your cooking and nursing work, you're now part of the
leadership council.  There can be only one leader but I need advice from
others.  Please help keep me on the right track."

   She nodded and I began.

   "First of all, Brian presents us with a new problem.  He's already
started into puberty and that makes a young kid horny as hell all the time.
I can speak with authority on that."

   "Why is it a problem?" Jean-Nicole asked.  "Let us help him with that.
He's cute as a button and I'm sure all the females will be glad to lend him
a hand.  Maybe a mouth and a pussy too.  I volunteer."

   "I'll be glad to help with that," Anna said.  "He is a cute little kid.
I volunteer too."

   "Well, I volunteer too but I want him first," Caitlyn said and giggled.

   "No, he's mine." Jean-Nicole said and laughed.

   "Girls!" I said and waited until they stopped giggling.

   "Yes but his circumstances are different," I said.  "He's still got a
parent for guidance in growing up.  Anna and I sort of adopted Pyotr and
Petra because they had nobody.  When Brian's father comes, I don't want him
angry because of how we've treated his son.  What's he going to say if he
sends his virginal son here and then, when he comes, finds his son has
already had sex with six women?"

   "Why should he be angry?" Caitlyn asked.  "How do we know he's
virginal?"

   "I may be the leader of this group and I may rely on others to guide me
but there's one relationship I do not want to change.  That's the
relationship of parents and children.  I want a father and mother to assume
the responsibility for guiding and teaching their children, especially
about sex.  We should accept their parental authority even if they make
mistakes occasionally."

   "But his father's not here yet and won't be for a couple of months,"
Matt said.  "The rest of us are OK with what we do about sex.  Let's just
include him.  I know what it was like at his age too.  I had a perpetual
hard-on.  I could beat off before breakfast and my dick was hard again by
mid-morning."

   "Look, we set customs with almost everything we do," I said.  "Brian's
twin sister is coming next.  What would her father say if he finds she's
already had sex with six guys, maybe seven if Brian does it too?"

   "David, if Brian's father was worried about that, why would he send his
children first?" Jean-Nicole said.  "He could have come first and the
children could have come later.  I think he trusts us to do our best with
them.  If they want to have sex, we should allow them to participate with
us and teach them to do it lovingly."

   "Anna, what do you think?" I asked.

   "I agree with Jean-Nicole.  If the kids want sex, we should let them
enjoy it and teach them to do it with love," she said.  "If Brianne doesn't
want to do it yet, none of the guys will bother her.  She will be safe with
us."

   "When she sees her brother fucking like a rabbit, how's she going to
feel?" Caitlyn asked.  "Especially if everybody else is doing it too?"

   "I'll talk to her and make sure she knows she doesn't have to do
anything unless she wants to," Anna said.  "I'll play momma for a while."

   "That's another thing we've got to think about," I said.  "Brian didn't
seem too traumatized by the death of his mother but I suspect he's just
trying to be a brave young man and put on a good face.  We've all got to
help them with that until their father arrives."

   "David, we all agree with you that we want to emphasize love in our
colony," Iain said.  "Trust us.  We'll all be very careful with the kids
until their father gets here."

   "I think they may have been chosen because they're a perfect fit for
what we need," Anna said.  "Pyotr and Petra may be sleeping together but we
know they don't consider themselves a permanent pair.  They both want to
have different mates.  Brian and Brianne seem like a perfect match for
Petra and Pyotr.  Maybe that's why they were chosen."

   "Well, what about the father?" I asked.  "If his wife was killed two
months ago, I don't imagine he's ready to have a new one.  He'll be the
oldest guy here and we don't have anybody for him."

   "Not yet, anyway," Matt said.  "Maybe they'll send someone else, maybe
from our old world, to be his mate.  They want us to mix our DNA together.
That would match three couples from different universes together."

   "Four if we count me and Caitlyn," Iain said.

   "Five if Renée stays with Toby," Jean-Nicole said.

   "And until a mate arrives for Brian's father, the women here can keep
him sexually satisfied," Caitlyn said.  "I don't think any of us are likely
to fall in love with him."

   I decided to close that topic.  "So do we all agree that we let the new
twins enjoy sex if they wish and just try to guide them and let somebody
else worry about a mate for the father?"

   I looked around and got nods from everybody.

   "OK, now how shall we proceed?" I asked.  "I mean, who's going to get
Brian's cherry, if he still has one?  Seriously, now."

   "I think we should do like we've done with Renée and Matt," Jean Nicole
said.  "Let him have sex with all the women, one at a time.  Start with
Anna, then Caitlyn, then me, Sam, Renée, and finally Petra.  Maybe he won't
wear his little dick out in a month or so."

   "I agree," Caitlyn said, "but I'd like to make a suggestion.  I think
it's time to let Matt and Jean-Nicole play with David and Anna.  Iain and I
played with them a few nights ago.  They could let Brian play too.  We
could kill two birds with one stone, so to speak.  And his dick's not so
little.  It's already big enough to satisfy a woman."

   I looked at Anna.  She smiled and nodded.  "It was fun, wasn't it, the
four of us together?  With Brian, Jean-Nicole and I would have to take on
three guys in one night and I've never done that.  Jean-Nicole, would you
and Matt like to play with me and David, with Brian sort of like whipped
cream on a cherry for dessert?"

   Jean-Nicole giggled and looked at Matt.  He nodded to her.  She nodded
to Anna.

   "Yeah, let Brian do both of you first while Matt and I wait and watch,"
I said.  "I'm a voyeur and that would be better than a porn movie."

   Anna grinned and said, "Well, I don't mind being a porn star just as
long as you guys don't jerk off in my face after you fuck me.  I'm not
going to stick my tongue out and try to catch it."

   "I second that," Caitlyn said.

   "I third it," Jean-Nicole said.  "Maybe I'll let Brian do it.  I'll bet
his semen will taste as sweet as sugar."

   "OK.  Next topic," I said.  "I want somebody to take on the job of
preparing our first communications back to wherever.  I think there ought
to be two missiles sent.  One would be pictures and information about all
of us here, including a history.  Aimee, can you give us a listing of the
major events such as marriages and killing the bear and stuff like that?"

   "Yes, David," she answered, "I can give the one who prepares the missile
a great deal of information about all of you.  Preserving your history is
one of my responsibilities."

   "Iain and Caitlyn, would you accept that job?"

   Iain nodded and looked at Caitlyn.  She nodded.

   "Good.  Second topic.  We need to consider carefully what we want sent
to us in supplies and tools and things like that, not food.  Matt, would
you and Jean-Nicole assemble a list for the six of us to review.  Ask
everybody what they really want or need.  We should request important stuff
in our first shipment, not toys."

   Matt nodded and looked at Jean-Nicole.  She smiled and nodded too.

   "I'd like to make up a list of food and spices too," she said.  "There
are certain things I miss in cooking.  We can leave it up to them as to
when they send it."

   "Can you give us an example of what's important, David?" Matt asked.

   "Sure.  I want us to build our first outpost before the summer is over,
a log cabin near the isthmus.  There are stands of pine trees there that
would be perfect.  We need the tools to do it."

   "What tools?" Matt asked.  "Aimee, remember this please."

   "Yes, Matt, I make a record of all leadership councils," Aimee said from
across the room.  "I can easily retrieve it word for word even though you
imperfect humans cannot."

   "Don't be a smart-ass, Aimee," he said.  "We're not perfect like you but
we love you anyway.  We are your friends."

   "Yes, Matt," Aimee said, contritely.  "You are my friends."

   I could almost see her, bottom lip protruding, pretending to cry.  I
loved her sense of humor.

   "I want at least six draw knives.  That's a two-handled blade used to
strip the bark off pine trees.  I want at least three cants and three
peaveys to turn logs.  I want a dozen wedges to split logs.  I want a
couple of sledge hammers.  I want six froes.  I can make the mallets.  I
want some sort of wheeled arrangement, a damn strong one, to move logs. 
The pines are growing on a reasonably level area and we need something to
move them so we don't have to drag them."

   "What's a cant?  What's a peavey?" Matt asked.  "What's a froe?"

   "A cant is a strong pole about six feet long with a hook on a blunt end.
A peavey's the same except it has a spiked end.  They're used as levers to
move logs.  A froe is an L-shaped tool with an upright handle and a knife
at the bottom.  It's used in making pine shingles."

   "David, why don't we just ask for the metal parts of all the tools?"
Matt asked.  "We can make the wooden parts ourselves.  We might ask for a
couple of big tents too.  Then some of us could spend two or three days
down there."

   "You're right.  I like those ideas, both of them.  Anna, anything you
want?"

   "Yes, I'd like to have some nursing bras before the baby comes.  I'll
need some cloth baby diapers too.  I'm sure all the females will have some
personal items they want."

   Baby?  Nursing bras?  Diapers.  I knew I had to think of her first and
other stuff later but I wondered if I was going to have to change diapers.
Maybe I could go bear hunting instead.

   "OK.  At dinner, I'll announce that Matt and Jean-Nicole are going to be
compiling a list of requests for our next shipment, all important stuff,
nothing frivolous.  Anything else?  Anybody got any questions."

   "I do, David," Jean-Nicole said.  "It's about a different subject
though."

   I looked at her and nodded.

   "Anna's told me about you and her making love and how sometimes you
become one, like you're the same person instead of two different
individuals.  Would you tell Matt and me the same thing?"

   I looked at Anna.  Would she mind if I talked about the most intimate
thing in our lives.  She nodded.

   "Sure.  First of all, you've got to totally surrender yourself to loving
the other person, not just when you're having sex but all the time.  I
don't think it can happen unless you can learn to love someone else so
deeply and completely that you feel you can't live without them.  Then it
can happen."

   I watched Matt.  His eyes were squinted and he seemed to be hanging on
to my every word.  I shifted to Jean-Nicole.  Her face was the same.

   "For me, maybe it's most likely to happen when I'm on top of Anna and
she has her arms around my chest and her legs locked around my waist with
one heel bumping me right at the crack of my ass.  We're against each
other, belly to belly, chest to breast.  She's got her pelvis tilted up a
little so I've got the maximum penetration and every centimeter of my dick
is in her pussy.  We probably couldn't get any closer together physically.
She knows the position I'm talking about."

   I paused and looked at Anna.  She nodded and smiled.

   "I've got my forearms beside Anna's chest or maybe slightly under her
back with my hands curled around her shoulders so she can't get away from
me.  My mouth is on hers and our tongues are fighting or maybe just playing
and we're sucking on the other's lips and tongue.  I think sometimes our
breathing and heart rates synchronize."

   Matt reached over and held Jean-Nicole's hand.  I reached over and held
Anna's.  I looked and saw Iain holding Caitlyn's.

   "Becoming one is a very rare experience though.  I can be moving my hips
slowly and gently or maybe really pounding her and it can happen either
way. It's almost always when we're both coming at the same time.  That's
when I feel it, like I've got a penis and a vagina both and my balls, I
mean our balls, are pumping out our sperm and our prostate is squirting
semen out and our cervix is gasping and swallowing and our penis is so deep
in her, I mean us, that the semen can't go anywhere but through her cervix
and into her womb.  That's not right because it's not my penis then, it's
ours, and there's no separate her and me.  It's not easy to describe
because there's no me, there's no her, we're one, and we've got...shit, I
can't describe it.  Separate pronouns don't work when it happens.  We're
just one and it's the best experience I've ever had.  When we separate
again, I want to cry because I want to be one with her forever."

   "Are you still recording, Aimee?" Jean-Nicole asked.

   "Yes, Jean-Nicole.  David can be quite eloquent at times."

   "Do you think we could all try it, six of us, here in your bed?" she
asked.  "I'd like to try it with Matt."

   I looked at Anna and she was smiling her approval.  I looked at Iain and
Caitlyn and they were smiling.  I nodded.

   <><><>

   The next day Brian was a charming endearing beguiling, wonderful boy,
full of life and of mischief, looking at everything, asking lots of
questions, energetic and eager, smiling and laughing and so happy that it
was infectious.  I could imagine the little girls swooning when he turned
that smile on them.

   And that was just indoors.  When we dressed and went outside, his eyes
opened even wider and he smiled enough to show all his perfect white teeth.
The rest of us just watched as he ran up and down the terraces and around
the gazebo, looked everywhere, and then looked at us and grinned his
happiness.

   Petra and Pyotr led him around and showed him everything, often holding
his hand, either one or both of them.  He almost danced with delight when
he was introduced to Lightning and his family.  Then when the chipmunks
chased Lucky, caught him, and attacked his belly, he laughed until I
thought he would bust something.

   That was in the morning.  In the afternoon, Jean-Nicole wanted to have
fresh fish for dinner so we all went down to the lake and fished, something
Brian had never done before.  He laughed and squealed every time he caught
one.  Matt and I let the others do the catching and we did the gutting and
de-heading.  The fish were all game fish and needed scaling but I usually
waited until I was home to do that.  We returned with three back-packs full
of fish, enough for perhaps five or six meals.

   The entrée for dinner that night was golden brown fried fish and with it
we had a huge bowl of hush puppies.  I watched four young boys stuff
themselves, probably eating more than I did and I had a good appetite. 
Jean-Nicole said that we were going to have a fish stew made with tomatoes
and potatoes and carrots the next night.  That was another of my favorite
meals but them anything she cooked was my favorite.

   Anna found time to talk to Petra and Pyotr and to ask them to refrain
from sex until she and I had time to talk to Brian.  Petra understood and
asked if he could at least sleep with her and Pyotr.  Anna approved as long
as they were all wearing a chemise to remove a little temptation.

   That night Anna and I went to bed with smiles after a perfect day.  We
were lying there with me spooned up to her, quietly talking, when Aimee
said that Pyotr was outside our door and wanted to talk to us.  He walked
in wearing a long chemise which came down almost to his knees.

   "David, Anna, Brian's crying and acting funny and Petra and I can't make
him stop.  He tries to talk to us and then he just chokes up and cries some
more."

   "OK, we'll try to help," I said.  "Wait just a minute.  I think Anna and
I both should put on chemises too."

   In their bedchamber Petra was still trying to hold and comfort Brian. 
She was spooned up to him, stroking his hair, and whispering to him.  He
was curled up almost in a fetal position with his eyes closed and face wet
with tears.

   "Let's all get in the bed with Brian," I said.  "Pyotr, you first,
against the back wall, Anna you next, holding Brian, me on this side with
Petra behind me.  Maybe I can tell him a story that will help."

   I helped turn Brian so that he was on his side, facing Anna, her body
against his.  I pushed him so that his chest was against her and his head
was cradled against the side of her throat.  I wanted the warmth and
softness of Anna's body to calm him while I talked.  Anna took his hand in
hers and placed it on her breast.

   "Brian, I want to tell you a story about a boy I knew.  Bad things
happened to him when he was about your age," I said.  "He's a grown man now
and he still hurts inside but he's OK."

   "I hurt inside too, David," Brian said.

   "I know.  I know why you're hurting.  And it's OK for you to cry. 
Crying helps."

   He didn't say anything.  I gently rubbed his back and shoulders.

   "Brian, he was twelve years old, an only child of parents whom he loved
deeply.  His father was an Army officer and his mother was a nurse and the
boy thought they were the best parents in the world."

   I paused for a moment and listened.  Brian was sniffing now, not crying.

   "His father went on a secret mission for the Army and some bad guys
captured him.  Then one afternoon, he and his mother saw something horrible
on television: a man being beheaded by a jihadist.  That man was his
father. Do you know what a jihadist is?"

   "Uh huh, a jihadist blew himself up in a London subway and killed a lot
of people including my mother."

   "Yes, and it hurts; doesn't it?"

   "Yeah."

   "Well, the boy was hurt so bad he couldn't cry and because he couldn't
cry he couldn't talk.  He didn't talk for about six months.  His
grandparents, the soldier's parents, took charge and tried to help the boy
and his mother recover.  After about six months, he finally was able to
talk to his grandfather.  They didn't know it but his mother was almost
driven insane by what happened and she relied on drugs and alcohol to mask
the pain.  Then one day, when the boy was fourteen, she simply disappeared
and nobody knows what happened to her after that."

   I stopped and listened again.  Brian wasn't sniffing now.  He was silent
and, I hoped, listening to me.  I saw tears in Anna's eyes.

   "Brian, the boy went to the Army Academy at seventeen and became a
soldier like his father.  He knew he had to be a man and not let something
bad done by somebody like a jihadist destroy him.  He's a grown man now."

   "Yeah, I know," Brian said.  "It's you; isn't it?"

   "Yes, Brian, that boy was me.  For years I dedicated myself to being the
best man I possibly could.  I finally got revenge for the death of my
father and mother but I don't want to talk about that tonight.  Maybe in a
few days, we can finish the story."

   "You're saying I should try to be a man and not let it destroy me;
aren't you?"

   "Yes, you should try to be the best man you possibly can.  Never forget
her.  Make her proud of you.  Always hold her precious in your heart."

   "Did you ever cry?"

   "Yes, one day a wonderful woman helped me cry."

   "Was it Anna?"

   "Yes, Brian.  Now we're all going to sleep together, the five of us,
with you in the middle.  We're all going to be your friends and love you
and you're going to learn to love us back.  Do you think you can sleep
now?"

   "Uh huh."

   "Aimee, night lights, please," I whispered, and put my arm over Brian
and my hand on Anna's shoulder.  I looked at her and saw her cheeks wet
with tears but she was smiling at me.  As the light faded, I saw Pyotr's
hand creep over and cradle Anna's breast.  Petra put her hand over my chest
and put her hand in the middle on what little chest hair I have.  She
pulled a tuft of hair and then relaxed.

   <><><>

   "David."

   I looked up.  Anna was standing in front of me, naked, a concerned look
on her face.  I suppose I had a questioning look on my face.

   "What are you doing?"

   What did she mean?  I wasn't doing anything.  I was sitting on the side
of our bed, naked, waiting for her to finish brushing her hair.  My legs
were spread to give my penis and testicles room to hang down.  My elbows
were on my knees, my hands on each side of my head.  Until she said my
name, my head had been hanging down, eyes closed.  I was waiting for her to
crawl in our bed so I could spoon up to her and be close.

   "I mean what are you thinking?"

   "About things I've done."

   "Have you done something naughty?"

   "No, just about things I've done.  We've done.  I was just wondering if
I did the right things."

   "What things?"

   "'Anna, when I saw James flat on his back after that buck gored him, I
thought for a second he might die and I couldn't bear to think that.  I
love him, Anna.  He's like a son to me.  I want him to live a long and
happy life.  He's supposed to be one of the ones who bury me someday."

   "Not for many years, I hope."

   "After we spanked him, he called me father, Anna.  Sometimes I feel like
his father, I mean, wanting the best for him, loving him, marveling at the
man he's turning into, proud of him.  Maybe we shouldn't have spanked him.
I treated him like a child."

   "We talked about that before we did it, David.  You wanted them to stop
arguing so much.  You wanted them to end their dispute without either of
them saying one was right and the other was wrong.  It worked.  Sam said he
was the most loving she'd ever seen him afterwards.  He held her and
whispered "I love you" a thousand times and then they had sex and it didn't
matter anymore who was right or wrong."

   "It was your idea."

   "Yes but you're the one who did it.  They were like newlyweds the next
morning; weren't they?"

   "Yeah, but so were we."

   "Did you really enjoy me spanking your butt?"

   "Yeah.  My hard-on didn't lie."

   "And maybe you didn't say "I love you" a thousand times but you said it
more than once."

   "Did I make the right decision about letting people from Iain's world
keep coming here?"

   "Time will tell.  I know you want to keep on being our leader.  You want
the best for all of us, to protect us and provide for us.  The technology
and knowledge from Iain's world will help us all to survive and succeed as
a colony."

   "Brian seems like another wonderful kid," I said.  "I agree with
Jean-Nicole; he's cute as a button, whatever that means.  I asked him if
he's still a virgin and he said he is.  He said he and his sister have
played with each other but their parents trusted them not to make love. 
You're going to get another little virginal boy."

   "I could let Jean-Nicole have him first," she said.  "He could have me
second."

   "Whatever.  Maybe he'll want sloppy seconds, thirds, and fourths."

   "Maybe I can still find time for you and Iain."

   "I hope so.  Would you hold me?"

   She knew what I wanted.  She moved between my knees, put her hands
behind my head, and pulled it up against her soft breasts.  I put my arms
around her with my hands resting on her soft derriere.  I loved to be held
by her, with her warm softness cradling my hardness.  It made me feel even
more loved by her.  I didn't need sex.  I needed love.

   <><><>

   James sought me out one morning after breakfast.  He wanted to go for a
walk with me, just the two of us.  The rabbit traps needed to be checked. I
told the others that James and I would do it.

   "David, what are we?" he asked, as soon as we stopped at the first trap.
There was a young male in the trap.  James held its hind legs splayed while
I split it and raked it's insides out.

   "What do you mean?" I asked.  "Help me out a little.  What's bothering
you?"

   "I don't know what to think sometimes," he said, wistfully.  "I think
about what the preacher tried to teach me, you know, that a god created us
so we could all worship him and have eternal life when we die and we would
all go to heaven and sing his praises.  If that's true, why would I want to
do that?"

   "Have you finished the list of books on religion I gave you?"

   "Yeah, some stuff I skipped because it was so stupid but I read most of
all of them.  None of them make much sense but I hate to think we're just
animals and that's all we are."

   I held the rabbit's paw out in front of him.  "What do you see?"

   He looked intently at the little paw.

   "Four little things, like maybe toes."

   "Where's its thumb?"

   He looked at the back of the leg and found a little protuberance.

   "That?"

   "Did it have a penis and testicles?"

   "Yeah, you cut them off."

   "Are you and the rabbit built on the same principles?"

   "Yeah, I guess."

   "Is Lucky built on the same principles as you?"

   "Yeah."

   "We call rabbits and dogs animals.  Why can't we call ourselves
animals?"

   "But aren't we more than just animals?"

   "We're very intelligent, James, Homo Sapiens, thinking man.  Maybe the
Latin means wise man but sometimes I don't know how wise we are."

   "What else?"

   "We're the only really bipedal primates, we depend upon language, and we
create and utilize complex tools."

   "But why?  What's it all for?"

   "Maybe that's up to you, James.  If you're looking for guidance on how
to live your life, look inside you.  You can choose whether to show love
instead of hatred, to work hard instead of sitting on your ass, to be the
best man you possibly can instead of the worst.  Maybe you can be content
with that."

   "Are you?  Content, I mean."

   "Yes.  My purpose is to love and care for all the ones who come here. 
It's to bring children into this world with a woman I love and to care and
provide for her and our children.  I can die content and satisfied with the
knowledge that I've done my best at that."

   "So you're saying my purpose is to love Sam and have children with her
and to care and provide for all of them."

   "No, James, I'm not saying that.  It's up to you to say that.  You make
the choices in your life, not me."

   "If I make the choices in my life, what if I say I want to have a last
name," he paused a moment.  "Guerrier."

   I hadn't anticipated that.

   "I'd be proud to share that name with you, James.  I wish you were my
son."

   "I would like to be your son, David.  Will you adopt me?"

   "If you wish, I would be honored to adopt you.  We'll tell everybody
else and Aimee can record the official adoption."

   "Can I...May I call you dad?"

   "Yes."

   "And you can call me son.  I'm James Guerrier from now on.  I'm your
son."

   "I hope my son with Anna grows up to be just like you."

   "I hope he's better.  Dad, what happens when we die?"

   "Son, your children will live on, and their children, and their children
and they will all wonder what's the purpose of life.  Don't ask me to tell
you.  You must decide for yourself.  Life's purpose is what you make it. 
If you decide life has no purpose, what will you do?"

   "Shit, I don't know.  Come on.  That's enough bullshit for now.  Let's
run to the next trap."

   He started to run.  I grabbed his arm and pulled him against me.  I put
my arms around him and held him close and rocked from side to side sort of
like my father used to do with me.  I started to say something but my
throat choked up and I felt tears in my eyes.  I held him and breathed
deeply a few times.

   "Thank you, James," I said.  "I wish I'd been your father all your
life."

   "Well, you weren't but you are now.  Dad, can I have a car?"

   "Yes, Son.  I'll plant you a car seed tomorrow."

   <><><>

   "Tomorrow should be clear and a little bit warmer," I said.  "Who wants
to go down to the isthmus and get some more oysters?"

   Another cold front had moved through the day before.  Today, the day
after, was cold and the wind was chilling.  The second day after, tomorrow,
I knew was usually warmer and the wind usually eased.  We had eaten the
last oysters almost a week ago.  I wanted another oyster casserole and some
raw and baked ones while we were down there.  I looked around the kitchen
and saw everyone's hands were in the air.

   "You know what to do," I said.  "Pack your backpacks tonight with a rain
cape and whatever else you want.  Tomorrow morning, dress warmly in layers.
We'll eat breakfast on the trail and then have lunch down there.  We should
be back before dinner time.  Jean-Nicole and Anna will help you get the
food you want to take.  If you need it, Matt and I will help you with
weapons.  Take a spear as usual and a bow and arrows.  Aimee will sound
reveille at four forty five and I want to hit the trail by five.  We'll eat
breakfast at dawn."

   "Brian, last time we went, we got a big pig and a little squealer,"
Petra said.  "David and Matt killed the big one.  Pyotr and I killed the
little one.  We had roast sucking pig and, yok, it was good."

   "The word is suckling, Petra, not sucking," Anna said.

   "Well, David and Matt showed us how to suck the marrow out of its
bones," she answered and giggled.

   The next morning there was still a partial moon to light the familiar
trail and we were well down the mountain before we stopped to eat.  Brian
might have been unfamiliar with what we did when we went down the mountain
but he joined in the singing anyway.  Once Petra teased him into singing
something in his first language.  I didn't understand what he was singing
but he had a beautiful boy's voice.

   Lucky accompanied us, of course, and was happy to be going somewhere. 
When Aimee opened the front door, he was the first one out and he quickly
disappeared.  James had trained him well.  He would go off by himself for a
short period and then check back with James to see that all was well.  If
James wanted him to come back, all he had to do was to give two shrill
whistles and Lucky came bounding back, tail wagging, tongue hanging out,
and smiling, if dogs can smile.

   Nobody warned Brian what would happen when we left Aimee's shield and he
was surprised when every hair on his head stood up.  The Mouseketeers
showed off by moving back and forth at the shield, giggling and laughing at
each other.

   As usual, we first scoured the beach for driftwood and then started a
fire.  Matt volunteered to lead the oyster-gathering and the four male
Mouseketeers volunteered to be in his crew.  They wanted to pitch the
oysters to the shore for the females to pick up and bring to me and Iain to
do the shucking.

   I put the first twenty or so oysters near the fire to bake, slurped down
a couple of raw ones, opened some more for whoever wanted them, gave Lucky
a few, and then sat down on a rock and started shucking in the pot.  This
time we had brought a large lidded pot from home.  I intended to tie it to
a bamboo pole so Matt and I could carry it back home.

   When I wasn't watching carefully what I did with Little Boy, I watched
the three seasoned Mouseketeer harvesters show Brian how to pry the oysters
off the rocks.  I smiled at seeing the five guys wading in the cold water:
five scrotums drawn up tight, five penises trying their best to crawl in
warm bellies, four tight hairless boy thighs and butts, one man butt,
hairless in contrast with the black hair on his thighs.  And I admired four
beautiful boys' buttocks in the process.  Their bubble butts were enough to
make a priest prey.

   Iain kept me busy most of the time handing me one oyster after another,
some so large they filled my hand and with a body inside that I wouldn't
dare to try to get in my mouth.  I ate just the smaller ones and they were
cold-weather and salt-brine delicious.  Iain and Lucky didn't turn down the
ones I offered them.

   I had the bottom of the pot covered with a couple of inches of oysters
when it happened.  Sam yelled, "Bears!" and the rest of the female crew
started yelling and screaming too.  I stood up and looked.  Lucky went
running, barking.  James quickly came ashore, whistled two times, slapped
his thigh twice, and Lucky came back and heeled beside him.

   A mama bear ambled out of the boulders followed by two very young cubs.
She seemed exhausted, head low, tongue hanging out, gasping for breath.  On
her heels, the two babies, cute little things, were sticking to her like
glue.  She wasn't foraging and I wondered why she was almost across the
isthmus.  Was she fleeing from something?

   TO BE CONTINUED: