Podcasts about Lake Superior

On today's show we talk about the 50th anniversary coming up of the loss of the Edmund Fitzgerald in Lake Superior. Plus a bit about Little Free Pantries and the sitation we're heading into with food assistance coming up short soon. Daily Detroit is supported by our members! Join us and get our new sticker sheet! https://www.patreon.com/c/DailyDetroit Feedback as always - dailydetroit -at- gmail -dot- com or leave a voicemail 313-789-3211. Follow Daily Detroit on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/daily-detroit/id1220563942 Or sign up for our newsletter: https://www.dailydetroit.com/newsletter/

An interview with author John U. Bacon about his book "The Gales Of November: The Untold Story Of The Edmund Fitzgerald." He talks about the significance of the story of the event to the Upper Midwest, the turning points over the years that could have changed history, the creation of Gordon Lightfoot's "The Wreck Of The Edmund Fitzgerald," and more.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tara is excited to chat with Canadian author David Giuliano, who lives on the north shore of Lake Superior. His storytelling has been compared to Miriam Toews and Elizabeth Strout in its emotional insight and narrative warmth. His books include The Undertaking of Billy Buffone, winner of the 2022 Bressani Prize; the bestselling Postcards from the Valley; and the cancer memoir It's Good to Be Here. His latest book is The Upending of Wendall Forbes from Latitude 46 Publishing. Reading recommendations: Aliens on the Moon by Thomas King My Friends by Fredrik Backman In Winter I Get Up at Night by Jane Urquhart https://davidgiulianoca.wordpress.com/ https://latitude46publishing.com/ https://www.instagram.com/davidwgiuliano/  

Michigan Today: The legend lives onGordon Lighfoot: The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald The Gales of November: The Untold Story of the Edmund Fitzgerald

In Kanada wanderst du dort, wo sich Bär und Biber Gute Nacht sagen - outdoor-Chefredakteur Alex Krapp spricht in der neusten Folge von "Hauptsache raus" über seine Lieblingstreks auf Vancouver Island, Paddelträume auf den großen Seen in Ontario und die besten Touren in den Nationalparks der kanadischen Rocky Mountains.

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Hear about a road trip across the North Shore of Lake Superior as the Amateur Traveler talks to David Adler about an area that he fell in love with through a summer camp. This week's show is supported by the new Smart Travel Podcast. Travel smarter — and spend less — with help from NerdWallet. Check out Smart Travel ⁠here. Why should you drive this road trip? David says, "I think what makes it really unique is that it's a place that no one really knows about. I think it stands as one of the most beautiful spots in the world that I've ever seen. The nature there is really untouched. You'll be driving, and there'll be signs that say no gas for 150 kilometers. It's very remote." David recommended road trip itinerary along the North Shore of Lake Superior (as described in the podcast transcript) begins in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, and ends in Thunder Bay, following Highway 17, part of the Lake Superior Circle Tour. Here's the detailed route he outlines: Overview Route: Sault Ste. Marie → Wawa → Marathon → Thunder Bay Highway: Ontario Highway 17 (Trans-Canada Highway) Distance: ~700 km (435 mi) Duration: 5–7 days recommended Best season: Summer (May – September) ... https://amateurtraveler.com/north-shore-of-lake-superior/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Cabin Cousins: Part 5 The Gales of November. Based on a post by NewMountain80, in 6 parts. Listen to the Podcast at Connections. "Hmm" Melissa said, her face still buried in the pillow. She shifted and turned her head, and I moved to her side with one arm and a leg still draped over so we could look into each other's eyes. "Wow. That was..." She sighed. "...Wonderful." I smiled and kissed her cheek. "I'm glad you enjoyed it as much as I did." She squinted at me. "Are you sure I'm not dreaming, and you're just a figment of my imagination?" She said playfully, though I could tell there was something serious behind the question. "I'm real, and I'm right here, in your bed, and I love you." She searched my eyes for a moment, rolled onto her side, and pulled me in close, kissing me deeply. When we stopped kissing to catch our breath, she whispered. "It's our bed, and I love you too." We held each other in silence for a long while. I knew that she had something else to say, but I didn't push her. Eventually, she broke the silence. "Do you want pancakes? I want pancakes." Not exactly the soul-baring statement I was expecting, but now that she had said it, by damn I wanted pancakes. "I'll help." I had made pancakes exactly once before, and it wasn't a complete disaster, so I felt that my inclusion in the process wouldn't be too much of a hindrance. She got a distant look in her eye, then rolled onto her back, and covered her face with her hands with a groan. "I don't have any pancake mix." She peeked at me through her fingers and we both started laughing. I'm not sure why but we both found it hilarious but we roared with laughter. I playfully pushed her towards the side of the bed. "Well, get dressed. I'll take you out for breakfast." Still laughing, she got up and opened a dresser drawer. Stepping into a pair of light blue panties, she asked. "Are you getting dressed too, or are you going to go like that?" "I'm thinking about it." I quipped, eyes following her every movement. I loved watching her move. She had a litheness and grace to her. Cat-like? No, that's not quite right. Amazonian? Maybe, but that implies a stature and bulk that Melissa didn't have. She was fit, not body builder muscular, and she wasn't particularly tall, just shy of my own five foot ten. She was perfect, and my eyes couldn't get enough of her. Let's leave it at that. "You'll give the old ladies at Perkins quite a shock." She shot back, still laughing. With an exaggerated sigh, I rolled off the bed. "For the sake of the old ladies, fine, I'll get dressed." Chapter Sixteen. The plate clinked as Melissa set down her fork. "Ugh. I ate too much, but that really hit the spot." She had attacked her "tremendous twelve" meal with murderous intent. All that remained was a scrap of crust from a piece of toast, and some maple syrup residue on an otherwise clean plate. She had even swiped a strip of bacon off of my plate, an act that left fork marks on my brother's hands on several occasions. I looked at my plate, with its pile of hash browns and a third of a stack of pancakes remaining, and set down my fork. "I guess I didn't work up as much of an appetite as you, cause I'm stuffed too." Melissa looked at me with her special smile and mischievous eyes. "Well, you'll have to try harder next time." "I need to work out more." "I can help with that." She replied, and we both giggled, knowing the truth of it. "Let's start with a walk." We left the Perkins restaurant, and with Melissa navigating, we drove north out of Duluth on Hwy 61. We pulled off and parked where a little river crossed under the road and spilled through a steep set of rocky rapids to Lake Superior below. We hiked down a little trail, and she led me out onto one of the big rocks. The scenery was spectacular, and the water rushing past the rocks had a hypnotic quality. It hadn't snowed last night, but the wind was blowing hard off the lake, and the constant mist from the rapids gave the crisp early November air some real bite. We sat for a while without speaking. Just two people holding hands, taking in the scenery and the roar of the water. There was a Gordon Lightfoot song that had something about the gales of November, how did it go? "When I left home," Melissa began, just loud enough to hear. I turned and watched her, careful to hear what she was saying over the noise of the rapids. I had been hoping for, and dreading this moment, when she decided to get the details of her past out in the open. I resolved to not interrupt and to let her tell it at her own pace. "This was the first place I went." She continued. "I didn't know where to go. I didn't have anywhere to go." She sniffed. We were alone but had someone been watching, her running nose and the tears on her cheek might have been assumed to have been caused by the cold, but I knew differently. I could see the deep down hurt that was welling up, and my heart ached. I squeezed her hand, and let her talk. "Every night for two weeks, I'd leave school, then go up the hill to the mall and sit in the food court to do my homework. When the mall closed, I came here, and parked for the night right over there." She pointed up to the little parking lot where my truck was. "I'd wake up, scrape the snow and frost off the windows, and go to school. I didn't tell anyone because then I'd have to explain why I was sleeping in a car in February. I had friends, but not close friends, you know? Like, not the kind of friends that I could talk to about..." She trailed off and wiped her nose on her jacket sleeve. "I had been lucky, it hadn't been as cold as it should have been, but then one night it got very cold. When I left the mall, I knew if I spent the night here again, I could be in serious danger. So I went to the laundromat. There was never anyone in there in the middle of the night, so I sat at one of the tables and fell asleep. The owner woke me up a couple of hours later, yelling at me that I couldn't sleep there, so I got in my car and came back here." She had been looking at the water as she spoke, but now turned and looked at me. I saw the fear and shame these memories invoked. I wanted to say something, anything to comfort her, but I knew that I should let her say what she needed to say, so I let her continue. "When I went to sleep on the back seat, I didn't think I was going to ever wake up, and I was okay with that. I didn't care that I was going to die. Nobody cared, nobody would miss me. The world would be better off without one more stupid girl. Why bother going on?" She looked away from me, east towards the vast lake, and her face twisted up in anger. "You know, the worst thing, the worst part of all of it, is they made me feel like it was all my fault. They had me so twisted up, that I believed that I was the cause of everything that happened." She turned back to me, the anger fading, leaving just a profound sadness. I wiped the tears from her cheek, and she leaned her shoulder against me. "Did your parents tell you what happened?" My throat was dry, and I swallowed hard before replying. "They were vague." She gave a little smile that was like a sunbeam on a stormy day. "I asked your mom and dad not to tell anyone. You're so lucky to have them." She looked back to the lake and spoke quietly enough that if her face had not been right next to mine, I wouldn't have been able to hear her. "When I was fifteen, when I started looking more like a woman, and less like a little girl, my dad started abusing me. Mom, she was drunk more than she was sober. She knew, she had to know, and she didn't do anything." As the River roared in its ceaseless path to Lake Superior, and the cold wind whistled and rattled through the leafless trees, Melissa spoke of abuse and divorce, lost jobs and social status, the failing of the system to help a girl who was too scared to ask for help and the blame that was assigned for all of it. "So that night, I remember when the state trooper knocked on my window." She gave a brief mirthless huff. "I thought he was an angel, with the way his flashlight lit up the frost on the inside of the window. I thought I was dead, that it was all over. I felt relieved." She shook her head. "The next thing I remember was being in a hospital bed, wrapped in electric blankets, and seeing the sunrise through the window. That trooper was there. He had stayed with me, way past the end of his shift, just to make sure I was alright. Turns out, when they went to my parent's house to see what was going on, my dad was out of town, and my mom ended up getting arrested for assaulting an officer and having a bunch of heroin. That's why she went back to him. Not for me, but for the money to buy her drugs. The trooper persuaded me to reach out to my friends. He said that people can be capable of unexpected acts of kindness, and I decided to believe him. So I called Ashley. We had always gotten along pretty well, and her parents were always super nice to me. They let me stay with them, which was really awkward at first. I just couldn't believe that a family could be so, so perfect. It was like stepping into an old sitcom. Maybe there was a little trouble now and then, but everyone loved each other, and it all worked out in the end. It was surreal, but eventually, I started believing that it was how families should be. That it was right and good, and normal." She looked me in the eyes then, and I saw her love burning through the hurt. "I didn't think that I would ever have that. I thought that there was no way I could ever open up and let someone love me, to be me, to be normal. Who could want me? Then your parents invited me back to the cabin, and I grasped onto a foolish hope that maybe you could. Ever since it's just been, It just doesn't seem real. Charles, I know you love me, but I'm still so afraid." I silenced her with a quick kiss on the lips. I held her cold, rosy cheeks in my hands and looked her in the eyes. "None of what happened was your fault. You deserve to be happy. You deserve to be loved. I love you, I will always love you. Nothing in the past, present, or future will stop me from loving you until the end of time, and when we're both gone from this world, I'll find you in the next and keep loving you!" Fresh tears streamed down her face, not tears of remembered pain, but tears of joyful love. She threw her arms around me and we held each other tight. Overhead, a hawk called, adding its little part to the scene of wind, water, and young lovers. Chapter Seventeen. Getting in my truck and leaving Duluth that evening was the hardest thing I had ever done. The only thing that gave me the strength to leave was the knowledge that it was only temporary. Soon, very soon, I would never have to leave her again. When I got home, Mom was at the kitchen table reading a newspaper. She greeted me with a smile. I had to be very careful with how I was going to handle this conversation. I didn't want to lie to my mom, but I also didn't want to tell her the whole truth. "How was your weekend? I didn't get a call from the cops, so it couldn't have been too exciting." "I was the cop! We went to a Halloween party dressed as the Village People." "Fun!" Mom exclaimed, giving me a beaming smile. "Yeah, and something else happened. Do you know how I can get my employee discount at any store? Well, we stopped at one of the stores in Duluth, and I ended up talking with the yard manager. They've been having trouble finding someone competent to drive a forklift, and if I transferred up there, they'd give me a raise and make me an assistant manager. He said I could start working up there in two weeks." All of these individual facts were technically true, but it still felt like lying. "Good for you! It's great to have in-demand skills. That's a long way to drive though." "Yeah, it would be like, five hours of driving every day." "Did you look into getting an apartment up there?" Mom folded up the newspaper and gave me her undivided attention. "After the school year starts, there's literally nothing cheap available." "Where would you stay then?" She asked, looking concerned. "Well, on the way home, I was thinking about who I know that lives up there. Rob lives in a dorm, so I couldn't get away with staying there long-term. But then I remembered that Melissa lives in Duluth, I could maybe call her and see if she wants a roommate." Okay, this last bit was a lie. I didn't feel good about it, but it had to be done. "Our Melissa? Have you called her yet?" "Not yet. I'm pretty sure I have her number in my phone." "You should figure this out sooner rather than later." She looked at the clock. "It's not too late, give her a call now." I made a show of finding Melissa's number as if I hadn't memorized it weeks ago. Melissa and I had rehearsed this moment. I had the volume on my phone turned way up, so my mom was sure to hear Melissa's side of the conversation too. "Hello?" Melissa's angelic voice asked after three rings. "Hi Melissa, it's Charles." "Charles! It's good to hear from you! What's up?" "Well, I'm going to be transferring up there for work, and I was wondering if you would mind having me as a roommate until I found a place of my own." Another necessary lie. "Yeah, I guess that would be okay. You're not going to find anywhere else to stay until the end of the school year. Even then, I was lucky to get this place, this spring." "So, you're okay with me staying with you?" "Yeah, it'll be fun. Like staying at the cabin, but I don't think my landlord would approve of campfires." "I'll pay half the rent, and utilities, and everything." "Naturally," Melissa said. "I was going to ask one of my friends if they wanted to move in. Only paying half the rent will make saving for school a lot easier." "Cool. So, I guess I'll give you a call tomorrow, and we can figure out the details?" "Yeah, okay." "I'm talking with my mom right now, so I should probably let you go." "Hi Mom!" Melissa yelled. "Hi, Melissa," Mom replied, loud enough to be sure that the phone picked it up. "Talk to you tomorrow, bye!" Melissa said, much quieter this time. "Bye." I had to be very careful not to reflexively say I love you. I put my phone away and noticed that my mom was studying me with a funny little smile on her face. Then in the most casual tone, she asked. "So, does she love you as much as you love her?" My heart nearly stopped. I couldn't respond. "That was a lovely charade. Unnecessary, but lovely." I couldn't speak. My brain frantically searched for words but found only shocked silence. "Oh, honey." She began, in a soothing motherly voice. "You're my baby. Did you think I wouldn't know? It was plain to see at the cabin that you two are in love. You spent the weekend with her?" I forced myself to reply. "Yes," I said, fearing that it was all over. I felt like crying. "Good," Mom said simply. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Mom knew about me and Melissa, and she was... Happy for me? "So, you're not mad about us?" "Oh, Charles. Love is so precious. It doesn't matter where you find it, but when you do, you hold on with both hands and never let go." My tears came then, flowing hard as I released all my pent-up fears and anxiety. Mom held me as I cried on her shoulder. She gently rubbed my back like she used to do when I was a kid. When my crying subsided, she held my shoulders at arm's length. "Now, tell me about her." I did. In the conversation that followed, I was more honest and open about my feelings than I could remember being to anyone other than Melissa. I explained how we knew what each other was thinking or feeling, just by looking into each other's eyes. I told her how I wanted to improve myself, to be a better person for Melissa. And, looking back on it with a touch of horror, I did my best to explain the connection I felt with Melissa when we made love. Throughout it all, my mother was nothing but caring and understanding. After all the fear of this moment, it was surreal. It felt so good, so liberating to tell her how I felt about Melissa. When I was done, I asked Mom. "Does Dad know?" "Oh, I doubt he picked up on it." "Are you going to tell him?" Of all the people in the family, I was sure that Dad would be the least likely to accept. He had always been very traditional. Kind and gentle, but with a very strict moral compass. "Of course. He's my husband. The way you feel about Melissa, I feel about him." She hugged me again. "Don't be ashamed. Love her with all your heart, and everything else will work itself out." She kissed me on the cheek and told me that she loved me. I told her that I loved her too, and said goodnight. I went to my bedroom, shut the door, and called Melissa. "What's up?" She answered. "I didn't think I'd hear from you until tomorrow." Deciding to just be direct about it, I said. "My mother has officially given us her blessing." The line was silent as Melissa processed this. When she spoke, I could tell that she was crying. "How did she find out?" She asked. I recounted the whole conversation. "See? I told you your mom was the best." "She really is." "So, what now?" She asked, with a bit of anxiety. "She said that she had to tell everyone because it's better to have it out in the open than have to keep lying to the family. I agreed." After a short pause, Melissa said. "Me too." As it turns out, my family's reaction was both better than I had feared and worse than I had hoped. My parents had called a family meeting and all of my immediate family, and their spouses, showed up. There were those like my mom, and my brother Mark, who were supportive and genuinely happy for me. On the other end of things, there were people like my second older brother, Stephen, and his wife, who were disgusted and called me a pervert. Most were somewhere in the middle, either not understanding and being polite about it, or just ambivalent to the whole issue. Then there was my dad. He just sat there the whole time, with a frown on his face, and never spoke a word. I couldn't tell if he was ashamed, or angry, or what, and it tore me up inside. He had never in his life been shy about voicing his opinion. After my mom, he was who I needed acceptance from the most. I desperately wanted him to say something, anything, but he never did. His silence cut deeper than any insult or accusation ever could. At the beginning, and with prompting from my mom, I had stood before everyone, confessing Melissa's and my love for each other, and that I was moving out to live with her in Duluth. After the initial shock and spectrum of reactions, I sat down and answered questions. Now, not being able to bear my father's silence any longer, I stood again, interrupting several side conversations. I addressed the whole group, but my words were meant for my father more than anyone. "Melissa and I truly love each other. Nothing you do or say can change it. Accept it, accept us, or don't. I don't care." Dad didn't react, didn't even look me in the eyes. I rushed to my room and locked the door. I curled up on my bed and cried, harder than I could remember ever crying before. The stress of the family meeting and my dad's non-reaction had utterly destroyed me. I held a pillow over my head to muffle the sounds of my uncontrollable sobs, and to hide my face from the world. "What if they're right about you?" A part of my mind asked. "What if you're just a sicko. That's what they all think." "No! I really do love her!" Another part of my mind answered. "What kind of weirdo falls in love with his cousin? What kind of deviant fucks someone in his own family?" "No! Our love is pure and perfect!" "Yeah, perfect. The perfect fantasy of a clinically twisted pervert! You're just taking advantage of a poor broken girl." "No..." I moaned aloud, holding my head in my hands. Sometime after, someone knocked lightly on my bedroom door. I ignored it, lost as I was in terrible contradictory thoughts. The knock came again, and I heard my mom's voice. "Charles, honey. Can I come in?" I didn't respond, knowing that right then I couldn't bear to face anyone, even my mother. "Oh, my baby." She said through the door. "All I want is for you to be happy. Follow your heart, everything will work out. I love you." Her words quieted the thoughts whirling through my mind, and though my sobs faded, the tears continued to flow. I was exhausted, physically and emotionally. I closed my eyes and imagined Melissa lying next to me. I thought about how if she were here, she would comfort me, and wipe the tears from my face. I could see her so clearly in my mind, see how her icy blue eyes would pour her inexhaustible love into me. Soon, my tears stopped flowing, and I regained a sense of peace. I felt awful for doubting myself, for doubting Melissa, if even for a moment. Our love is right. It is pure and perfect. She made me complete, as I made her complete. I drifted off to sleep, with a smile on my face, thinking about Melissa, and dreaming about the future. Chapter Eighteen. Charles copes with changes, but the biggest is yet to happen. The armrests of the padded chair where I was seated were a little too high to be comfortable, so I kept my hands folded in my lap. I gazed at the paintings of calm rural scenes hung on the walls of the spacious office. I wondered absently if they were real places or just the artist's impression of idyllic country life. I glanced at the woman in the matching chair positioned across from me. She was patiently waiting for me to continue my story, with an encouraging expression on her face. "I moved my things into Melissa's apartment a few days later and spent the night with her a couple of times when I had the day off. After the two weeks were up, I started work at the Duluth store and lived with her from then on. I think the only word to describe the years that followed is heavenly. I wouldn't have changed a single thing." "Tell me more about how your family reacted," said the woman, Dr. Clarke. "Did your father and brother ever come around?" "Dad? Yeah, he just needed a little time to process it. After that, he was as good with it as Mom was. The thing with him was, years before, before anyone knew what had been going on with Melissa's dad, he'd known that something was wrong. I'm not sure how, but he knew. After Melissa left home, he would call and check in on her. He paid to have her car fixed and even paid the deposit on her apartment. He always went out of his way to make her feel like she had people that cared. I think he loved her as if she were his own daughter, so the whole thing with the two of us was kind of a shock. When Melissa and I went to my parent's place for Thanksgiving, later that month; and he saw firsthand how happy she was, it wasn't an issue." "And your brother, Stephen?" Dr. Clarke prompted. "That same Thanksgiving, I ended up knocking him down with a punch to the face. He said that Melissa's family were all degenerates and that Melissa was just bringing that degeneracy to our family now. That was the last time I ever saw him." I forced my clenched fists to relax and laid my palms flat on my thighs. "Have you ever thought about reaching out to him? People can change a lot in twenty-four years." "No," I said firmly. "It was his choice to ostracize himself from our family, and I want nothing to do with someone capable of being so deliberately malicious. He knew that she was just beginning to heal the trauma that had been done to her; and had said what he did, specifically to hurt her. Someone capable of doing that will always be capable of doing it." "You might be surprised by how much people can change," She said, as she scribbled a few lines in her notepad. "Maybe," I said, brows furrowing. Those words had made their way into Melissa's nightmares. My fists clenched again, as I remembered all the times I was awoken in the middle of the night by her sobs. I remembered how helpless I felt, being able to do nothing but console her; and hold her until she fell back asleep. My knuckles were white, and my fists trembled slightly. I saw Dr. Clarke glance down at my hands, but she did not indicate what she was thinking. Therapists must make superb poker players. "Some things just can't be forgiven," I said quietly, forcing my hands to relax. "Again, you might be surprised. We can talk more about that next week." She set aside her notepad and glanced up at the clock on the wall behind me. "Now close your eyes, and concentrate on your breathing. Take a slow deep breath, imagining all your negative emotions as a tangible thing. Now breathe out slowly as all those emotions evaporate and exit your body like smoke. Again, deep inhale, and out. Good. Feel your mind become still as your breath carries away the pain. Once more, in, and out. Good." For some reason, this technique worked for me. If left alone, my thoughts naturally gravitated to the bad memories, and each one brought two more with it until I became overwhelmed. I would become mentally gridlocked to the point of not being able to function in everyday life. "When I say the word joy, what is the first thing that pops into your mind?" My eyes were still closed, and I smiled. "Melissa's face when she first saw me that October weekend reunion, at the cabin." "Good. Keep up your breathing exercise. All the pain is gone, only the joy remains. Describe the scene for me. What else do you see? What do you smell and hear?" A single tear rolled down my cheek. I'm not sure why I started to cry, whether it was joy in the image of her, so happy and full of promise for the future, or sorrow because that future is gone. I would never again see her smile. "Sunbeams cut down through the trees, lighting up smoke drifting from the fire pit. She passes through one, and her hair glows like golden fire. I smell the white pines, strong in the soft breeze, and the smell of burning oak. A loon call echoes up from the lake, and all around the cabin yard, there is the quiet burble of conversations and laughter." I wiped the tears from my face with a flannel shirt sleeve and looked away from Dr. Clarke. I still felt embarrassed to cry in front of another person. "That sounds lovely. Hold on to that moment, use it as a refuge." She glanced at the clock again and stood. I stood as well, taking a tissue from the box on the coffee table to dry my eyes. She walked me to her office door. "Thank you for sharing today, Charles. I think you are doing very well." As she opened the door, she asked. "Have you gone to the aromatherapy shop we talked about last week?" "No," I said dejectedly. "I was going to, but..." I had meant to go, but sometimes certain things were just impossible to make myself do. Going into an unfamiliar place and talking to a stranger was one of those things. Sometimes I could, sometimes I couldn't. This hadn't been a particularly good week, and the thought of talking to someone new, someone who would ask questions about why I was there, questions that would bring up painful memories, was simply unthinkable. Yesterday, I had made it all the way to my car and had the key in the ignition, but then I just sat there, unable to make myself go through with it. "That's ok." Said Dr. Clarke. I knew she knew why I didn't go, and I had gotten to the point where I felt safe sharing my feelings with her, but I couldn't help but feel a sense of shame. "Addy is very good at what she does, and she has helped many of my clients. She's a friend." I nodded and started moving through the doorway. Ending conversations always seemed so awkward. I never knew what to say. "Thank you for being so open today, Charles. See you again next week." She was looking at my eyes, and I met her gaze briefly before looking away. In recent years, I had become very uncomfortable making anything more than the briefest of eye contact with people, especially women, so I was usually at a huge disadvantage when it came to reading people's motivations and emotions. In that brief glimpse though, I caught the impression of empathy and a real desire to help. It felt really good to know that someone cared. I gave her a genuine smile and left. I left her office with the intention of going directly to the shop she had recommended, but by the time I was in my car, I just... couldn't. This is what my life had become. I could go from being on the verge of drowning in a sea of sorrow to feeling positive and optimistic in an instant, then back just as fast. But mostly, it was what I called 'the gray'. I am self-aware enough to understand how it began. Instead of dealing with certain traumatic events, my brain decided that it was easier and far less painful, just to push them aside. The problem is, that those things don't just go away. No matter how hard you push them down, they keep bubbling back up, and you end up pushing everything away in the effort. Then one day you realize that living in the gray was the only way to survive because every little bit of emotion, good or bad, could open the gates and let all the pain come rushing in. I had pushed everything and everyone aside for the sake of self-preservation, and it was killing me. I knew I needed help. I knew that the person I was, wasn't really me. The problem was, I had been in the gray so long, that I couldn't remember how it was before, not really. I knew that I had been happy once, that I had hopes and dreams. But that was all gone, lost in the gray. Chapter Nineteen. The next day turned out to be one of the good ones. I was able to get myself out of bed, dressed, and in the car. I decided that I would finally make it to this aromatherapy shop Dr. Clarke wanted me to go to. I turned the key in the ignition, and my geriatric Honda Civic purred to life. I quickly released the emergency brake and shifted into reverse. I backed out of my parking spot with a sigh. There, I did it. The hard part was over, and now that I had started the task, it would be easier to go through with it. Don't ask me why that makes sense, I wouldn't know how to even start explaining. I enjoyed my drive across town. It was a beautiful day in Duluth. Down near Lake Superior, it was a little breezy and a comfortable 65 degrees, perfect for driving with the windows down. Climbing the hill on 194, the farther I got away from the lake, the hotter it got. By the time I got to the shop, it was nearly 80 degrees, and I had begun to sweat. A typical July day in the Twin Ports. I've always said, that this was one of the things I loved most about living in Duluth. It could be hot as hell up on top of the hill, but if the wind was right, it was always cool near the lake. I shut the car off and set the E brake. I wiped a bit of sweat off my brow, and it occurred to me that I was wearing the same clothes I wore yesterday and that I hadn't showered. Hit with a sudden wave of shame and embarrassment about meeting someone new in this state, I almost just left to go back home. With an effort of willpower, I opened the car door and stepped out. Task begun. I walked in and was greeted by a smiling older lady that I assumed was Addy. "Hi, um, Dr. Clarke sent me." Addy's smile widened. "Oh, come in, come in. I'm Addy." "I'm Charles," I replied, meeting her eyes for the briefest moment. "Pleased to meet you, Charles. How is Rose doing these days?" Dr. Clarke's first name was Virginia. She had grown up in Virginia, Minnesota, and I think she was still annoyed by her unimaginative parents, because she liked to use her middle name, Rose. I almost exclusively used 'Dr. Clarke' when speaking with or about her. "I've been seeing her for a couple of months now. She's nice." I never seemed to know how to answer questions like that. I grimaced inwardly at my awkwardness. "She's a sweetheart, and good at her job. I saw her for years." She led me over to a glass counter filled with hundreds of small labeled bottles. "So, are we looking for something to help you relax?" "Something to help me remember." I paused briefly, trying to find the right words. "Well, remembering isn't the issue." I felt a rush of awkwardness and a little bit of embarrassment in talking about something so personal with a stranger. My cheeks flushed, and I looked at the bottles in the case to ensure I didn't accidentally make eye contact. "I want to be able to focus on just the one thing." "Tell me about it." I closed my eyes and took a few deep breaths. "There's smoke from the campfire, mostly oak. Maybe a tiny bit of something acrid, like someone had thrown a plastic plate in the fire." As I spoke, I could hear Addy selecting a few bottles from a rack within the display case. "Pine trees. Even with the smoke, the pines smell strong." "Spruce?" Addy asked politely. "No, White Pine. The needles and sap are everywhere." "Anything else?" I took another deep breath but didn't reply. "Sometimes there's things around us that have a scent, but we're either too used to it, or its faint enough that we don't remember without smelling it. What else was there? Is this a campground?" Addy asked in what I recognized as being in a deliberately unobtrusive way. "It's a cabin," I replied, searching the mental image for things that may have a scent. "It's an old log cabin, surrounded by white pines. There's a log pile. My brother had been using the chainsaw earlier. My truck is parked in the driveway, it smells like gas because the tank leaks a little bit. Someone had mowed the little patch of grass in front of the cabin." "Is there anyone there, wearing perfume or aftershave?" I nodded my head in the affirmative. Addy gave me time to answer. "She..." I struggled to find words to describe Melissa's scent. How do you describe such a thing to someone? How do you describe a sunset to a blind person, or describe to a deaf person the emotions evoked by the Moonlight Sonata? She smelled like love, and I still smell her on the clothes I keep in her dresser. "You know how strawberry plants don't smell like strawberry? Not like the fake strawberry candy scent?" Of course, she did, but I went on. "A strawberry blossom. Delicate, faint, with just the promise of sweetness." "She was someone special," Addy said, in more of a statement than a question. "I ended up marrying her. She;" A tear rolled down my cheek. "Nine years ago;" I just couldn't force the words out of my mouth. I could tell Addy the exact date and time. I could tell her that we had just gone to see The Martian in the movie theater and that the night was clear and cool after the late August thunderstorm earlier that afternoon. I could tell her what song was playing on the radio. I could tell her the look on Melissa's face when the headlights crossed through the median in front of us. What I couldn't say, was physically unable to, was that nine years ago, Melissa died. "It's okay, dear," Addy said. She had a grandmotherly voice, full of kindness and understanding. For the briefest of moments, the power of that gentle voice made me believe that yes, everything would be okay. "Give me a few minutes, and I'll have something for you to try." I nodded and wandered away from the counter, absently browsing the candles and incense as I tried to compose myself. As I looked through the shop it occurred to me how posh the place seemed. High-dollar products are meant to be sold to people who have the luxury of ignoring price tags. I did not have that luxury. I felt anxiety and a general shame of the complete fuck up I had become. If this costs more than about forty dollars, I wouldn't be able to afford groceries this week. "Charles, it's ready," Addy called from the other side of the store. I walked over and closed my eyes as she extended a small glass bottle filled with clear liquid. I breathed deeply and conjured the scene in my mind. The scent of Addy's mixture hit me like a lightning bolt. It was like reading a book in the dark, and then someone turned on the lights. Everything came into sharp focus like I was there. The smoke, the pines, and, My breath caught in my throat. Buried deep within the mix there was something light, something so tenuous you hardly knew it was there. It was Melissa. In my mind, she threw herself into my arms, and I could smell her. I could smell her. "How?" I asked, looking her in the eyes for the first time since my initial glance. Addy smiled warmly, and I could see genuine care in her face, not just the politeness of a shop owner to a customer. "If she had been wearing perfume, it would have been harder. We remember scents much better than we think we do. Sometimes all we need is a little hint, and it's brought right to the front." Dr. Clarke was right, Addy was good. "Your idea about the strawberry flowers was good. They're very faint and don't smell like much at all, definitely not strawberries. But when you know that you have strawberry flowers, and you smell them, your brain brings up the memory of strawberries. Scents are all connected in our minds, and are rooted deep down at the very foundation of memory." Addy put a rubber stopper in the bottle and carefully placed the bottle in a velvet pouch with her shop's logo on it. She held it out for me to take. A tear dripped off my jaw, and I quickly wiped my face on a sleeve. "How much?" I started to ask, again acutely aware of my wrinkled clothes, my general lack of personal hygiene, and the depressingly small balance of my bank account. Addy cut me off with a raised hand. "Rose is a friend of mine, and any friend of hers is also a friend of mine." She pushed the velvet bag into my hands. "No, I can't;" Addy stopped me again. "Most of my clients just want something that smells nice in their bathroom, or to cover the smell of weed. I'm perfectly happy to take their money." She placed her hands on mine, still clutching the velvet bag. "It's very rare that I get to help someone. Take it as a gift, with my thanks." I was speechless, and fresh tears rolled down my face. I couldn't remember the last time someone was so altruistically kind to me. "Thank you." Was all I could say. To be continued in part 6. Based on a post by NewMountain80, in 6 parts, for Literotica.

Cabin Cousins: Part 5 The Gales of November. Based on a post by NewMountain80, in 6 parts. Listen to the Podcast at Connections. "Hmm" Melissa said, her face still buried in the pillow. She shifted and turned her head, and I moved to her side with one arm and a leg still draped over so we could look into each other's eyes. "Wow. That was..." She sighed. "...Wonderful." I smiled and kissed her cheek. "I'm glad you enjoyed it as much as I did." She squinted at me. "Are you sure I'm not dreaming, and you're just a figment of my imagination?" She said playfully, though I could tell there was something serious behind the question. "I'm real, and I'm right here, in your bed, and I love you." She searched my eyes for a moment, rolled onto her side, and pulled me in close, kissing me deeply. When we stopped kissing to catch our breath, she whispered. "It's our bed, and I love you too." We held each other in silence for a long while. I knew that she had something else to say, but I didn't push her. Eventually, she broke the silence. "Do you want pancakes? I want pancakes." Not exactly the soul-baring statement I was expecting, but now that she had said it, by damn I wanted pancakes. "I'll help." I had made pancakes exactly once before, and it wasn't a complete disaster, so I felt that my inclusion in the process wouldn't be too much of a hindrance. She got a distant look in her eye, then rolled onto her back, and covered her face with her hands with a groan. "I don't have any pancake mix." She peeked at me through her fingers and we both started laughing. I'm not sure why but we both found it hilarious but we roared with laughter. I playfully pushed her towards the side of the bed. "Well, get dressed. I'll take you out for breakfast." Still laughing, she got up and opened a dresser drawer. Stepping into a pair of light blue panties, she asked. "Are you getting dressed too, or are you going to go like that?" "I'm thinking about it." I quipped, eyes following her every movement. I loved watching her move. She had a litheness and grace to her. Cat-like? No, that's not quite right. Amazonian? Maybe, but that implies a stature and bulk that Melissa didn't have. She was fit, not body builder muscular, and she wasn't particularly tall, just shy of my own five foot ten. She was perfect, and my eyes couldn't get enough of her. Let's leave it at that. "You'll give the old ladies at Perkins quite a shock." She shot back, still laughing. With an exaggerated sigh, I rolled off the bed. "For the sake of the old ladies, fine, I'll get dressed." Chapter Sixteen. The plate clinked as Melissa set down her fork. "Ugh. I ate too much, but that really hit the spot." She had attacked her "tremendous twelve" meal with murderous intent. All that remained was a scrap of crust from a piece of toast, and some maple syrup residue on an otherwise clean plate. She had even swiped a strip of bacon off of my plate, an act that left fork marks on my brother's hands on several occasions. I looked at my plate, with its pile of hash browns and a third of a stack of pancakes remaining, and set down my fork. "I guess I didn't work up as much of an appetite as you, cause I'm stuffed too." Melissa looked at me with her special smile and mischievous eyes. "Well, you'll have to try harder next time." "I need to work out more." "I can help with that." She replied, and we both giggled, knowing the truth of it. "Let's start with a walk." We left the Perkins restaurant, and with Melissa navigating, we drove north out of Duluth on Hwy 61. We pulled off and parked where a little river crossed under the road and spilled through a steep set of rocky rapids to Lake Superior below. We hiked down a little trail, and she led me out onto one of the big rocks. The scenery was spectacular, and the water rushing past the rocks had a hypnotic quality. It hadn't snowed last night, but the wind was blowing hard off the lake, and the constant mist from the rapids gave the crisp early November air some real bite. We sat for a while without speaking. Just two people holding hands, taking in the scenery and the roar of the water. There was a Gordon Lightfoot song that had something about the gales of November, how did it go? "When I left home," Melissa began, just loud enough to hear. I turned and watched her, careful to hear what she was saying over the noise of the rapids. I had been hoping for, and dreading this moment, when she decided to get the details of her past out in the open. I resolved to not interrupt and to let her tell it at her own pace. "This was the first place I went." She continued. "I didn't know where to go. I didn't have anywhere to go." She sniffed. We were alone but had someone been watching, her running nose and the tears on her cheek might have been assumed to have been caused by the cold, but I knew differently. I could see the deep down hurt that was welling up, and my heart ached. I squeezed her hand, and let her talk. "Every night for two weeks, I'd leave school, then go up the hill to the mall and sit in the food court to do my homework. When the mall closed, I came here, and parked for the night right over there." She pointed up to the little parking lot where my truck was. "I'd wake up, scrape the snow and frost off the windows, and go to school. I didn't tell anyone because then I'd have to explain why I was sleeping in a car in February. I had friends, but not close friends, you know? Like, not the kind of friends that I could talk to about..." She trailed off and wiped her nose on her jacket sleeve. "I had been lucky, it hadn't been as cold as it should have been, but then one night it got very cold. When I left the mall, I knew if I spent the night here again, I could be in serious danger. So I went to the laundromat. There was never anyone in there in the middle of the night, so I sat at one of the tables and fell asleep. The owner woke me up a couple of hours later, yelling at me that I couldn't sleep there, so I got in my car and came back here." She had been looking at the water as she spoke, but now turned and looked at me. I saw the fear and shame these memories invoked. I wanted to say something, anything to comfort her, but I knew that I should let her say what she needed to say, so I let her continue. "When I went to sleep on the back seat, I didn't think I was going to ever wake up, and I was okay with that. I didn't care that I was going to die. Nobody cared, nobody would miss me. The world would be better off without one more stupid girl. Why bother going on?" She looked away from me, east towards the vast lake, and her face twisted up in anger. "You know, the worst thing, the worst part of all of it, is they made me feel like it was all my fault. They had me so twisted up, that I believed that I was the cause of everything that happened." She turned back to me, the anger fading, leaving just a profound sadness. I wiped the tears from her cheek, and she leaned her shoulder against me. "Did your parents tell you what happened?" My throat was dry, and I swallowed hard before replying. "They were vague." She gave a little smile that was like a sunbeam on a stormy day. "I asked your mom and dad not to tell anyone. You're so lucky to have them." She looked back to the lake and spoke quietly enough that if her face had not been right next to mine, I wouldn't have been able to hear her. "When I was fifteen, when I started looking more like a woman, and less like a little girl, my dad started abusing me. Mom, she was drunk more than she was sober. She knew, she had to know, and she didn't do anything." As the River roared in its ceaseless path to Lake Superior, and the cold wind whistled and rattled through the leafless trees, Melissa spoke of abuse and divorce, lost jobs and social status, the failing of the system to help a girl who was too scared to ask for help and the blame that was assigned for all of it. "So that night, I remember when the state trooper knocked on my window." She gave a brief mirthless huff. "I thought he was an angel, with the way his flashlight lit up the frost on the inside of the window. I thought I was dead, that it was all over. I felt relieved." She shook her head. "The next thing I remember was being in a hospital bed, wrapped in electric blankets, and seeing the sunrise through the window. That trooper was there. He had stayed with me, way past the end of his shift, just to make sure I was alright. Turns out, when they went to my parent's house to see what was going on, my dad was out of town, and my mom ended up getting arrested for assaulting an officer and having a bunch of heroin. That's why she went back to him. Not for me, but for the money to buy her drugs. The trooper persuaded me to reach out to my friends. He said that people can be capable of unexpected acts of kindness, and I decided to believe him. So I called Ashley. We had always gotten along pretty well, and her parents were always super nice to me. They let me stay with them, which was really awkward at first. I just couldn't believe that a family could be so, so perfect. It was like stepping into an old sitcom. Maybe there was a little trouble now and then, but everyone loved each other, and it all worked out in the end. It was surreal, but eventually, I started believing that it was how families should be. That it was right and good, and normal." She looked me in the eyes then, and I saw her love burning through the hurt. "I didn't think that I would ever have that. I thought that there was no way I could ever open up and let someone love me, to be me, to be normal. Who could want me? Then your parents invited me back to the cabin, and I grasped onto a foolish hope that maybe you could. Ever since it's just been, It just doesn't seem real. Charles, I know you love me, but I'm still so afraid." I silenced her with a quick kiss on the lips. I held her cold, rosy cheeks in my hands and looked her in the eyes. "None of what happened was your fault. You deserve to be happy. You deserve to be loved. I love you, I will always love you. Nothing in the past, present, or future will stop me from loving you until the end of time, and when we're both gone from this world, I'll find you in the next and keep loving you!" Fresh tears streamed down her face, not tears of remembered pain, but tears of joyful love. She threw her arms around me and we held each other tight. Overhead, a hawk called, adding its little part to the scene of wind, water, and young lovers. Chapter Seventeen. Getting in my truck and leaving Duluth that evening was the hardest thing I had ever done. The only thing that gave me the strength to leave was the knowledge that it was only temporary. Soon, very soon, I would never have to leave her again. When I got home, Mom was at the kitchen table reading a newspaper. She greeted me with a smile. I had to be very careful with how I was going to handle this conversation. I didn't want to lie to my mom, but I also didn't want to tell her the whole truth. "How was your weekend? I didn't get a call from the cops, so it couldn't have been too exciting." "I was the cop! We went to a Halloween party dressed as the Village People." "Fun!" Mom exclaimed, giving me a beaming smile. "Yeah, and something else happened. Do you know how I can get my employee discount at any store? Well, we stopped at one of the stores in Duluth, and I ended up talking with the yard manager. They've been having trouble finding someone competent to drive a forklift, and if I transferred up there, they'd give me a raise and make me an assistant manager. He said I could start working up there in two weeks." All of these individual facts were technically true, but it still felt like lying. "Good for you! It's great to have in-demand skills. That's a long way to drive though." "Yeah, it would be like, five hours of driving every day." "Did you look into getting an apartment up there?" Mom folded up the newspaper and gave me her undivided attention. "After the school year starts, there's literally nothing cheap available." "Where would you stay then?" She asked, looking concerned. "Well, on the way home, I was thinking about who I know that lives up there. Rob lives in a dorm, so I couldn't get away with staying there long-term. But then I remembered that Melissa lives in Duluth, I could maybe call her and see if she wants a roommate." Okay, this last bit was a lie. I didn't feel good about it, but it had to be done. "Our Melissa? Have you called her yet?" "Not yet. I'm pretty sure I have her number in my phone." "You should figure this out sooner rather than later." She looked at the clock. "It's not too late, give her a call now." I made a show of finding Melissa's number as if I hadn't memorized it weeks ago. Melissa and I had rehearsed this moment. I had the volume on my phone turned way up, so my mom was sure to hear Melissa's side of the conversation too. "Hello?" Melissa's angelic voice asked after three rings. "Hi Melissa, it's Charles." "Charles! It's good to hear from you! What's up?" "Well, I'm going to be transferring up there for work, and I was wondering if you would mind having me as a roommate until I found a place of my own." Another necessary lie. "Yeah, I guess that would be okay. You're not going to find anywhere else to stay until the end of the school year. Even then, I was lucky to get this place, this spring." "So, you're okay with me staying with you?" "Yeah, it'll be fun. Like staying at the cabin, but I don't think my landlord would approve of campfires." "I'll pay half the rent, and utilities, and everything." "Naturally," Melissa said. "I was going to ask one of my friends if they wanted to move in. Only paying half the rent will make saving for school a lot easier." "Cool. So, I guess I'll give you a call tomorrow, and we can figure out the details?" "Yeah, okay." "I'm talking with my mom right now, so I should probably let you go." "Hi Mom!" Melissa yelled. "Hi, Melissa," Mom replied, loud enough to be sure that the phone picked it up. "Talk to you tomorrow, bye!" Melissa said, much quieter this time. "Bye." I had to be very careful not to reflexively say I love you. I put my phone away and noticed that my mom was studying me with a funny little smile on her face. Then in the most casual tone, she asked. "So, does she love you as much as you love her?" My heart nearly stopped. I couldn't respond. "That was a lovely charade. Unnecessary, but lovely." I couldn't speak. My brain frantically searched for words but found only shocked silence. "Oh, honey." She began, in a soothing motherly voice. "You're my baby. Did you think I wouldn't know? It was plain to see at the cabin that you two are in love. You spent the weekend with her?" I forced myself to reply. "Yes," I said, fearing that it was all over. I felt like crying. "Good," Mom said simply. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Mom knew about me and Melissa, and she was... Happy for me? "So, you're not mad about us?" "Oh, Charles. Love is so precious. It doesn't matter where you find it, but when you do, you hold on with both hands and never let go." My tears came then, flowing hard as I released all my pent-up fears and anxiety. Mom held me as I cried on her shoulder. She gently rubbed my back like she used to do when I was a kid. When my crying subsided, she held my shoulders at arm's length. "Now, tell me about her." I did. In the conversation that followed, I was more honest and open about my feelings than I could remember being to anyone other than Melissa. I explained how we knew what each other was thinking or feeling, just by looking into each other's eyes. I told her how I wanted to improve myself, to be a better person for Melissa. And, looking back on it with a touch of horror, I did my best to explain the connection I felt with Melissa when we made love. Throughout it all, my mother was nothing but caring and understanding. After all the fear of this moment, it was surreal. It felt so good, so liberating to tell her how I felt about Melissa. When I was done, I asked Mom. "Does Dad know?" "Oh, I doubt he picked up on it." "Are you going to tell him?" Of all the people in the family, I was sure that Dad would be the least likely to accept. He had always been very traditional. Kind and gentle, but with a very strict moral compass. "Of course. He's my husband. The way you feel about Melissa, I feel about him." She hugged me again. "Don't be ashamed. Love her with all your heart, and everything else will work itself out." She kissed me on the cheek and told me that she loved me. I told her that I loved her too, and said goodnight. I went to my bedroom, shut the door, and called Melissa. "What's up?" She answered. "I didn't think I'd hear from you until tomorrow." Deciding to just be direct about it, I said. "My mother has officially given us her blessing." The line was silent as Melissa processed this. When she spoke, I could tell that she was crying. "How did she find out?" She asked. I recounted the whole conversation. "See? I told you your mom was the best." "She really is." "So, what now?" She asked, with a bit of anxiety. "She said that she had to tell everyone because it's better to have it out in the open than have to keep lying to the family. I agreed." After a short pause, Melissa said. "Me too." As it turns out, my family's reaction was both better than I had feared and worse than I had hoped. My parents had called a family meeting and all of my immediate family, and their spouses, showed up. There were those like my mom, and my brother Mark, who were supportive and genuinely happy for me. On the other end of things, there were people like my second older brother, Stephen, and his wife, who were disgusted and called me a pervert. Most were somewhere in the middle, either not understanding and being polite about it, or just ambivalent to the whole issue. Then there was my dad. He just sat there the whole time, with a frown on his face, and never spoke a word. I couldn't tell if he was ashamed, or angry, or what, and it tore me up inside. He had never in his life been shy about voicing his opinion. After my mom, he was who I needed acceptance from the most. I desperately wanted him to say something, anything, but he never did. His silence cut deeper than any insult or accusation ever could. At the beginning, and with prompting from my mom, I had stood before everyone, confessing Melissa's and my love for each other, and that I was moving out to live with her in Duluth. After the initial shock and spectrum of reactions, I sat down and answered questions. Now, not being able to bear my father's silence any longer, I stood again, interrupting several side conversations. I addressed the whole group, but my words were meant for my father more than anyone. "Melissa and I truly love each other. Nothing you do or say can change it. Accept it, accept us, or don't. I don't care." Dad didn't react, didn't even look me in the eyes. I rushed to my room and locked the door. I curled up on my bed and cried, harder than I could remember ever crying before. The stress of the family meeting and my dad's non-reaction had utterly destroyed me. I held a pillow over my head to muffle the sounds of my uncontrollable sobs, and to hide my face from the world. "What if they're right about you?" A part of my mind asked. "What if you're just a sicko. That's what they all think." "No! I really do love her!" Another part of my mind answered. "What kind of weirdo falls in love with his cousin? What kind of deviant fucks someone in his own family?" "No! Our love is pure and perfect!" "Yeah, perfect. The perfect fantasy of a clinically twisted pervert! You're just taking advantage of a poor broken girl." "No..." I moaned aloud, holding my head in my hands. Sometime after, someone knocked lightly on my bedroom door. I ignored it, lost as I was in terrible contradictory thoughts. The knock came again, and I heard my mom's voice. "Charles, honey. Can I come in?" I didn't respond, knowing that right then I couldn't bear to face anyone, even my mother. "Oh, my baby." She said through the door. "All I want is for you to be happy. Follow your heart, everything will work out. I love you." Her words quieted the thoughts whirling through my mind, and though my sobs faded, the tears continued to flow. I was exhausted, physically and emotionally. I closed my eyes and imagined Melissa lying next to me. I thought about how if she were here, she would comfort me, and wipe the tears from my face. I could see her so clearly in my mind, see how her icy blue eyes would pour her inexhaustible love into me. Soon, my tears stopped flowing, and I regained a sense of peace. I felt awful for doubting myself, for doubting Melissa, if even for a moment. Our love is right. It is pure and perfect. She made me complete, as I made her complete. I drifted off to sleep, with a smile on my face, thinking about Melissa, and dreaming about the future. Chapter Eighteen. Charles copes with changes, but the biggest is yet to happen. The armrests of the padded chair where I was seated were a little too high to be comfortable, so I kept my hands folded in my lap. I gazed at the paintings of calm rural scenes hung on the walls of the spacious office. I wondered absently if they were real places or just the artist's impression of idyllic country life. I glanced at the woman in the matching chair positioned across from me. She was patiently waiting for me to continue my story, with an encouraging expression on her face. "I moved my things into Melissa's apartment a few days later and spent the night with her a couple of times when I had the day off. After the two weeks were up, I started work at the Duluth store and lived with her from then on. I think the only word to describe the years that followed is heavenly. I wouldn't have changed a single thing." "Tell me more about how your family reacted," said the woman, Dr. Clarke. "Did your father and brother ever come around?" "Dad? Yeah, he just needed a little time to process it. After that, he was as good with it as Mom was. The thing with him was, years before, before anyone knew what had been going on with Melissa's dad, he'd known that something was wrong. I'm not sure how, but he knew. After Melissa left home, he would call and check in on her. He paid to have her car fixed and even paid the deposit on her apartment. He always went out of his way to make her feel like she had people that cared. I think he loved her as if she were his own daughter, so the whole thing with the two of us was kind of a shock. When Melissa and I went to my parent's place for Thanksgiving, later that month; and he saw firsthand how happy she was, it wasn't an issue." "And your brother, Stephen?" Dr. Clarke prompted. "That same Thanksgiving, I ended up knocking him down with a punch to the face. He said that Melissa's family were all degenerates and that Melissa was just bringing that degeneracy to our family now. That was the last time I ever saw him." I forced my clenched fists to relax and laid my palms flat on my thighs. "Have you ever thought about reaching out to him? People can change a lot in twenty-four years." "No," I said firmly. "It was his choice to ostracize himself from our family, and I want nothing to do with someone capable of being so deliberately malicious. He knew that she was just beginning to heal the trauma that had been done to her; and had said what he did, specifically to hurt her. Someone capable of doing that will always be capable of doing it." "You might be surprised by how much people can change," She said, as she scribbled a few lines in her notepad. "Maybe," I said, brows furrowing. Those words had made their way into Melissa's nightmares. My fists clenched again, as I remembered all the times I was awoken in the middle of the night by her sobs. I remembered how helpless I felt, being able to do nothing but console her; and hold her until she fell back asleep. My knuckles were white, and my fists trembled slightly. I saw Dr. Clarke glance down at my hands, but she did not indicate what she was thinking. Therapists must make superb poker players. "Some things just can't be forgiven," I said quietly, forcing my hands to relax. "Again, you might be surprised. We can talk more about that next week." She set aside her notepad and glanced up at the clock on the wall behind me. "Now close your eyes, and concentrate on your breathing. Take a slow deep breath, imagining all your negative emotions as a tangible thing. Now breathe out slowly as all those emotions evaporate and exit your body like smoke. Again, deep inhale, and out. Good. Feel your mind become still as your breath carries away the pain. Once more, in, and out. Good." For some reason, this technique worked for me. If left alone, my thoughts naturally gravitated to the bad memories, and each one brought two more with it until I became overwhelmed. I would become mentally gridlocked to the point of not being able to function in everyday life. "When I say the word joy, what is the first thing that pops into your mind?" My eyes were still closed, and I smiled. "Melissa's face when she first saw me that October weekend reunion, at the cabin." "Good. Keep up your breathing exercise. All the pain is gone, only the joy remains. Describe the scene for me. What else do you see? What do you smell and hear?" A single tear rolled down my cheek. I'm not sure why I started to cry, whether it was joy in the image of her, so happy and full of promise for the future, or sorrow because that future is gone. I would never again see her smile. "Sunbeams cut down through the trees, lighting up smoke drifting from the fire pit. She passes through one, and her hair glows like golden fire. I smell the white pines, strong in the soft breeze, and the smell of burning oak. A loon call echoes up from the lake, and all around the cabin yard, there is the quiet burble of conversations and laughter." I wiped the tears from my face with a flannel shirt sleeve and looked away from Dr. Clarke. I still felt embarrassed to cry in front of another person. "That sounds lovely. Hold on to that moment, use it as a refuge." She glanced at the clock again and stood. I stood as well, taking a tissue from the box on the coffee table to dry my eyes. She walked me to her office door. "Thank you for sharing today, Charles. I think you are doing very well." As she opened the door, she asked. "Have you gone to the aromatherapy shop we talked about last week?" "No," I said dejectedly. "I was going to, but..." I had meant to go, but sometimes certain things were just impossible to make myself do. Going into an unfamiliar place and talking to a stranger was one of those things. Sometimes I could, sometimes I couldn't. This hadn't been a particularly good week, and the thought of talking to someone new, someone who would ask questions about why I was there, questions that would bring up painful memories, was simply unthinkable. Yesterday, I had made it all the way to my car and had the key in the ignition, but then I just sat there, unable to make myself go through with it. "That's ok." Said Dr. Clarke. I knew she knew why I didn't go, and I had gotten to the point where I felt safe sharing my feelings with her, but I couldn't help but feel a sense of shame. "Addy is very good at what she does, and she has helped many of my clients. She's a friend." I nodded and started moving through the doorway. Ending conversations always seemed so awkward. I never knew what to say. "Thank you for being so open today, Charles. See you again next week." She was looking at my eyes, and I met her gaze briefly before looking away. In recent years, I had become very uncomfortable making anything more than the briefest of eye contact with people, especially women, so I was usually at a huge disadvantage when it came to reading people's motivations and emotions. In that brief glimpse though, I caught the impression of empathy and a real desire to help. It felt really good to know that someone cared. I gave her a genuine smile and left. I left her office with the intention of going directly to the shop she had recommended, but by the time I was in my car, I just... couldn't. This is what my life had become. I could go from being on the verge of drowning in a sea of sorrow to feeling positive and optimistic in an instant, then back just as fast. But mostly, it was what I called 'the gray'. I am self-aware enough to understand how it began. Instead of dealing with certain traumatic events, my brain decided that it was easier and far less painful, just to push them aside. The problem is, that those things don't just go away. No matter how hard you push them down, they keep bubbling back up, and you end up pushing everything away in the effort. Then one day you realize that living in the gray was the only way to survive because every little bit of emotion, good or bad, could open the gates and let all the pain come rushing in. I had pushed everything and everyone aside for the sake of self-preservation, and it was killing me. I knew I needed help. I knew that the person I was, wasn't really me. The problem was, I had been in the gray so long, that I couldn't remember how it was before, not really. I knew that I had been happy once, that I had hopes and dreams. But that was all gone, lost in the gray. Chapter Nineteen. The next day turned out to be one of the good ones. I was able to get myself out of bed, dressed, and in the car. I decided that I would finally make it to this aromatherapy shop Dr. Clarke wanted me to go to. I turned the key in the ignition, and my geriatric Honda Civic purred to life. I quickly released the emergency brake and shifted into reverse. I backed out of my parking spot with a sigh. There, I did it. The hard part was over, and now that I had started the task, it would be easier to go through with it. Don't ask me why that makes sense, I wouldn't know how to even start explaining. I enjoyed my drive across town. It was a beautiful day in Duluth. Down near Lake Superior, it was a little breezy and a comfortable 65 degrees, perfect for driving with the windows down. Climbing the hill on 194, the farther I got away from the lake, the hotter it got. By the time I got to the shop, it was nearly 80 degrees, and I had begun to sweat. A typical July day in the Twin Ports. I've always said, that this was one of the things I loved most about living in Duluth. It could be hot as hell up on top of the hill, but if the wind was right, it was always cool near the lake. I shut the car off and set the E brake. I wiped a bit of sweat off my brow, and it occurred to me that I was wearing the same clothes I wore yesterday and that I hadn't showered. Hit with a sudden wave of shame and embarrassment about meeting someone new in this state, I almost just left to go back home. With an effort of willpower, I opened the car door and stepped out. Task begun. I walked in and was greeted by a smiling older lady that I assumed was Addy. "Hi, um, Dr. Clarke sent me." Addy's smile widened. "Oh, come in, come in. I'm Addy." "I'm Charles," I replied, meeting her eyes for the briefest moment. "Pleased to meet you, Charles. How is Rose doing these days?" Dr. Clarke's first name was Virginia. She had grown up in Virginia, Minnesota, and I think she was still annoyed by her unimaginative parents, because she liked to use her middle name, Rose. I almost exclusively used 'Dr. Clarke' when speaking with or about her. "I've been seeing her for a couple of months now. She's nice." I never seemed to know how to answer questions like that. I grimaced inwardly at my awkwardness. "She's a sweetheart, and good at her job. I saw her for years." She led me over to a glass counter filled with hundreds of small labeled bottles. "So, are we looking for something to help you relax?" "Something to help me remember." I paused briefly, trying to find the right words. "Well, remembering isn't the issue." I felt a rush of awkwardness and a little bit of embarrassment in talking about something so personal with a stranger. My cheeks flushed, and I looked at the bottles in the case to ensure I didn't accidentally make eye contact. "I want to be able to focus on just the one thing." "Tell me about it." I closed my eyes and took a few deep breaths. "There's smoke from the campfire, mostly oak. Maybe a tiny bit of something acrid, like someone had thrown a plastic plate in the fire." As I spoke, I could hear Addy selecting a few bottles from a rack within the display case. "Pine trees. Even with the smoke, the pines smell strong." "Spruce?" Addy asked politely. "No, White Pine. The needles and sap are everywhere." "Anything else?" I took another deep breath but didn't reply. "Sometimes there's things around us that have a scent, but we're either too used to it, or its faint enough that we don't remember without smelling it. What else was there? Is this a campground?" Addy asked in what I recognized as being in a deliberately unobtrusive way. "It's a cabin," I replied, searching the mental image for things that may have a scent. "It's an old log cabin, surrounded by white pines. There's a log pile. My brother had been using the chainsaw earlier. My truck is parked in the driveway, it smells like gas because the tank leaks a little bit. Someone had mowed the little patch of grass in front of the cabin." "Is there anyone there, wearing perfume or aftershave?" I nodded my head in the affirmative. Addy gave me time to answer. "She..." I struggled to find words to describe Melissa's scent. How do you describe such a thing to someone? How do you describe a sunset to a blind person, or describe to a deaf person the emotions evoked by the Moonlight Sonata? She smelled like love, and I still smell her on the clothes I keep in her dresser. "You know how strawberry plants don't smell like strawberry? Not like the fake strawberry candy scent?" Of course, she did, but I went on. "A strawberry blossom. Delicate, faint, with just the promise of sweetness." "She was someone special," Addy said, in more of a statement than a question. "I ended up marrying her. She;" A tear rolled down my cheek. "Nine years ago;" I just couldn't force the words out of my mouth. I could tell Addy the exact date and time. I could tell her that we had just gone to see The Martian in the movie theater and that the night was clear and cool after the late August thunderstorm earlier that afternoon. I could tell her what song was playing on the radio. I could tell her the look on Melissa's face when the headlights crossed through the median in front of us. What I couldn't say, was physically unable to, was that nine years ago, Melissa died. "It's okay, dear," Addy said. She had a grandmotherly voice, full of kindness and understanding. For the briefest of moments, the power of that gentle voice made me believe that yes, everything would be okay. "Give me a few minutes, and I'll have something for you to try." I nodded and wandered away from the counter, absently browsing the candles and incense as I tried to compose myself. As I looked through the shop it occurred to me how posh the place seemed. High-dollar products are meant to be sold to people who have the luxury of ignoring price tags. I did not have that luxury. I felt anxiety and a general shame of the complete fuck up I had become. If this costs more than about forty dollars, I wouldn't be able to afford groceries this week. "Charles, it's ready," Addy called from the other side of the store. I walked over and closed my eyes as she extended a small glass bottle filled with clear liquid. I breathed deeply and conjured the scene in my mind. The scent of Addy's mixture hit me like a lightning bolt. It was like reading a book in the dark, and then someone turned on the lights. Everything came into sharp focus like I was there. The smoke, the pines, and, My breath caught in my throat. Buried deep within the mix there was something light, something so tenuous you hardly knew it was there. It was Melissa. In my mind, she threw herself into my arms, and I could smell her. I could smell her. "How?" I asked, looking her in the eyes for the first time since my initial glance. Addy smiled warmly, and I could see genuine care in her face, not just the politeness of a shop owner to a customer. "If she had been wearing perfume, it would have been harder. We remember scents much better than we think we do. Sometimes all we need is a little hint, and it's brought right to the front." Dr. Clarke was right, Addy was good. "Your idea about the strawberry flowers was good. They're very faint and don't smell like much at all, definitely not strawberries. But when you know that you have strawberry flowers, and you smell them, your brain brings up the memory of strawberries. Scents are all connected in our minds, and are rooted deep down at the very foundation of memory." Addy put a rubber stopper in the bottle and carefully placed the bottle in a velvet pouch with her shop's logo on it. She held it out for me to take. A tear dripped off my jaw, and I quickly wiped my face on a sleeve. "How much?" I started to ask, again acutely aware of my wrinkled clothes, my general lack of personal hygiene, and the depressingly small balance of my bank account. Addy cut me off with a raised hand. "Rose is a friend of mine, and any friend of hers is also a friend of mine." She pushed the velvet bag into my hands. "No, I can't;" Addy stopped me again. "Most of my clients just want something that smells nice in their bathroom, or to cover the smell of weed. I'm perfectly happy to take their money." She placed her hands on mine, still clutching the velvet bag. "It's very rare that I get to help someone. Take it as a gift, with my thanks." I was speechless, and fresh tears rolled down my face. I couldn't remember the last time someone was so altruistically kind to me. "Thank you." Was all I could say. To be continued in part 6. Based on a post by NewMountain80, in 6 parts, for Literotica.

Cabin Cousins: Part 4 Costumes and characters. Based on a post by NewMountain80, in 6 parts. Listen to the Podcast at Connections. We sat on the couch, as she didn't have a table we could both sit at and ate hungrily. We had both worked up quite an appetite. When we had finished eating, Melissa leaned over the back of the couch, and set our empty plates on the island counter, then cuddled up against me. "That hit the spot." She said with a sigh. "There's been a lot of that recently." Melissa giggled. "Yeah, there has, hasn't there?" We sat in silence for quite a while, just enjoying being near each other. Finally, Melissa sat up and said. "Come on, I'll show you our costumes." I followed her back to her bedroom, and she started pulling things out of a big paper bag next to her dresser. "This is yours." She said, handing me a blue police shirt and hat. "And the final touches, handcuffs, and a mustache." She handed me a pair of fuzzy pink novelty handcuffs and a fake mustache that looked like it was straight out of a seventies porn video. I laughed. "That's awesome. So I'm the cop, are you my prisoner?" "As much fun as that could be, no." Then she took her costume out of the bag. It consisted of a small light brown halter top with all kinds of colorful beads sewn onto it, a matching skirt that looked very short, and a feathered headdress. "We're the Village People?" I asked. Melissa nodded with a slightly uncertain smile. "Do you like it?" "I love it. What are Ashley and James going as?" "Ashley is the cowboy, and James is the soldier." She held up the halter top for me to see. "Ashley made this." The beadwork was pretty amazing. As I looked it over, I couldn't help but notice that Melissa still had an uncertain look on her face. "Do you... not like it?" I asked. "It's beautiful! It's just, Well, I should put it on and show you." She put a hand over my eyes. "Close your eyes, and when I tell you to open them, pretend that you aren't my lover, and I just showed up to the party. Okay?" I nodded and closed my eyes. Naturally, thoughts of what Melissa was going to look like in the outfit began to bubble in my imagination. Then the truth of it dawned on me. When I arrived at the cabin two weeks ago; and she greeted me in a dress, which I was now certain that she had worn for the sole purpose of enticing me and me alone. I have never seen her wear anything in public that wasn't baggy or loose-fitting, and not anything nearly as revealing as I imagined this costume was going to be. I knew that I had to be very careful in how I reacted. "Remember, you don't know me." Melissa reminded me. Her voice sounded like she was at the other end of the room. "Okay. Open your eyes." I did and said the first thing that came to my mind. "Wow." I looked her up and down. The halter top was cut fairly low, giving a glimpse of the inner curves of her tits. It covered her chest down to just above her navel, leaving a lot of skin on her belly, sides, and back, bare. The skirt was very short, barely covering more of her legs than my boxer briefs covered mine. The waistline sat low, leaving more skin exposed. Her long muscular legs and her toned arms were also completely bare. As much as I was struck by how stunningly sexy she looked, I could see how anxious she was about the prospect of revealing so much skin. While keeping my eyes on her, I turned my head like I was talking to someone next to me. "Who is that?" Turning my head to the other side I answered my question. "That's Melissa." Back to the other side. "Wow, she is gorgeous." My antics made Melissa giggle. "Who is she here with?" "I don't know him. Must be from out of town." "Lucky bastard." Melissa laughed, and I stepped across the small room to her, happy to have at least temporarily eased her tension. When she spoke, her smile was still strained. "It's not too much, I mean, not enough, is it?" She asked, tugging down slightly on the hem of the skirt. "It's more than a bikini." "I don't own a bikini." She said, sitting down on the edge of the bed. "It's not; I mean; I;" She was struggling to get the right words out for what she wanted to say. I sat on the bed next to her. "It's not too... slutty, is it?" She asked, staring at the floor. Gently, I put a hand on her cheek and turned her head towards me. "No. The costume isn't what makes some girls seem slutty, it's how they act while wearing the costume, and that's just not who you are." "I don't know how other girls can do it. They all seem so comfortable in their skin. I've never been, except with you." "Melissa, you are beautiful. There's no shame in letting people see that." I said, keeping my hand on her cheek, and maintaining eye contact. She stretched her legs out in front of her, her flexed muscles clearly defined. "I look like I could have been Brigitte Nielsen's stunt double in Red Sonja." I laughed. "You say that like it's a bad thing. She was a goddess." This got a smile from her. "I think you're biased." "Yes, I am. But that doesn't mean I'm wrong." She still didn't seem convinced. "You should be proud of your body. It doesn't matter what anyone else thinks. Do you like wearing it?" "Yes." She said softly, then added. "It feels really good." "You look amazing." "Everybody is going to be staring at me all night. I don't know if I can take that." She was probably right about everybody staring at her. Every guy there is going to want her and be jealous of me. Every girl is going to know that she is more beautiful than they are and be jealous of her. "It's Halloween, so pretend to be someone else. Be a girl who doesn't give a fuck about what other people think about her because she's confident in who she is. Be a girl that loves the attention, because she knows that every look is a compliment about her stunning beauty." I wasn't sure if I was saying the right things or not. She still didn't look very confident, but I could tell that she understood my intent. "I'll try." She gave me a quick kiss. "Maybe you'll find out that you like the attention, and won't have to pretend anymore." "Maybe." She smiled shyly. "I think I have to wear different panties though. I wanted to wear the red one for you but..." She stood and faced away from me, and I looked with admiration at the backs of her long, sexy legs. Then she bent over at the waist, and the short length of the skirt was pulled up, leaving nearly her entire bare ass exposed. I could see the thin satin strap of her thong running between her ass cheeks. I stood and put my hands on her ass, squeezing it. She stood upright, but I kept her from turning around. I pressed myself against her, arms around her waist, pulling her ass against the bulge in my pants. "Keep the red one on," I whispered into her ear. "It's not too much? I feel like I'm going to be showing my bare ass to everybody." "Maybe... just don't bend over like that when anyone other than me can see it." Melissa giggled cautiously. "Okay. But if I'm wearing this, then you can't stand behind me to hide that bulge the whole time. If people are going to see me, they're going to see you too." I laughed. "Deal. I can guarantee that I'm going to be hard as a rock all night." Then having an idea, I pulled away, undid my pants, and reached down inside. Melissa watched me with an amused smile. I rearranged myself so that, instead of being tucked down under between my legs, my very erect cock sat pointing down along my left leg. I fastened my pants, and with how tight they fit, the outline of my cock was clearly visible. "That's fair." Then she said mischievously. "Maybe next year you can be the cowboy, and I'll have you wear ass-less chaps. That's it, just ass-less chaps." We both laughed, and I pulled her into my arms, hugging her warmly. "I love you." "I love you." She replied. "If it gets too uncomfortable, we'll leave," I said softly. "It doesn't matter what we do, as long as we are together." I felt her nod in agreement. After a pause, she said. "Speaking of what to do, the party doesn't start for, like, six hours." "How about renting a movie, and just relaxing?" "Okay." She said, chuckling. "But I am not wearing this to the video store." We wondered the isles of the Blockbuster down the street from Melissa's apartment, indecisive on what we wanted to watch. We had both changed into comfortable jeans, but Melissa still wore the beaded halter top, albeit underneath a long padded wool coat. None of the new releases had sparked much interest, and we eventually found our way to the 'sci-fi and fantasy' section. After a few minutes, a title caught my eye. I grabbed the box off the shelf and handed it to Melissa. "Nice." She said, grinning. Ten minutes later, the opening credits began, and as Arnold Schwarzenegger rode across a mountain valley to an Ennio Morricone score, we cuddled together on Melissa's couch to watch Red Sonja. We barely spoke during the movie, both content with being close to each other and enjoying the show. At one point, as I watched her rapt attention to a sword fight, I felt a familiar feeling of awe. Melissa was my perfect woman. There wasn't a single thing about her that I would change. Well, her insecurities and self-confidence aside, but I'm working on those. The final scene played out, and the end credits rolled to more of Morricone's beautiful score. Melissa turned in my arms, facing me. "I love that movie." She gave me a sweet kiss on the lips. "And you're right, Brigitte Nielsen is a goddess." "So, what do you want to do now?" I asked suggestively. Melissa's eyes blazed with fiery passion. "What do you think I want to do?" Recalling the dialog from the final scene of the movie, I said in my best Arnold voice. "I make it a rule, never to take a woman unless she can beat me in a fair fight." Melissa grinned and continued with Brigitte Nielsen's line. "That's a challenge I might think about someday." "What about right now?" "Why not?" When Melissa said the last line of the movie, I grabbed her by the shoulders and wrestled her onto her back. In response, she twisted around and, surprising me with her strength, flipped our positions. She straddled me, pinning me face up on the couch. I have to say, after watching that particular movie, this roughhousing was hot. I could tell that Melissa thought so too. She leaned down and we kissed deeply. I looked into her blazing blue eyes. "My warrior queen will have what she demands." "Get naked. Now." She said gently, but in a tone that made it sound like a command. She inched forward, straddling higher up my chest, and giving me room to get my pants off. As I struggled to accomplish that as quickly as I could, I watched as she seductively removed her halter top. Pants and underwear off, I reached up and grasped her tits, rubbing her nipples with my thumbs. She closed her eyes and moaned quietly. Melissa slid back to straddling my hips, and tugged at my shirt, helping me get it off without having to fully sit up. Then she leaned way back between my legs, lifting her legs into the air and towards her chest as she laid her back on the couch. I got a marvelous view as she pulled her pants off, taking the red thong with them. She came back forward to straddle me again, and I began to sit up to meet her, but she put her hands on my chest, gently pushing me back down. She leaned over me, kissing me briefly on the lips, then sensually made a trail of kisses down my neck, chest, and belly. She knelt between my legs, spreading them apart. I sighed as she moved her hands up my inner thighs and caressed the freshly shaved skin around my balls. She brought her face close to my cock, and looked up at me, meeting my eyes. She pursed her lips, blew softly on my bare genitals, and smiled as I shivered. Maintaining eye contact, she grasped my cock, and lowered her mouth upon it. I gasped in pleasure as she took me in. I could see in her eyes that my reaction fueled her desire to pleasure me. I couldn't have looked away if I wanted to. There was a fierceness in her eyes that I found to be absolutely captivating. She sucked hungrily and worked her tongue on me, seemingly intent on making me cum as fast as she could. My body complied, and I was very near to cumming much quicker than I wanted. Melissa redoubled her efforts, massaging my balls as she sucked harder. Her eyes seemed to scream "Cum for me! Cum for your warrior queen!" My hips bucked as I came suddenly, and I felt her hum in satisfaction as I filled her mouth with my seed. Melissa milked my cock for the last few drops of my cum, still holding my eyes with hers. She took me out of her mouth, and I saw her swallow. She leaned down over me with a satisfied smile. "That one was all mine." She purred, before kissing me. I was still amazed at how quickly she had made me cum, and held her tight as we kissed. She still had this new fierceness in her eyes when she pulled away slightly. "Now it's my turn." She moved up, straddling my face. As she lowered herself onto my awaiting mouth, she rested her chest over the couch's armrest. Melissa moaned loudly as I closed my mouth over her and my tongue began to explore. I loved the taste of her and loved how her body responded to my attention. She pressed herself down onto me, and I had to push up against her with my hands to keep her from smothering me. My hands pushed against her where the backs of her thighs met her ass, just on either side of her pussy. Her moans got louder when I pushed my hands to the sides, spreading her pussy open. My tongue attacked her with renewed vigor, and her body complied with my urgent desire to make her cum as quickly as she had made me. Her juices gushed into my mouth, and I swallowed greedily. "Yes!" She exclaimed as she tensed, right on the edge of climax. I pressed my tongue broadly over her clit, and with quick circular motions, pushed her over the edge. As she tensed and spasmed uncontrollably, I left her overly sensitive clit alone and eased down the intensity with which I ate her. She pulled herself off of me, and moved back down into my arms, straddling my waist once again. Our mouths met, and we kissed deeply, with Melissa still twitching occasionally. We stopped to catch our breath and Melissa said. "Tasting myself on you is hot." I nodded in agreement and licked a bit of saliva off of her lips. She smiled and licked my chin, which was still soaking wet from eating her. "Did I satisfy my warrior queen to her liking?" I asked, deciding to continue our Red Sonja-inspired role play. "Oh yes," She replied with a feral grin. "You did very well. But you should know by now, that I always need more." Our eyes locked, and she reached down, finding my cock. She raised her hips slightly and lowered herself down onto me. I groaned in pleasure as I felt her silky warmth envelop me. She kissed me briefly, then sat up. She smiled down at me and wiggled her hips. When I tried to sit up, she gently, but firmly pushed me back down flat. Sensing that she wanted to be in total control, I put my hands behind my head. She gyrated her hips slowly, and I stared up at her, marveling at how unbelievably sexy she looked. She arched her back towards me, drawing me out of her, then sank onto me again as she transitioned to arching her back away from me. Like the rhythmic crashing of waves, her body undulated in a fluid motion that started with her shoulders and ended with her hips. Each sensual motion pulled me out of her, then brought me deeply back inside. I watched in awe, as she writhed on top of me. "You are a goddess!" I managed to say between gasped breaths. When she arched her back towards me, her flawless skin pulled tight, and I could see her abdominal muscles and the outline of her ribs. Her pale pink nipples were erect on her perfect tits. She brought her hands to her tits and squeezed them sensually as she continued to fuck me. I could see by the gleam in her eyes that she was enjoying giving me this show, maybe as much as I was enjoying watching her. Even though I had cum, really just a few minutes before, I could feel that I wasn't going to last much longer. Melissa stopped her forward and back motion and leaned way back, supporting herself with her hands on the couch next to my knees. She began thrusting her hips forward and back, burying me deep inside her every time. She quickly increased her pace, bouncing her firm ass against my hips. Seeing my cock slide in and out of her, and watching the muscles of her thighs and belly flex as she drove herself onto me was too much to withstand, and I was seconds away from cumming. Without the close full-body contact that we usually had, I wasn't sure how close to cumming she was, so I broke the unspoken rule of the session and brought my hands to her. I pressed my hands against her inner thighs, alongside her pussy. I rubbed her clit between my fingertips. She must have been close because, with an exclamation of primal ecstasy, she came almost immediately from my touch. Her vagina clamped tightly around my cock, and I grunted loudly as I emptied my balls into her. We both held still for a moment, breathing hard. She grabbed my hand, and I pulled her forward, sitting up to meet her. We wrapped our arms around each other and kissed hungrily. Melissa made needy moans as she ground her mouth against mine. We kissed for a long time, our need for each other seemingly inexhaustible. Finally, we broke apart, gasping for breath. We caressed each other's faces as we stared into each other's eyes. The fierceness she had shown in our passion was still there, but it was tempered now after our mutual release. Watching that particular movie had awakened something inside her, something that I found unbelievably attractive. Once again, I found myself in a state of utter awe of this woman. "You are amazing," I said, knowing that the words were inadequate to express my feelings. Melissa smiled, then looked a little self-conscious. "I didn't go too far with being in control did I?" I kissed her. "Not at all. I thought it was really hot." She looked relieved and kissed me back. "It felt really good." I could tell that it had felt really good for her to be in control. It must be liberating for her to have the desire to be in control, and be called amazing when she acted it out. Traditionally, men were in control, particularly in the bedroom. Society traditionally expected women to just follow the lead of their partner. It was one of those things that just was. Well, fuck tradition, we would do whatever felt right. This isn't the nineteen-fifties. Besides, we were already breaking one societal norm, being second cousins madly in love, what's one more? It felt good for her to take control, and honestly, she could have taken it much farther, and I would have still loved it. "It did." I agreed. "I like this side of you." "What side?" She asked, turning one direction, then the other playfully. She asked the question playfully, yes, but I could see that she was anxious about what I was going to say. There was a part of her that was exceedingly fragile to criticism right now, having opened up and let go of an inhibition. "The warrior queen," I responded in a gentle, but serious tone. "She's fierce and confident, and isn't afraid to take what she wants." Melissa didn't say anything, so I continued. "The world needs to see more of this part of you." Then hastily added. "Not in a sexual way, of course." Melissa giggled and then kissed me. "You are all that I want." She flexed her pelvic floor muscles, and I felt her pussy squeeze my cock tightly. I flexed my own, causing my cock to twitch inside of her. We smiled at each other. "I am yours," I said, kissing her. I laid back down, pulling her down on top of me. She sighed in contentment and rested her weight on my chest, nuzzling my neck. We stayed like that for a while, and I could tell that she was beginning to fall asleep. I shifted and urged her to sit up. I stood, and she took my offered hand, following me to her bedroom. We cuddled up under the covers, and both quickly fell asleep. Chapter Fourteen. We woke refreshed from our nap and got dressed in our costumes. Soon we were in my pickup heading to the house where the party was being held. I glanced at Melissa as I drove, and she seemed to be unaware that I wasn't taking the most direct route. We were only a few minutes away from Melissa's apartment, when I turned into the parking lot of the Duluth location of the big box home improvement store I worked for. Butterflies filled my stomach as I prepared myself to set into motion the plan I had devised in the shower earlier that day. "I've got to go in here for a few minutes," I said, parking my truck, but leaving it running. "Ok, I'll be here," Melissa replied with a smile. I smiled back at her, leaned over to give her a quick kiss, and got out of the truck. I walked into the store with purpose. I got back twenty minutes later. Sitting behind the wheel, I looked over at Melissa with a huge grin on my face. She gave me a slightly confused look. "What did you need to get here?" "I have a surprise for you," I said, still unable to stop from smiling. "What is it?" Melissa asked. I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. What I had just done, marked a turning point, one of those moments in your life where your life will never be the same again. "I just spoke with the yard manager, then with the store manager, and... as of two weeks from right now, I'll be working out of this store." It took a moment for Melissa to process what I said, her mouth fell open and her eyes began to glisten with the promise of tears. I nodded in silent confirmation, and she threw herself across the bench seat into my arms. We hugged tightly and kissed. I felt her joyful tears against my face. "Of course, this all depends on if you're okay with having a roommate..." Melissa laughed, her happiness nearly overwhelming her. "Am I okay? Charles, this is a dream come true!" We kissed again, then rested our foreheads together as we gazed into each other's eyes. Nothing on earth could have taken the smiles off our faces. We glanced over as an old grey-haired couple walked past my truck. They watched us as they passed, smiling at our display of joy and affection. The man put his arm around the woman, pulling her close as they walked and they smiled lovingly at each other. Melissa and I returned our gazes to each other, and we knew that we were both thinking the same thing. That was going to be us someday. A lifetime of love and experiences awaited us, and neither of us could imagine any other way we would want to spend our lives than with each other. On the drive to the party, Melissa sat in the middle of my truck's bench seat, and in between gear shifts, I rested my hand on her inner thigh. I would glance in her direction now and then as I drove, but Melissa never took her eyes off of me. The way she was looking at me made my heart glow. I loved her so much, and knowing that my love was returned, every bit of it and more, was almost enough to make a guy weep with joy. I parked on the street up the block from the party. I shut the truck off and turned to face Melissa. She wrapped her arms around me and we kissed deeply. "I love you." She whispered. "I love you," I whispered back. I put a hand to her face and she leaned into my palm as I caressed her cheek. "Are you ready?" She nodded. "As much as I need to be making love to you in our bed right now, I want to do this." Our bed, she had said. I liked that. Melissa smiled at me, knowing that I had picked up on her deliberate word usage. I helped her out of the truck, making sure nobody saw more of her than was appropriate, even though she was still wearing her long coat that covered her down past her knees. We walked up to the house and rang the bell. As we waited, side by side, hand in hand, I said. "I'll be right here next to you the whole time, my warrior queen." She smiled lovingly at me, and I saw any faint trace of self-doubt leave her. She took a deep breath and stood a little straighter, chin raised. The door opened and we were greeted by Ashley's older sister, Debbie, who was hosting the party. "Melissa! I'm glad you could make it. I haven't seen you in forever." Debbie was five years older than Ashley and had moved out of their parent's house four years ago. Her husband's name was Chris, and apparently, he was some kind of Dot Com hotshot. I believed it, as their house was huge, and they both had expensive German sports cars parked in their driveway. Debbie took our coats, and we began to mingle, soon finding Ashley and James. Ashley rushed over and gave Melissa a quick hug. "Wow, you look Amazing!" I resisted the urge to laugh when I saw James give Melissa a good head-to-toe look, and then notice me watching him. Now, I can see how guys might get pissed off by other guys checking out their girlfriends, but I saw it differently. I took it as a compliment to Melissa's stunning beauty, an opinion I wholeheartedly agreed with. Melissa made formal introductions, and I shook hands with Ashley and James in turn. When I shook James' hand, he met my eyes in what seemed like an apology for his wandering eyes. I did my best to subtly show that there was no harm done. We mingled and ate from the lavish catered buffet that Debbie and Chris had provided. I was introduced to more people than I could ever remember. Everywhere we went, eyes followed. There were lustful eyes, admiring eyes, jealous eyes, and yes, when people noticed the obvious outline of my perpetually hard cock barely restrained by my pants, laughing eyes. I didn't care at all about any of our observers, or what they thought about us. My eyes, and my thoughts, were for Melissa alone. I kept true to my word, never left her side all evening, and maintained nearly constant physical contact, be it an arm around her waist, a held hand, or a covert squeeze of an ass cheek. For her part, she seemed to particularly enjoy rubbing her ass against my groin right before we talked to somebody new, or were going to walk anywhere, and when my arm was around her, she had a hand in my back pocket. Again, I didn't care that everyone there saw my arousal. I honestly believed that it would be more out of place to have such a gorgeous woman at my arm all night, and not be constantly turned on. Through it all, Melissa was amazing. She never showed the least bit of self-consciousness or anxiety. I knew she saw how everyone watched her, and as the night went on, I began to believe that she was genuinely enjoying the attention. Our costumes were a hit, not just Melissa's, but the four of us as a group. Everyone cheered as Melissa and I, and Ashley and James, got up and danced when YMCA was played. We each had a glass of the strongly spiked punch, but neither of us had the desire to get drunk. We seemed to be the exception though. As the party began to wind down, intoxicated couples could be found making out on couches and comfy chairs, with one pair doing a little more than make out under the billiards table. Ashley was one of those who had way too much to drink, and we said our goodbyes as James helped her up the stairs to a guest room that Debbie and Chris had reserved for them. Melissa's eyes met mine, and I saw her fierce need for me shining bright. As much as we both wanted to strip down and fuck like rabbits right then and there, we both agreed silently that we had reached the extent of our exhibitionism. We said goodbye, thanked Debbie and Chris, who were quite intoxicated themselves, and left. The night air was heavy in a way that hinted at impending snowfall, and the wind blew cold and humid off of Lake Superior. Melissa held her coat tightly around herself as we rushed to my truck. Once in the truck and moving, I revved the engine more than I usually did to get the engine up to temp a little faster. The air from the vents soon turned warm, and Melissa opened her coat. She was sitting next to me again, with one leg on either side of the shifter. She had let her skirt ride up, and between gear shifts, I rested my hand between her legs, gently rubbing her with my fingertips through her satin thong. She had a hand on my crotch, and slowly stroked me through my pants. The trip back was fairly short, only about ten miles. Halfway there I asked her. "Why does it seem like it's taking forever to get back to your apartment?" "Our apartment." Melissa reminded me with a smile. I glanced at her with a grin. I did like the sound of that. "It's because neither of us can wait until this beautiful cock of yours is inside me." She gave my cock a squeeze to accentuate her words. When we neared her, our apartment, she said in a casual tone that was betrayed by the lustful intensity with which she was looking at me. "When that door closes, you'll have about ten seconds to get naked before I start tearing these clothes off of you." Turns out, she didn't even give me that long. As I bumped my back against the door to push it all the way closed, Melissa attacked my belt, getting it unbuckled with amazing quickness. Before I knew it, my pants were around my ankles and Melissa was on her knees taking me into her mouth. I could do nothing but moan and lean against the door as she implemented every trick she had learned so far. My legs felt wobbly as she expertly brought all of the evening's pent-up sexual energy to the fore. I looked down and met the fierce eyes of my warrior queen. In mere moments, she had brought me to the verge of orgasm. I was just seconds away from cumming, when she stopped, taking me out of her mouth. The sudden absence of sensation took my breath away. Melissa looked up at me with a wicked grin. "Not yet." She said, giving the underside of my glans the slightest of licks. I shivered at the contact. I was so close. She watched me intently, giving me another tiny lick now and then, keeping me right at the brink. I couldn't speak, couldn't breathe. Almost involuntarily, I grasped the back of her head, pulling her mouth over me. She didn't resist and sucked with renewed vigor. Her eyes seemed to suggest that she had been waiting for me to make her continue, that she had wanted me to take what I wanted. Melissa massaged my balls as I came. My legs nearly gave out, as I filled her mouth with my seed. Four, five, six strong spurts. It felt like the entire content of my balls was shooting into her. Her eyes showed her joy at what she was able to do to me. She took me out of her mouth and ran her hands up my chest as she stood slowly. I reached out and grabbed her, quickly pulled her up the last bit, and locked my mouth with hers. She hadn't swallowed this time, and I could tell that I had indeed cum much more than usual. We moaned softly as we kissed, sharing my hot cum back and forth. When finally it was gone, we broke to catch our breath. Melissa looked at me with a sly smile. "If I am your warrior queen, then you are my king. A king is fierce and confident, and isn't afraid to take what he wants." "I want you. All of you." I squeezed her ass, pulling her hips tightly against me. She sighed with pleasure as my still-hard cock pressed against the satin of her thong. I whispered into her ear. "I'm going to make you cum with my tongue. Then I'm going to make you cum on my fingers. I'm going to make you cum again, and again, and again, until you're a sweaty, sticky, twitching mess." As I spoke, her breathing became heavier. She was practically panting in anticipation. "After that, I'm going to bury my cock deep inside you, and make love to you, and not stop until I physically can't do it anymore. That is what I desire." When our eyes met again, the look of love and passion I saw was so raw, so pure and powerful, that it burned itself into my memory. From that moment, whenever I thought about the way Melissa looked at me, I remembered that one look first and foremost. "My king will have what he demands." She whispered. I led her to our bed and carried through on my promise. How many times did I make her cum while eating her? Honestly, I lost track after the first few. One orgasm rolled into the next, and into the next, until she was indeed a sweaty, sticky, quivering mess. When I finally entered her, I paced myself, pumping hard into her at times, and slowing or even stopping inside her at others. I wanted to make it last as long as I could while making her cum as many times as possible. We switched positions many times. When I would start to get tired, she would roll me onto my back and ride me until she came again, then we would switch positions, all without my cock ever leaving her hot and silky wetness. I ended up cumming inside her twice, and though we had continued to make love, I was not able to cum a third time. We lay together on sweat-damp sheets, facing each other, limbs intertwined, and both utterly exhausted. My lips were numb from kissing, and it seemed like every muscle in my entire body was sore from exertion. Melissa giggled tiredly. "What?" I asked, finding her adorable giggle as infectious as always. "So that's what it takes to completely satisfy my sexual desire." We both laughed, and she kissed me sweetly on the lips. "I need to work on my cardio." Melissa giggled again. "It'll get easier, you just need to keep at it." Giggling with her, I quipped. "Keep at it? I thought you were completely satisfied." "For today, yes," Melissa responded, and we both laughed again. We hugged each other tightly. Melissa sighed and caressed my cheek. "Thank you." She said softly. "For?" I asked. "For giving me courage tonight. I really did enjoy wearing that costume. Not just for you, but for me. I don't think I could have done it without you." I gave her a sweet kiss. "Even though you're more brave and amazing than you give yourself credit for, I will always be right here. Whatever we face, we'll face it together." Her eyes glowed with her love. "I'll be here for you too. Forever." "Forever," I repeated, and we kissed sweetly. We both knew without a doubt that ours was a love that would last until the end of time. When we said "forever", we meant it. Neither of us had ever known anything so surely as we knew this. As thoughts of spending the rest of my life with this glorious woman passed through my mind, I drifted off to sleep in her loving arms. Chapter Fifteen. We awoke in our bed, still in each other's arms. We stretched and embraced tightly. "Good morning, my love," Melissa whispered. "Good morning, wonderful," I responded with a kiss. I knew that I wasn't alone in thinking that I could easily spend the whole day in bed, even if we did nothing but hold each other and rest, but nature was calling. We got out of bed, not bothering to put any clothes on, and headed to the bathroom. As she sat to pee, I turned on the shower, making sure it was set to Melissa's preferred temperature of just below scalding. She stood, and it was my turn to relieve myself. It occurred to me that it was likely neither of us had ever seen anyone of the opposite sex use the toilet before. We watched each other, but it wasn't weird, gross, or embarrassing. I mean, after all of our intimate contact thus far, this was nothing. But it did remind me of how thoroughly and completely we were bonded to each other. There were no secrets between us, no need for shyness or reservations. In every aspect, we were one entity. When I finished, Melissa pulled me into the shower. We washed each other, toweled off, and returned to our bedroom. Melissa went towards her dresser, obviously thinking that it was time to get dressed. I had other plans. I held her hand and stopped her near the bed. "Lay face down," I said pointing to the bed. She gave me her little smile, the one she kept just for me, and complied. I knelt over her feet and began massaging them. I massaged her legs thoroughly, enjoying her relaxed sighs. When I massaged her firm ass, I could see the moisture of her arousal seeping out of her. I bent over and kissed one of her perfect ass cheeks. Melissa giggled. "Kiss my ass." I chuckled and kissed the other cheek. I ran my fingers along the tops of her thighs, and she gasped quietly when I made contact with her wetness. While one hand rubbed her back at the base of her spine, I eased the thumb of the other into her. I slowly worked it in and out, brushing her clit with my index finger with every stroke. Before she came, I eased off and stopped. I wiped my wet fingers on my cock, and shifted forward. She arched her back in eager anticipation. I entered her slowly until I was buried as deep as I could go. Melissa moaned with satisfaction. I leaned down and planted a kiss between her shoulder blades. Whispering, I said. "I hope you don't mind if I just stay right there for a while. I'm not done with my massage yet." She made only a happy moan in response. As I began to slowly slide my cock in and out, I gripped her shoulders and began to knead her muscles. She made continuous sighs of relaxation as I worked my way down her back, all the while, keeping a steady, slow rhythm with my cock. When I reached the bottom of her spine, I pulled her waist towards me, getting that extra bit deeper with one slow thrust. Melissa moaned softly, her face buried in the pillow. My massaging hands worked their way back up to her shoulders, and I grasped them firmly, pulling myself deep into her once again. Melissa responded with another moan, slightly louder than the previous one. Again and again, my hands moved up and down her back, with each particularly deep thrust garnering an ever louder moan. I loved how much Melissa was enjoying what I was doing, her pleasure and relaxation having reached a zen-like state, but eventually, I had to face the sad reality that my arms were getting tired! I slid my hands around her waist, and down to the top of her hips, pulling myself deep inside her again, but this time I kept my hands there. I increased the speed of my thrusts, and with each one, I pulled her hips towards me. Faster and faster I pumped into her, and my balls were soon slapping wetly on the backs of her thighs. Melissa's moans became one continuous guttural exhalation, punctuated with every impact. I came hard, and breathing heavily, collapsed onto her back. I nuzzled into the back of her neck, feeling her silky hair on my face and breathing in her scent. Melissa's scent, and make no mistake, everyone has a unique scent, was something that I knew I could never find the words to describe. It was delicate, sweet without being sickly, earthy without being dirty. It was her, it was her essence, that intangible quality that makes something what it is, and I loved it. I breathed her in and sighed, planting a soft kiss on the base of her neck. To be continued in part 5. Based on a post by NewMountain80, in 6 parts, for Literotica.

Cabin Cousins: Part 4 Costumes and characters. Based on a post by NewMountain80, in 6 parts. Listen to the Podcast at Connections. We sat on the couch, as she didn't have a table we could both sit at and ate hungrily. We had both worked up quite an appetite. When we had finished eating, Melissa leaned over the back of the couch, and set our empty plates on the island counter, then cuddled up against me. "That hit the spot." She said with a sigh. "There's been a lot of that recently." Melissa giggled. "Yeah, there has, hasn't there?" We sat in silence for quite a while, just enjoying being near each other. Finally, Melissa sat up and said. "Come on, I'll show you our costumes." I followed her back to her bedroom, and she started pulling things out of a big paper bag next to her dresser. "This is yours." She said, handing me a blue police shirt and hat. "And the final touches, handcuffs, and a mustache." She handed me a pair of fuzzy pink novelty handcuffs and a fake mustache that looked like it was straight out of a seventies porn video. I laughed. "That's awesome. So I'm the cop, are you my prisoner?" "As much fun as that could be, no." Then she took her costume out of the bag. It consisted of a small light brown halter top with all kinds of colorful beads sewn onto it, a matching skirt that looked very short, and a feathered headdress. "We're the Village People?" I asked. Melissa nodded with a slightly uncertain smile. "Do you like it?" "I love it. What are Ashley and James going as?" "Ashley is the cowboy, and James is the soldier." She held up the halter top for me to see. "Ashley made this." The beadwork was pretty amazing. As I looked it over, I couldn't help but notice that Melissa still had an uncertain look on her face. "Do you... not like it?" I asked. "It's beautiful! It's just, Well, I should put it on and show you." She put a hand over my eyes. "Close your eyes, and when I tell you to open them, pretend that you aren't my lover, and I just showed up to the party. Okay?" I nodded and closed my eyes. Naturally, thoughts of what Melissa was going to look like in the outfit began to bubble in my imagination. Then the truth of it dawned on me. When I arrived at the cabin two weeks ago; and she greeted me in a dress, which I was now certain that she had worn for the sole purpose of enticing me and me alone. I have never seen her wear anything in public that wasn't baggy or loose-fitting, and not anything nearly as revealing as I imagined this costume was going to be. I knew that I had to be very careful in how I reacted. "Remember, you don't know me." Melissa reminded me. Her voice sounded like she was at the other end of the room. "Okay. Open your eyes." I did and said the first thing that came to my mind. "Wow." I looked her up and down. The halter top was cut fairly low, giving a glimpse of the inner curves of her tits. It covered her chest down to just above her navel, leaving a lot of skin on her belly, sides, and back, bare. The skirt was very short, barely covering more of her legs than my boxer briefs covered mine. The waistline sat low, leaving more skin exposed. Her long muscular legs and her toned arms were also completely bare. As much as I was struck by how stunningly sexy she looked, I could see how anxious she was about the prospect of revealing so much skin. While keeping my eyes on her, I turned my head like I was talking to someone next to me. "Who is that?" Turning my head to the other side I answered my question. "That's Melissa." Back to the other side. "Wow, she is gorgeous." My antics made Melissa giggle. "Who is she here with?" "I don't know him. Must be from out of town." "Lucky bastard." Melissa laughed, and I stepped across the small room to her, happy to have at least temporarily eased her tension. When she spoke, her smile was still strained. "It's not too much, I mean, not enough, is it?" She asked, tugging down slightly on the hem of the skirt. "It's more than a bikini." "I don't own a bikini." She said, sitting down on the edge of the bed. "It's not; I mean; I;" She was struggling to get the right words out for what she wanted to say. I sat on the bed next to her. "It's not too... slutty, is it?" She asked, staring at the floor. Gently, I put a hand on her cheek and turned her head towards me. "No. The costume isn't what makes some girls seem slutty, it's how they act while wearing the costume, and that's just not who you are." "I don't know how other girls can do it. They all seem so comfortable in their skin. I've never been, except with you." "Melissa, you are beautiful. There's no shame in letting people see that." I said, keeping my hand on her cheek, and maintaining eye contact. She stretched her legs out in front of her, her flexed muscles clearly defined. "I look like I could have been Brigitte Nielsen's stunt double in Red Sonja." I laughed. "You say that like it's a bad thing. She was a goddess." This got a smile from her. "I think you're biased." "Yes, I am. But that doesn't mean I'm wrong." She still didn't seem convinced. "You should be proud of your body. It doesn't matter what anyone else thinks. Do you like wearing it?" "Yes." She said softly, then added. "It feels really good." "You look amazing." "Everybody is going to be staring at me all night. I don't know if I can take that." She was probably right about everybody staring at her. Every guy there is going to want her and be jealous of me. Every girl is going to know that she is more beautiful than they are and be jealous of her. "It's Halloween, so pretend to be someone else. Be a girl who doesn't give a fuck about what other people think about her because she's confident in who she is. Be a girl that loves the attention, because she knows that every look is a compliment about her stunning beauty." I wasn't sure if I was saying the right things or not. She still didn't look very confident, but I could tell that she understood my intent. "I'll try." She gave me a quick kiss. "Maybe you'll find out that you like the attention, and won't have to pretend anymore." "Maybe." She smiled shyly. "I think I have to wear different panties though. I wanted to wear the red one for you but..." She stood and faced away from me, and I looked with admiration at the backs of her long, sexy legs. Then she bent over at the waist, and the short length of the skirt was pulled up, leaving nearly her entire bare ass exposed. I could see the thin satin strap of her thong running between her ass cheeks. I stood and put my hands on her ass, squeezing it. She stood upright, but I kept her from turning around. I pressed myself against her, arms around her waist, pulling her ass against the bulge in my pants. "Keep the red one on," I whispered into her ear. "It's not too much? I feel like I'm going to be showing my bare ass to everybody." "Maybe... just don't bend over like that when anyone other than me can see it." Melissa giggled cautiously. "Okay. But if I'm wearing this, then you can't stand behind me to hide that bulge the whole time. If people are going to see me, they're going to see you too." I laughed. "Deal. I can guarantee that I'm going to be hard as a rock all night." Then having an idea, I pulled away, undid my pants, and reached down inside. Melissa watched me with an amused smile. I rearranged myself so that, instead of being tucked down under between my legs, my very erect cock sat pointing down along my left leg. I fastened my pants, and with how tight they fit, the outline of my cock was clearly visible. "That's fair." Then she said mischievously. "Maybe next year you can be the cowboy, and I'll have you wear ass-less chaps. That's it, just ass-less chaps." We both laughed, and I pulled her into my arms, hugging her warmly. "I love you." "I love you." She replied. "If it gets too uncomfortable, we'll leave," I said softly. "It doesn't matter what we do, as long as we are together." I felt her nod in agreement. After a pause, she said. "Speaking of what to do, the party doesn't start for, like, six hours." "How about renting a movie, and just relaxing?" "Okay." She said, chuckling. "But I am not wearing this to the video store." We wondered the isles of the Blockbuster down the street from Melissa's apartment, indecisive on what we wanted to watch. We had both changed into comfortable jeans, but Melissa still wore the beaded halter top, albeit underneath a long padded wool coat. None of the new releases had sparked much interest, and we eventually found our way to the 'sci-fi and fantasy' section. After a few minutes, a title caught my eye. I grabbed the box off the shelf and handed it to Melissa. "Nice." She said, grinning. Ten minutes later, the opening credits began, and as Arnold Schwarzenegger rode across a mountain valley to an Ennio Morricone score, we cuddled together on Melissa's couch to watch Red Sonja. We barely spoke during the movie, both content with being close to each other and enjoying the show. At one point, as I watched her rapt attention to a sword fight, I felt a familiar feeling of awe. Melissa was my perfect woman. There wasn't a single thing about her that I would change. Well, her insecurities and self-confidence aside, but I'm working on those. The final scene played out, and the end credits rolled to more of Morricone's beautiful score. Melissa turned in my arms, facing me. "I love that movie." She gave me a sweet kiss on the lips. "And you're right, Brigitte Nielsen is a goddess." "So, what do you want to do now?" I asked suggestively. Melissa's eyes blazed with fiery passion. "What do you think I want to do?" Recalling the dialog from the final scene of the movie, I said in my best Arnold voice. "I make it a rule, never to take a woman unless she can beat me in a fair fight." Melissa grinned and continued with Brigitte Nielsen's line. "That's a challenge I might think about someday." "What about right now?" "Why not?" When Melissa said the last line of the movie, I grabbed her by the shoulders and wrestled her onto her back. In response, she twisted around and, surprising me with her strength, flipped our positions. She straddled me, pinning me face up on the couch. I have to say, after watching that particular movie, this roughhousing was hot. I could tell that Melissa thought so too. She leaned down and we kissed deeply. I looked into her blazing blue eyes. "My warrior queen will have what she demands." "Get naked. Now." She said gently, but in a tone that made it sound like a command. She inched forward, straddling higher up my chest, and giving me room to get my pants off. As I struggled to accomplish that as quickly as I could, I watched as she seductively removed her halter top. Pants and underwear off, I reached up and grasped her tits, rubbing her nipples with my thumbs. She closed her eyes and moaned quietly. Melissa slid back to straddling my hips, and tugged at my shirt, helping me get it off without having to fully sit up. Then she leaned way back between my legs, lifting her legs into the air and towards her chest as she laid her back on the couch. I got a marvelous view as she pulled her pants off, taking the red thong with them. She came back forward to straddle me again, and I began to sit up to meet her, but she put her hands on my chest, gently pushing me back down. She leaned over me, kissing me briefly on the lips, then sensually made a trail of kisses down my neck, chest, and belly. She knelt between my legs, spreading them apart. I sighed as she moved her hands up my inner thighs and caressed the freshly shaved skin around my balls. She brought her face close to my cock, and looked up at me, meeting my eyes. She pursed her lips, blew softly on my bare genitals, and smiled as I shivered. Maintaining eye contact, she grasped my cock, and lowered her mouth upon it. I gasped in pleasure as she took me in. I could see in her eyes that my reaction fueled her desire to pleasure me. I couldn't have looked away if I wanted to. There was a fierceness in her eyes that I found to be absolutely captivating. She sucked hungrily and worked her tongue on me, seemingly intent on making me cum as fast as she could. My body complied, and I was very near to cumming much quicker than I wanted. Melissa redoubled her efforts, massaging my balls as she sucked harder. Her eyes seemed to scream "Cum for me! Cum for your warrior queen!" My hips bucked as I came suddenly, and I felt her hum in satisfaction as I filled her mouth with my seed. Melissa milked my cock for the last few drops of my cum, still holding my eyes with hers. She took me out of her mouth, and I saw her swallow. She leaned down over me with a satisfied smile. "That one was all mine." She purred, before kissing me. I was still amazed at how quickly she had made me cum, and held her tight as we kissed. She still had this new fierceness in her eyes when she pulled away slightly. "Now it's my turn." She moved up, straddling my face. As she lowered herself onto my awaiting mouth, she rested her chest over the couch's armrest. Melissa moaned loudly as I closed my mouth over her and my tongue began to explore. I loved the taste of her and loved how her body responded to my attention. She pressed herself down onto me, and I had to push up against her with my hands to keep her from smothering me. My hands pushed against her where the backs of her thighs met her ass, just on either side of her pussy. Her moans got louder when I pushed my hands to the sides, spreading her pussy open. My tongue attacked her with renewed vigor, and her body complied with my urgent desire to make her cum as quickly as she had made me. Her juices gushed into my mouth, and I swallowed greedily. "Yes!" She exclaimed as she tensed, right on the edge of climax. I pressed my tongue broadly over her clit, and with quick circular motions, pushed her over the edge. As she tensed and spasmed uncontrollably, I left her overly sensitive clit alone and eased down the intensity with which I ate her. She pulled herself off of me, and moved back down into my arms, straddling my waist once again. Our mouths met, and we kissed deeply, with Melissa still twitching occasionally. We stopped to catch our breath and Melissa said. "Tasting myself on you is hot." I nodded in agreement and licked a bit of saliva off of her lips. She smiled and licked my chin, which was still soaking wet from eating her. "Did I satisfy my warrior queen to her liking?" I asked, deciding to continue our Red Sonja-inspired role play. "Oh yes," She replied with a feral grin. "You did very well. But you should know by now, that I always need more." Our eyes locked, and she reached down, finding my cock. She raised her hips slightly and lowered herself down onto me. I groaned in pleasure as I felt her silky warmth envelop me. She kissed me briefly, then sat up. She smiled down at me and wiggled her hips. When I tried to sit up, she gently, but firmly pushed me back down flat. Sensing that she wanted to be in total control, I put my hands behind my head. She gyrated her hips slowly, and I stared up at her, marveling at how unbelievably sexy she looked. She arched her back towards me, drawing me out of her, then sank onto me again as she transitioned to arching her back away from me. Like the rhythmic crashing of waves, her body undulated in a fluid motion that started with her shoulders and ended with her hips. Each sensual motion pulled me out of her, then brought me deeply back inside. I watched in awe, as she writhed on top of me. "You are a goddess!" I managed to say between gasped breaths. When she arched her back towards me, her flawless skin pulled tight, and I could see her abdominal muscles and the outline of her ribs. Her pale pink nipples were erect on her perfect tits. She brought her hands to her tits and squeezed them sensually as she continued to fuck me. I could see by the gleam in her eyes that she was enjoying giving me this show, maybe as much as I was enjoying watching her. Even though I had cum, really just a few minutes before, I could feel that I wasn't going to last much longer. Melissa stopped her forward and back motion and leaned way back, supporting herself with her hands on the couch next to my knees. She began thrusting her hips forward and back, burying me deep inside her every time. She quickly increased her pace, bouncing her firm ass against my hips. Seeing my cock slide in and out of her, and watching the muscles of her thighs and belly flex as she drove herself onto me was too much to withstand, and I was seconds away from cumming. Without the close full-body contact that we usually had, I wasn't sure how close to cumming she was, so I broke the unspoken rule of the session and brought my hands to her. I pressed my hands against her inner thighs, alongside her pussy. I rubbed her clit between my fingertips. She must have been close because, with an exclamation of primal ecstasy, she came almost immediately from my touch. Her vagina clamped tightly around my cock, and I grunted loudly as I emptied my balls into her. We both held still for a moment, breathing hard. She grabbed my hand, and I pulled her forward, sitting up to meet her. We wrapped our arms around each other and kissed hungrily. Melissa made needy moans as she ground her mouth against mine. We kissed for a long time, our need for each other seemingly inexhaustible. Finally, we broke apart, gasping for breath. We caressed each other's faces as we stared into each other's eyes. The fierceness she had shown in our passion was still there, but it was tempered now after our mutual release. Watching that particular movie had awakened something inside her, something that I found unbelievably attractive. Once again, I found myself in a state of utter awe of this woman. "You are amazing," I said, knowing that the words were inadequate to express my feelings. Melissa smiled, then looked a little self-conscious. "I didn't go too far with being in control did I?" I kissed her. "Not at all. I thought it was really hot." She looked relieved and kissed me back. "It felt really good." I could tell that it had felt really good for her to be in control. It must be liberating for her to have the desire to be in control, and be called amazing when she acted it out. Traditionally, men were in control, particularly in the bedroom. Society traditionally expected women to just follow the lead of their partner. It was one of those things that just was. Well, fuck tradition, we would do whatever felt right. This isn't the nineteen-fifties. Besides, we were already breaking one societal norm, being second cousins madly in love, what's one more? It felt good for her to take control, and honestly, she could have taken it much farther, and I would have still loved it. "It did." I agreed. "I like this side of you." "What side?" She asked, turning one direction, then the other playfully. She asked the question playfully, yes, but I could see that she was anxious about what I was going to say. There was a part of her that was exceedingly fragile to criticism right now, having opened up and let go of an inhibition. "The warrior queen," I responded in a gentle, but serious tone. "She's fierce and confident, and isn't afraid to take what she wants." Melissa didn't say anything, so I continued. "The world needs to see more of this part of you." Then hastily added. "Not in a sexual way, of course." Melissa giggled and then kissed me. "You are all that I want." She flexed her pelvic floor muscles, and I felt her pussy squeeze my cock tightly. I flexed my own, causing my cock to twitch inside of her. We smiled at each other. "I am yours," I said, kissing her. I laid back down, pulling her down on top of me. She sighed in contentment and rested her weight on my chest, nuzzling my neck. We stayed like that for a while, and I could tell that she was beginning to fall asleep. I shifted and urged her to sit up. I stood, and she took my offered hand, following me to her bedroom. We cuddled up under the covers, and both quickly fell asleep. Chapter Fourteen. We woke refreshed from our nap and got dressed in our costumes. Soon we were in my pickup heading to the house where the party was being held. I glanced at Melissa as I drove, and she seemed to be unaware that I wasn't taking the most direct route. We were only a few minutes away from Melissa's apartment, when I turned into the parking lot of the Duluth location of the big box home improvement store I worked for. Butterflies filled my stomach as I prepared myself to set into motion the plan I had devised in the shower earlier that day. "I've got to go in here for a few minutes," I said, parking my truck, but leaving it running. "Ok, I'll be here," Melissa replied with a smile. I smiled back at her, leaned over to give her a quick kiss, and got out of the truck. I walked into the store with purpose. I got back twenty minutes later. Sitting behind the wheel, I looked over at Melissa with a huge grin on my face. She gave me a slightly confused look. "What did you need to get here?" "I have a surprise for you," I said, still unable to stop from smiling. "What is it?" Melissa asked. I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. What I had just done, marked a turning point, one of those moments in your life where your life will never be the same again. "I just spoke with the yard manager, then with the store manager, and... as of two weeks from right now, I'll be working out of this store." It took a moment for Melissa to process what I said, her mouth fell open and her eyes began to glisten with the promise of tears. I nodded in silent confirmation, and she threw herself across the bench seat into my arms. We hugged tightly and kissed. I felt her joyful tears against my face. "Of course, this all depends on if you're okay with having a roommate..." Melissa laughed, her happiness nearly overwhelming her. "Am I okay? Charles, this is a dream come true!" We kissed again, then rested our foreheads together as we gazed into each other's eyes. Nothing on earth could have taken the smiles off our faces. We glanced over as an old grey-haired couple walked past my truck. They watched us as they passed, smiling at our display of joy and affection. The man put his arm around the woman, pulling her close as they walked and they smiled lovingly at each other. Melissa and I returned our gazes to each other, and we knew that we were both thinking the same thing. That was going to be us someday. A lifetime of love and experiences awaited us, and neither of us could imagine any other way we would want to spend our lives than with each other. On the drive to the party, Melissa sat in the middle of my truck's bench seat, and in between gear shifts, I rested my hand on her inner thigh. I would glance in her direction now and then as I drove, but Melissa never took her eyes off of me. The way she was looking at me made my heart glow. I loved her so much, and knowing that my love was returned, every bit of it and more, was almost enough to make a guy weep with joy. I parked on the street up the block from the party. I shut the truck off and turned to face Melissa. She wrapped her arms around me and we kissed deeply. "I love you." She whispered. "I love you," I whispered back. I put a hand to her face and she leaned into my palm as I caressed her cheek. "Are you ready?" She nodded. "As much as I need to be making love to you in our bed right now, I want to do this." Our bed, she had said. I liked that. Melissa smiled at me, knowing that I had picked up on her deliberate word usage. I helped her out of the truck, making sure nobody saw more of her than was appropriate, even though she was still wearing her long coat that covered her down past her knees. We walked up to the house and rang the bell. As we waited, side by side, hand in hand, I said. "I'll be right here next to you the whole time, my warrior queen." She smiled lovingly at me, and I saw any faint trace of self-doubt leave her. She took a deep breath and stood a little straighter, chin raised. The door opened and we were greeted by Ashley's older sister, Debbie, who was hosting the party. "Melissa! I'm glad you could make it. I haven't seen you in forever." Debbie was five years older than Ashley and had moved out of their parent's house four years ago. Her husband's name was Chris, and apparently, he was some kind of Dot Com hotshot. I believed it, as their house was huge, and they both had expensive German sports cars parked in their driveway. Debbie took our coats, and we began to mingle, soon finding Ashley and James. Ashley rushed over and gave Melissa a quick hug. "Wow, you look Amazing!" I resisted the urge to laugh when I saw James give Melissa a good head-to-toe look, and then notice me watching him. Now, I can see how guys might get pissed off by other guys checking out their girlfriends, but I saw it differently. I took it as a compliment to Melissa's stunning beauty, an opinion I wholeheartedly agreed with. Melissa made formal introductions, and I shook hands with Ashley and James in turn. When I shook James' hand, he met my eyes in what seemed like an apology for his wandering eyes. I did my best to subtly show that there was no harm done. We mingled and ate from the lavish catered buffet that Debbie and Chris had provided. I was introduced to more people than I could ever remember. Everywhere we went, eyes followed. There were lustful eyes, admiring eyes, jealous eyes, and yes, when people noticed the obvious outline of my perpetually hard cock barely restrained by my pants, laughing eyes. I didn't care at all about any of our observers, or what they thought about us. My eyes, and my thoughts, were for Melissa alone. I kept true to my word, never left her side all evening, and maintained nearly constant physical contact, be it an arm around her waist, a held hand, or a covert squeeze of an ass cheek. For her part, she seemed to particularly enjoy rubbing her ass against my groin right before we talked to somebody new, or were going to walk anywhere, and when my arm was around her, she had a hand in my back pocket. Again, I didn't care that everyone there saw my arousal. I honestly believed that it would be more out of place to have such a gorgeous woman at my arm all night, and not be constantly turned on. Through it all, Melissa was amazing. She never showed the least bit of self-consciousness or anxiety. I knew she saw how everyone watched her, and as the night went on, I began to believe that she was genuinely enjoying the attention. Our costumes were a hit, not just Melissa's, but the four of us as a group. Everyone cheered as Melissa and I, and Ashley and James, got up and danced when YMCA was played. We each had a glass of the strongly spiked punch, but neither of us had the desire to get drunk. We seemed to be the exception though. As the party began to wind down, intoxicated couples could be found making out on couches and comfy chairs, with one pair doing a little more than make out under the billiards table. Ashley was one of those who had way too much to drink, and we said our goodbyes as James helped her up the stairs to a guest room that Debbie and Chris had reserved for them. Melissa's eyes met mine, and I saw her fierce need for me shining bright. As much as we both wanted to strip down and fuck like rabbits right then and there, we both agreed silently that we had reached the extent of our exhibitionism. We said goodbye, thanked Debbie and Chris, who were quite intoxicated themselves, and left. The night air was heavy in a way that hinted at impending snowfall, and the wind blew cold and humid off of Lake Superior. Melissa held her coat tightly around herself as we rushed to my truck. Once in the truck and moving, I revved the engine more than I usually did to get the engine up to temp a little faster. The air from the vents soon turned warm, and Melissa opened her coat. She was sitting next to me again, with one leg on either side of the shifter. She had let her skirt ride up, and between gear shifts, I rested my hand between her legs, gently rubbing her with my fingertips through her satin thong. She had a hand on my crotch, and slowly stroked me through my pants. The trip back was fairly short, only about ten miles. Halfway there I asked her. "Why does it seem like it's taking forever to get back to your apartment?" "Our apartment." Melissa reminded me with a smile. I glanced at her with a grin. I did like the sound of that. "It's because neither of us can wait until this beautiful cock of yours is inside me." She gave my cock a squeeze to accentuate her words. When we neared her, our apartment, she said in a casual tone that was betrayed by the lustful intensity with which she was looking at me. "When that door closes, you'll have about ten seconds to get naked before I start tearing these clothes off of you." Turns out, she didn't even give me that long. As I bumped my back against the door to push it all the way closed, Melissa attacked my belt, getting it unbuckled with amazing quickness. Before I knew it, my pants were around my ankles and Melissa was on her knees taking me into her mouth. I could do nothing but moan and lean against the door as she implemented every trick she had learned so far. My legs felt wobbly as she expertly brought all of the evening's pent-up sexual energy to the fore. I looked down and met the fierce eyes of my warrior queen. In mere moments, she had brought me to the verge of orgasm. I was just seconds away from cumming, when she stopped, taking me out of her mouth. The sudden absence of sensation took my breath away. Melissa looked up at me with a wicked grin. "Not yet." She said, giving the underside of my glans the slightest of licks. I shivered at the contact. I was so close. She watched me intently, giving me another tiny lick now and then, keeping me right at the brink. I couldn't speak, couldn't breathe. Almost involuntarily, I grasped the back of her head, pulling her mouth over me. She didn't resist and sucked with renewed vigor. Her eyes seemed to suggest that she had been waiting for me to make her continue, that she had wanted me to take what I wanted. Melissa massaged my balls as I came. My legs nearly gave out, as I filled her mouth with my seed. Four, five, six strong spurts. It felt like the entire content of my balls was shooting into her. Her eyes showed her joy at what she was able to do to me. She took me out of her mouth and ran her hands up my chest as she stood slowly. I reached out and grabbed her, quickly pulled her up the last bit, and locked my mouth with hers. She hadn't swallowed this time, and I could tell that I had indeed cum much more than usual. We moaned softly as we kissed, sharing my hot cum back and forth. When finally it was gone, we broke to catch our breath. Melissa looked at me with a sly smile. "If I am your warrior queen, then you are my king. A king is fierce and confident, and isn't afraid to take what he wants." "I want you. All of you." I squeezed her ass, pulling her hips tightly against me. She sighed with pleasure as my still-hard cock pressed against the satin of her thong. I whispered into her ear. "I'm going to make you cum with my tongue. Then I'm going to make you cum on my fingers. I'm going to make you cum again, and again, and again, until you're a sweaty, sticky, twitching mess." As I spoke, her breathing became heavier. She was practically panting in anticipation. "After that, I'm going to bury my cock deep inside you, and make love to you, and not stop until I physically can't do it anymore. That is what I desire." When our eyes met again, the look of love and passion I saw was so raw, so pure and powerful, that it burned itself into my memory. From that moment, whenever I thought about the way Melissa looked at me, I remembered that one look first and foremost. "My king will have what he demands." She whispered. I led her to our bed and carried through on my promise. How many times did I make her cum while eating her? Honestly, I lost track after the first few. One orgasm rolled into the next, and into the next, until she was indeed a sweaty, sticky, quivering mess. When I finally entered her, I paced myself, pumping hard into her at times, and slowing or even stopping inside her at others. I wanted to make it last as long as I could while making her cum as many times as possible. We switched positions many times. When I would start to get tired, she would roll me onto my back and ride me until she came again, then we would switch positions, all without my cock ever leaving her hot and silky wetness. I ended up cumming inside her twice, and though we had continued to make love, I was not able to cum a third time. We lay together on sweat-damp sheets, facing each other, limbs intertwined, and both utterly exhausted. My lips were numb from kissing, and it seemed like every muscle in my entire body was sore from exertion. Melissa giggled tiredly. "What?" I asked, finding her adorable giggle as infectious as always. "So that's what it takes to completely satisfy my sexual desire." We both laughed, and she kissed me sweetly on the lips. "I need to work on my cardio." Melissa giggled again. "It'll get easier, you just need to keep at it." Giggling with her, I quipped. "Keep at it? I thought you were completely satisfied." "For today, yes," Melissa responded, and we both laughed again. We hugged each other tightly. Melissa sighed and caressed my cheek. "Thank you." She said softly. "For?" I asked. "For giving me courage tonight. I really did enjoy wearing that costume. Not just for you, but for me. I don't think I could have done it without you." I gave her a sweet kiss. "Even though you're more brave and amazing than you give yourself credit for, I will always be right here. Whatever we face, we'll face it together." Her eyes glowed with her love. "I'll be here for you too. Forever." "Forever," I repeated, and we kissed sweetly. We both knew without a doubt that ours was a love that would last until the end of time. When we said "forever", we meant it. Neither of us had ever known anything so surely as we knew this. As thoughts of spending the rest of my life with this glorious woman passed through my mind, I drifted off to sleep in her loving arms. Chapter Fifteen. We awoke in our bed, still in each other's arms. We stretched and embraced tightly. "Good morning, my love," Melissa whispered. "Good morning, wonderful," I responded with a kiss. I knew that I wasn't alone in thinking that I could easily spend the whole day in bed, even if we did nothing but hold each other and rest, but nature was calling. We got out of bed, not bothering to put any clothes on, and headed to the bathroom. As she sat to pee, I turned on the shower, making sure it was set to Melissa's preferred temperature of just below scalding. She stood, and it was my turn to relieve myself. It occurred to me that it was likely neither of us had ever seen anyone of the opposite sex use the toilet before. We watched each other, but it wasn't weird, gross, or embarrassing. I mean, after all of our intimate contact thus far, this was nothing. But it did remind me of how thoroughly and completely we were bonded to each other. There were no secrets between us, no need for shyness or reservations. In every aspect, we were one entity. When I finished, Melissa pulled me into the shower. We washed each other, toweled off, and returned to our bedroom. Melissa went towards her dresser, obviously thinking that it was time to get dressed. I had other plans. I held her hand and stopped her near the bed. "Lay face down," I said pointing to the bed. She gave me her little smile, the one she kept just for me, and complied. I knelt over her feet and began massaging them. I massaged her legs thoroughly, enjoying her relaxed sighs. When I massaged her firm ass, I could see the moisture of her arousal seeping out of her. I bent over and kissed one of her perfect ass cheeks. Melissa giggled. "Kiss my ass." I chuckled and kissed the other cheek. I ran my fingers along the tops of her thighs, and she gasped quietly when I made contact with her wetness. While one hand rubbed her back at the base of her spine, I eased the thumb of the other into her. I slowly worked it in and out, brushing her clit with my index finger with every stroke. Before she came, I eased off and stopped. I wiped my wet fingers on my cock, and shifted forward. She arched her back in eager anticipation. I entered her slowly until I was buried as deep as I could go. Melissa moaned with satisfaction. I leaned down and planted a kiss between her shoulder blades. Whispering, I said. "I hope you don't mind if I just stay right there for a while. I'm not done with my massage yet." She made only a happy moan in response. As I began to slowly slide my cock in and out, I gripped her shoulders and began to knead her muscles. She made continuous sighs of relaxation as I worked my way down her back, all the while, keeping a steady, slow rhythm with my cock. When I reached the bottom of her spine, I pulled her waist towards me, getting that extra bit deeper with one slow thrust. Melissa moaned softly, her face buried in the pillow. My massaging hands worked their way back up to her shoulders, and I grasped them firmly, pulling myself deep into her once again. Melissa responded with another moan, slightly louder than the previous one. Again and again, my hands moved up and down her back, with each particularly deep thrust garnering an ever louder moan. I loved how much Melissa was enjoying what I was doing, her pleasure and relaxation having reached a zen-like state, but eventually, I had to face the sad reality that my arms were getting tired! I slid my hands around her waist, and down to the top of her hips, pulling myself deep inside her again, but this time I kept my hands there. I increased the speed of my thrusts, and with each one, I pulled her hips towards me. Faster and faster I pumped into her, and my balls were soon slapping wetly on the backs of her thighs. Melissa's moans became one continuous guttural exhalation, punctuated with every impact. I came hard, and breathing heavily, collapsed onto her back. I nuzzled into the back of her neck, feeling her silky hair on my face and breathing in her scent. Melissa's scent, and make no mistake, everyone has a unique scent, was something that I knew I could never find the words to describe. It was delicate, sweet without being sickly, earthy without being dirty. It was her, it was her essence, that intangible quality that makes something what it is, and I loved it. I breathed her in and sighed, planting a soft kiss on the base of her neck. To be continued in part 5. Based on a post by NewMountain80, in 6 parts, for Literotica.

This week we're replaying some of our favorite episodes on the ice. In this episode from January 2020, we celebrate the Zamboni, and the guy who both invented it and gave the machine its name. Plus: the U.P. Supply Co. calculates out just what it would take to give the Zamboni treatment to the greatest of the great lakes, Lake Superior. Making Ice Nice Since 1949: A Brief History of the Zamboni (Mental Floss)It'd take 693 years to resurface Lake Superior with a Zamboni, study says (Detroit Free Press)It only takes a few minutes to back Cool Weird Awesome on Patreon! 

Something strange stirs in the cold, dark waters of Lake Superior. Author and explorer Chad Lewis joins us to share tales from his new book Supernatural Lake Superior. From ghost ships that vanish into the mist to monstrous serpents seen from the shore, the world's largest freshwater lake hides more mysteries than you might imagine. We also explore haunted lighthouses, eerie campgrounds, and legends that predate modern history. Chad takes us along the rugged shorelines and deep waters that have inspired centuries of folklore, blending history and the supernatural into a fascinating look at one of North America's most haunted regions. You'll think twice the next time you gaze across that endless water… wondering what might be looking back. You can find Chad's book at Amazon: https://www.chadlewisresearch.com/ Thanks Chad! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Send us a textA hiking-and-biking escape on Lake Superior collides with a neon-lit Vegas weekend—and it all funnels into a glass of Widow Jane Vaults 2024. We open with two very different trips that reveal how our tastes and habits have evolved: early mornings over late nights and a sportsbook booth that turns 50 screens into a day-long living room. That perspective sets up a timely shift into the fall whiskey calendar, where the shelves swell, rumors fly, and the chase begins: Buffalo Trace Antique Collection specs, Pappy drops, King of Kentucky whispers, and the finding time for Kentucky Bourbon Festival next year.Then we roll up our sleeves for a focused pour. Widow Jane Vaults 2024 blends well-aged Kentucky, Indiana, and Tennessee bourbon and finishes it in Brazilian oak (amburana), clocking in at 99 proof with a premium $250 tag. We break down what an amburana wood cask brings—baking spice, liqueur-like sweetness, darker cocoa threads—and how that finish can dominate the experience. On the nose we find dried fruit and amaretto hints; on the palate a quick burst of caramelized sweetness gives way to a long, assertive spice and nuttiness. One of us loves the richness and length; the other wants more evolution at the end. Our verdict: a compelling pour for the curious, a cautious bottle buy unless wood-forward finishes are your thing.Along the way, we trade practical tips for navigating release season, from spotting value on crowded shelves to deciding when to pay up for age and when to pass. If your heart lives with classic profiles from Heaven Hill, Wild Turkey, Maker's Mark, or Old Forester, consider this a creative detour. If you chase distinctive finishes and limited series, this might be your fall splurge. Either way, we keep it honest, grounded, and fun—because the best part of whiskey is still who you share it with.If you enjoyed the ride, follow the show, share it with a friend, and leave a quick review telling us your favorite fall release and whether you'd buy or just try the Widow Jane Vaults.

Ep 90: Using Art to Process Climate Anxiety and Loss: Katherine Seichen RosingSummary of the episodeIn this deeply personal conversation, Madison-based artist Katherine Steichen Rosing shares how she uses immersive installations and abstract paintings to explore climate anxiety, environmental loss, and the intricate connections between forests and watersheds. Katherine opens up about processing grief through art—from losing her mother to witnessing climate change's impact on the landscapes she loves. She discusses her journey from childhood camping trips around Lake Superior to creating large-scale installations that examine carbon cycles, water systems, and atmospheric rivers. This episode offers insight into how artists can channel eco-anxiety into meaningful creative work while addressing urgent environmental issues through beauty and immersion.Chapters:• 00:25 - Exploring the Connections Between Art and Nature• 05:26 - The Connection Between Nature and Art• 12:25 - The Interconnectedness of Trees• 13:25 - The Importance of Trees in Urban Life• 22:24 - The Artistic Process: Navigating Uncertainty• 27:46 - The Impact of Climate Spirits on Art• 31:23 - Exploring Residencies and Nature's Influence on Art• 39:30 - Navigating Artistic Challenges• 45:39 - Exploring the Artist's Mind: Decisions and Vulnerability• 49:54 - Environmental Awareness and Individual ActionTopics discussed:Processing personal loss and climate anxiety through environmental artThe deep connections between forests, watersheds, and natural cyclesCreating immersive installations that help viewers experience nature's systemsHow childhood experiences in nature shaped Katherine's artistic practiceThe role of beauty in addressing complex ecological issuesWorking with scientists during artist residencies at Trout Lake and St. Croix WatershedAtmospheric rivers, drought, and changing precipitation patternsTrusting your artistic instincts and working through creative uncertaintyIndividual actions we can take to address climate changeThe interconnectedness of trees and forest ecosystemsAll about Katherine Steichen Rosing:Katherine Steichen Rosing creates immersive installations and intricate abstract paintings that explore environmental processes linking forests and watersheds, including the carbon and water cycles. Based in Madison, Wisconsin, her work has been exhibited in museums and galleries across the United States and abroad. She has received numerous grants and awards, including the Forward Art Prize and the Madison Arts Commission/Wisconsin Arts Board Individual Artist Fellowship. She earned an MFA in painting and drawing from Northern Illinois University, taught at universities and colleges in Madison and Chicago, and is represented by Kim Storage Gallery in Milwaukee and Groveland Gallery in Minneapolis.Resources mentioned in this episodeSusan Simard - Researcher studying how trees communicate and interconnect through root systemsTrout Lake Research Station - Artist residency location in northern WisconsinSt. Croix Watershed Research Station - Science-based artist residencyPouch Cove Foundation - Artist residency in Newfoundland, CanadaARC Gallery - Chicago gallery collective that pioneered installation art spacesGreta Thunberg - Climate activist mentioned regarding individual actionUpcoming exhibitionsSolo Exhibition at K. Stecker Gallery, Ripon College, Ripon, WisconsinOpens: October 17, 2025Artist Talk: October 17,...

Don't Whistle at Night welcomes back Chris Archer October 5th, 2025 EP: 24 Topic: Occult Rituals, Mark of The Beast System, Occult Tech, AI and Trans-humanism Connections and much more! About Chris Archer:Born in Toronto Ontario Canada, into an Occult Family, Chris grew up an Acolyte in the Occult Questioning his own history, as his Indigenous roots purposefully being kept from him until he was a young teen. As a teen, he hitchhiked to British Columbia Canada where he met and lived on the Head of the Lake Reservation to learn about his Okanagan Indigenous Heritage There, He visited with his Great Grandfather who was the Medicine Man and was treated and accepted whole heartedly by those Relation there, as his Great Grandfather "expected" him, although he was a stranger when he arrived. A life long researcher into the Occult, UFOs, Bigfoot and the Global Flood/ Giant Narrative, Chris has been a guest on Will Jevnings Creek Devil many times recounting and discussing his own Bigfoot encounters and the possibilities of these elusive creatures. Chris has also given many talks regarding Theology and Prophecy, North Americas Hidden History, Indigenous Cryptids like the Little People, Bigfoot and Wendigo, Agawa of Lake Superior and the hidden Occult agendas that have played out thru the ages, hidden in plain sight from Europe to the Americas.

  Tribes along Great Lakes get new climate change impact guide   Oneida Nation honors Stevens with funeral services and procession   Murkowski confirms stopgap funding for 14 tribal stations in Alaska  

That fateful night, Elisabeth's usual night nurse had taken ill, causing her recently retired nurse, Velma Pietela, to come out of retirement for the night. It is said that Velma's husband had a strange feeling about her going to Glensheen and implored her to stay home; but Velma – likely feeling a sense of duty to Elisabeth – ignored his pleas … a decision that would cost her … her life …This is episode 63 of the Haunted UK Podcast, and in this episode, we flock to America and the innermost point of Lake Superior to a very specific location – Glensheen Mansion in Duluth, Minnesota.Do you have an interesting story which you'd be willing to share with the show? If so, your story could feature in our end of season Listeners' Stories episodes. Please get in touch with the show via our new Haunted UK Podcast Website, or email us at contactus@hauntedukpodcast.com, marking the subject as Listener Story.All stories are treated with the utmost privacy and respect – if you wish to remain anonymous – that's no problem at all. Please check out our  Haunted UK Podcast Patreon page or Ko-fi  to support the show and gain access to reams of bonus content such as our exclusive series ‘Tour Haunts' and the back catalogue of the extended interview series ‘Talk Haunts'– PLUS an EXTRA  episode a month (!!) Also available are early ad-free episodes and lots more. Thank you so much for supporting us here at Haunted UK Podcast – we can't wait for you to listen – and join our growing community!We're waiting for your stories ...You can support us and follow us for updates at:Patreon: Haunted UK Podcast PatreonKo-fi: https://ko-fi.com/hauntedukpodcastWebsite: https://hauntedukpodcast.com/Instagram: Haunted UK PodcastFacebook: FacebookTwitter/X: @hauntedukpodTik-Tok: Tik-TokThis episode was:Written and presented by: Steve HollowayProduced by: Pink Flamingo Home Studio. Follow the studio on Instagram . For further details on mixing, mastering and recording services, please email pinkflamingo.musicproductions@hotmail.comScript edited and proofread by: Marie Waller.For more information on Marie's copywriting, editing and proofreading services, please contact Marie at mariewaller.proofreading@gmail.com You can also find Marie on Instagram and Substack. If supernatural fiction is also your style, please check out our recently launched sister podcast Haunted UK Fiction. For further details and updates, you can follow the show on Instagram.  If you're an established or budding writer, and you have a well-curated supernatural-themed fictional story – we would love to hear from you – please submit your work for consideration at  hauntedukfiction@hotmail.com.Thank you again for listening to and supporting the Haunted UK Podcast – so until the next episode ... take care … and stay safe.

We're live at Skift with a builder proving the future isn't generic search; it's purpose-built marketplaces for travelers who already know their stay type—a lake house. I'm Zach, and today I'm joined by David Ciccarelli, co-founder of lake.com. After a startup exit during the pandemic, David and his wife (and co-founder) Stephanie bought a lake house—he grew up on Lake Superior, she on Lake Erie. A few months in, they hosted a 25-person family reunion to put the place to use—and that's when the opportunity snapped into focus: the nearby hotel was priced for peak season, and the close-enough rentals you'd want for a shared trip weren't surfacing. Conversations with local trades who service waterfront homes confirmed the pattern—plenty of beautiful, generational places sitting unused most of the year.   Instead of optimizing for everyone, David optimized for the traveler who already knows the experience they want. He acquired lake.com, built discovery around thousands of lakes and parks, and set a simple rule—on the water or within 15 minutes—so results stay on-vibe. On the back end, he scaled supply by integrating directly with property management systems so calendars and pricing stay in sync; on the business side, he kept incentives clean with shared success (a flat commission only when hosts get booked). The result: a fast-growing, lake-first inventory measured in the tens of thousands. In this conversation, you'll hear: How that reunion turned a personal headache into a thematic OTA Why curated, stay-type discovery beats generic search in a GenAI world The domain-as-distribution bet behind lake.com The PMS integration play that actually scales supply (and prevents double bookings) What “within 15 minutes of the water” does for expectations, filters, and conversion   Explore Lake.com at, you guested it... www.lake.com ;) Connect with David on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidciccarelli/   Behind the Stays is brought to you by Journey — a first-of-its-kind loyalty program that brings together an alliance of the world's top independently owned and operated stays and allows travelers to earn points and perks on boutique hotels, vacation rentals, treehouses, ski chalets, glamping experiences and so much more. Your host is Zach Busekrus, Head of the Journey Alliance. If you are a hospitality entrepreneur who has a stay, or a collection of stays with soul, we'd love for you to apply to join our Alliance at journey.com/alliance.

An administrative law judge is weighing a proposal by Canadian company Enbridge to reroute its Line 5 pipeline through northern Wisconsin, as the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa and environmental experts warn of lasting damage to wetlands and waterways that flow into Lake Superior.

https://themellow.substack.com/See the video version of this meditation on my youtube channel. https://youtu.be/poaS0VW0CuIYou can also find my interpretation of the Dao De Jing, called The Mellow Way, as an ebook at https://saintdudeproductions.gumroad.com/We're here at Mount Ojibwe. On Isle Royale—Minong, I believe the Ojibwe people called it, meaning the good place. In the middle of Lake Superior.Thank you for joining me for our second video episode of the Peace Project Meditations.Meditation is a skill we can all practice to cultivate peace, reduce stress, relieve anxiety, or simply explore what it means to be alive and aware. Meditations are best practiced in a space where you can feel free to lose your normal awareness of your surroundings for 10 to 15 minutes. You can still gain by practicing even if that's not possible where you are.So often I'm ablaze with frustrations or anger because things didn't go my way. Something you'll notice in meditation is that much like fire, if you just stop feeding emotions they'll go out.

Our destination is Canada's Lake Superior Marine Conservation Area for giant coaster brook trout—3,800 square miles of crystal-clear water and steep, rocky drop-offs hiding the biggest brook trout on earth.   Joining me is author, guide, and Great Lakes expert Jerry Darkes, who gives us a whirlwind tour of fly fishing the Great Lakes and a deep dive into where, how, and when to find these genetically supercharged brookies.   Jerry's been fishing the Great Lakes for 50 years and this remote area for 15.  Today he shares his strategies on sinking lines and tag-teaming for big fish, plus top flies and the logistics of getting there. And as a bonus, Jerry dishes out smallmouth hotspots, flats fishing for carp, and even lake trout and pike bulldogging in the shallows. With host Steve Haigh Be the first to know about new episodes.  Become a subscriber  Destination Angler on YouTube Contact Jerry:    https://jerrydarkes.com/ Instagram @jerrydarkes  Facebook @jerry.darkes Destination Angler Podcast:   Website YouTube Instagram & Facebook  @DestinationAnglerPodcast  Please check out our Sponsors: TroutRoutes  The #1 Mapping Resource for Trout Anglers.  Podcast listeners can try one month of TroutRoutes PRO for FREE by clicking the link in the episode description. Explore 50,000 trout streams with TroutRoutes today.   Get 1 Month Free   Facebook @troutinsights Instagram @TroutRoutes    High N Dry Fishing Where science and performance meet.  Check out the full lineup of floatants, line dressings, and sighter waxes at www.highndryfishingproducts.com    Facebook @highndryfishingproducts  Instagram @highndryfishing Got Fishing  Crafting world-class fly-fishing adventures specially designed to your level of experience and budget.    Facebook @GotFishingAdventures Instagram @GotFishing  Comments & Suggestions:  host, Steve Haigh, email shaigh@DestinationAnglerPodcast.com Available on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Recorded Sep 10, 2025

The paddlesports industry will thrive with young paddlers like Isabelle sharing her stoke for water and adventure. In today's episode we get to hear a bit about her guiding experiences on Lake Superior and what got her hooked on paddling! My hope is older paddlers and parents are listening on how the efforts we make to share the love of outdoors with the next generation can be life-changing! Follow Isabelle at @isabelleinthewild on IG!

Season 6: Episode 8 --The UP Notable Book Club presents Sharon Dilworth speaking about her book "To Be Marquette." The Crystal Falls Community District Library in partnership with the U.P. Publishers & Authors Association (UPPAA) presents author events with winners of the UP Notable Book List. Make sure to like and subscribe so you don't miss any future UP Notable Book Club speakers! For more information please visit the links below www.UPPAA.org www.UPNotable.com www.sharon-dilworth.com/tobemarquette SHARON DILWORTH is an award-winning novelist and short story writer whose work is deeply rooted in place, memory, and transformation. A graduate of Northern Michigan University, she now teaches creative writing at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. She is the author of three acclaimed story collections—The Long White, Women Drinking Benedictine, and Two Sides, Three Rivers—as well as the novels Year of the Ginkgo, My Riviera, and her newest release To Be Marquette (CMU Press). Her fiction has been recognized with the Iowa Short Fiction Prize, a Pushcart Prize, and grants from both the National Endowment for the Arts and the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts. In To Be Marquette, Dilworth draws on her own college years in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, weaving a heartfelt coming-of-age story of friendship, identity, and environmental activism against the breathtaking backdrop of Lake Superior.

Michiganders are well aware of the Great Lakes, the beauty and power they withhold, and the story of the Edmund Fitzgerald is one that encapsulates everything about Lake Superior. Bestselling author and award-winning speaker John U. Bacon has written a number of books, some on Michigan football, and is releasing a book on the shipwreck that happened 30 years ago, the lost lives, and more about the story than just the ship going down. He joins us on Ep. 376 for a great chat about all that and more. We're also joined by Dan Hasty, the radio voice of the West Michigan Whitecaps as the Caps are playing in the postseason after a historic regular season. Take a listen to the pod, pre-order 'The Gales of November', and keep an eye on the Whitecaps! Thanks to: Memorial Healthcare Wellness Center, Rivals Taphouse & Grille, Nelson House Funeral Home, Success Group Mortgage & Servicing, Kori Shook & Associates, AZee Branding Solutions, Jacobs Insurance, Shiawassee County Fair, Nichols Painting, SportsNet MI

Do you know where the longest off-road trail Wisconsin is located? Join Polaris Adventures Content Manager Jared Christie on a fall colors ride on the Wild Rivers State Trail. It's 100 miles of trail that takes you all the way to Lake Superior. Book your next adventure @ www.adventures.polaris.com Unless noted, trademarks are the property of Polaris Industries Inc. © 2025 Polaris Industries Inc.

Harvest Festival Director Julie Allen talks about this year's event happening on Saturday, September 6th at Bayfront in Duluth

In this episode of Ethnocynology, host David Ian Howe sits down with friend and creator North02 to dive into one of North America's most fascinating and overlooked archaeological stories—the Old Copper Culture.Together, they explore how Native communities in the Great Lakes region began shaping some of the world's earliest metal tools and weapons, thousands of years before metallurgy took hold in Europe. From massive copper swords and fishing hooks to spear throwers and intricate ornaments, this culture reveals a technological world far beyond the usual “stone tool” narrative.We discuss:Why Michigan and the Great Lakes hold the purest copper deposits in the worldHow hunter-gatherers mined and hammered copper into tools as early as 9,500 years agoThe mysterious rise and fall of copper mining, and why production suddenly stoppedConnections to Paleoindian cultures like Clovis and Agate BasinThe difference between copper use in the Americas and the Old World's Bronze AgeHow copper shifted from practical tools to symbols of power and statusAlong the way, North shares insights from his upcoming documentary on the Old Copper Culture, his hands-on experiments with copper tools, and why this forgotten chapter of prehistory deserves a place in public imagination.If you've ever wondered whether North America had its own “Copper Age”, this episode will change the way you think about early technology, innovation, and the ingenuity of ancient peoples.TranscriptsFor a rough transcript head over to: https://www.archaeologypodcastnetwork.com/ethnocynology/22Links:Great Water: The Lost Mines of Lake Superior by David P. Pompeanidavidianhowe.comDavidianhowe.com/storeArchPodNetAPN Website: https://www.archpodnet.comAPN on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/archpodnetAPN on Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/archpodnetAPN on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/archpodnetAPN ShopAffiliatesMotion

We can't turn the page on the seventeenth century without covering in depth the fascinating exploits, momentous discoveries, monumental battles, and adventurous saga of Count Frontenac and New France under Louis XIV. Frontenac (1622-98) was a French aristocrat, soldier and Governor General of New France in North America. He established a number of Forts on the shores of the Great Lakes and engaged in a series of battles against the English and the Iroquois Confederacy for control of the fur trade. Governor Frontenac's initiatives helped solidify French claims and influence stretching from Lake Superior to the Mississippi River, pushing French territorial boundaries along the future American-Canadian border and further into the interior of North America. Check out the YouTube version of this episode at https://youtu.be/kzWTHQZ_rfQ which has accompanying visuals including maps, charts, timelines, photos, illustrations, and diagrams. Frontenac books available at https://amzn.to/3HS4eZp Chateau Frontenac books at https://amzn.to/3JxbV7X French King Louis XIV books at https://amzn.to/3HGyVkr ENJOY Ad-Free content, Bonus episodes, and Extra materials when joining our growing community on https://patreon.com/markvinet SUPPORT this channel by purchasing any product on Amazon using this FREE entry LINK https://amzn.to/3POlrUD (Amazon gives us credit at NO extra charge to you). Mark Vinet's HISTORICAL JESUS podcast at https://parthenonpodcast.com/historical-jesus Mark's TIMELINE video channel: https://youtube.com/c/TIMELINE_MarkVinet Website: https://markvinet.com/podcast Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mark.vinet.9 X (Twitter): https://twitter.com/MarkVinet_HNA Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/denarynovels Mark's books: https://amzn.to/3k8qrGM Audio credit: France and England in North America by Francis Parkman, Jr. — Count Frontenac and New France under Louis XIV, Librivox read by C. Major.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

WXPR News for 8-27-25

Retirement is something that’s usually celebrated with parties and congratulations. But in farming, it doesn’t quite go like that. There are a few reasons for this, but the main one is a question of identity. If you’re not a farmer, then who are you?That question typically delays farm transitions and succession planning. University of Missouri Extension Farm Transition Specialist Wesley Tucker says there’s a way to solve this dilemma with meaningful strategies. Tucker’s career started as an economist, but he realized that family dynamics have a larger impact on farm success than even market prices. Tucker says the unknowns around a farmer’s identity after retirement can cause farmers to hold onto a farm operation, in some cases, until the day they die. This is problematic for a host of reasons, as Tucker explains in his interview with the Mid-West Farm Report. There's some shower activity near Lake Superior, but it doesn't look like a threat to an otherwise comfortable Thursday. Stu Muck says there's not much rain expected for the rest of the week, and temperatures remain moderate. Brad Solchenberger is a dairy producer from Cazenovia in Crawford County. He also is the Promotion Chair for the Wisconsin Beef Council. Brad sits on the board representing Equity Cooperative Livestock Sales Association. In this edition of Checkoff Chat, supported by Equity Cooperative, Solchenberger explains the responsibilities board members hold, and how closely analyzed and managed farmer checkoff dollars are monitored and invested. Solchenberger's completing his second 3-year term on the board. You can already feel the tempo of production agriculture picking up around the state as the harvest gets closer. Before it hits, stop and take stock in what you do or don't know about first aid. Simple things like knowing CPR, or how to stop bleeding may save someone you know, or even yourself. Kathi Hegranes is part of the Trauma Center at ThedaCare Neenah and the Fox Valley Regional Trauma Advisory Council. She says risky wounds that cause blood loss don’t just happen while people are working on the farm, but also while doing recreational activities. That's why she aims to make sure people know how to step in, for example, to stop bleeding fast. Today dairy markets are preparing for some big numbers on July milk production figures. Pam Jahnke talks with Mike North, principal with EverAg in Platteville. North says food service demand and general consumer consumption have surprised the dairy sectors with at least normal levels. His concern is that we've become comfortable in the butter space. Ample components, flexibility in pricing, manageable inventories and the holiday's yet ahead. His question - what will the fourth quarter really look like.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Dave and Chuck the Freak talk about National Radio Day, Hawaiian Pizza Day, woman reveals cheating husband by saying he tripped and fell in co-worker’s vagina, school song teaching kids about their private parts, woman calls out guys who like every single photo a woman posts when they have a girlfriend or wife, woman freaked out at airport after she didn’t make standby list 3 flights in a row, 4 girls out paddle boarding got stranded on island on Lake Superior, choir teacher met student on Grindr, mail carrier pepper spraying mail because he didn’t like dog, neighborhood fight over a tiki hut, teen from NY catches pope’s attention, planes blew out windows during an airshow practice, deputy saves runaway tortoise, sex toy store robbed and shames guy online, little league cheating investigation, MLB restaurant delivery service, man named Michael J. Fox arrested, Justin Bieber impersonator at club, Tom Cruise nearly broke his back while filming Mission: Impossible, Joan Collins’ swimsuit photo, Jamie Lee Curtis cleavage shot, Ben Stiller making Pickleball comedy movie, Austin Butler talks about building up his butt for baseball movie, Post Malone is new body for Kim Kardashian’s underwear brand, couple got into fight and drove off with him on hood, man arrested for taking upskirt photos at Walmart, more reports of pervs at colleges, cop caught on camera stealing woman’s underwear, man shot at neighbor because of loud music, woman shot at friend’s dad when he told her to leave, update on DoorDasher who had car damaged by customer, man pulled gun after he had to wait too long to use bathroom, old guy fell off his roof while he was trying to fix it, pen sites and Chuck’s feather quill pen, judge flubbed verdict in murder trial, umbrella impaled woman at beach, guy hits $17M jackpot but can’t get money, old guy got romance scammed, and more! This episode of Dave & Chuck is brought to you in part by Profluent http://bit.ly/4fhEq5l

Four women have returned to the United States after an 80-day, 1,380-mile canoe journey from Lake Superior to Hudson Bay in Canada. The group, who call themselves the “Hudson Bay Girls,” believes they are the first publicly documented all-women crew to complete the historic route.But the trip was about more than just paddling. The crew aimed to raise awareness about environmental stewardship and encourage more women to reclaim space in paddle sports.Two members of the team, Abby Cichocki and Helena Karlstrom, joined MPR News host Nina Moini to share their experience.

Wednesday morning, a committee on Capitol area security met for the first time since the shootings of two state lawmakers. MPR News politics reporter Clay Masters was at the meeting and joined the show to share what he learned about proposed safety improvements. As more immigrants in Minnesota are getting arrested to be deported, what happens to their cases after they're sent out of the country? An immigration lawyer joined us to explain. Can you believe the Minnesota State Fair starts Thursday? And the weather is looking good! We got a full forecast with MPR News meteorologist Paul Huttner. And four women are believed to be the first publicly documented all-women crew to portage a route from Lake Superior to Hudson Bay, Canada.Our Minnesota Music Minute was "Never Right" by Faith Boblett and our Song of the Day was "Living the Meme" by Lost Island Society.

Hawk has a crazy news story about girls getting rescued by the Coast Guard on Lake Superior, Sauce does the sports, the Vikings season continues to heat up and KOC has updates on some injuries See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hawk has a crazy news story about girls getting rescued by the Coast Guard on Lake Superior, Sauce does the sports, the Vikings season continues to heat up and KOC has updates on some injuries

Democrats not fighting back; Zelensky visits the White House; where hate groups are thriving unchecked; state fair week has arrived; Lake Superior rescue; Taco John’s relocates its HQ to Minneapolis; Democrats can be too idealistic sometimes; Metro Transit’s problems.

The crew embarked on an eight-day voyage through the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore on mighty Lake Superior, exploring crystal-clear waters, sandy beaches, historic landmarks, rugged shorelines, and enchanting sea caves."Text us feedback."Co-hosts Alex Kvanli & John Burgman discuss all-things related to Camp Voyageur in Ely, Minnesota. They share trail stories, interview Voyageur alumni, & reflect on the lore of the Great Northwoods. They also trade Boundary Waters travel tips & advice compiled from over 550 days of canoe camping trips. Whether you're a former camper, a current camper, or an adventure enthusiast looking to improve your Boundary Waters experience, there's something for everyone in each episode. Can't get enough? Read our blog Find us on Facebook, Instagram, or YouTube Enroll your son at Camp Voyageur Work at Camp Voyageur 11 Proven Ways Wilderness Adventure Camps Can Transform Your Kid's Life by Alex Kvanli

Episode 495~ August 14, 2025 Podcast Info / Topics Kevin Callan talks about his recent Lake Superior Denison Falls voyageur canoe trip and as well as the trip that saw him heading to Parc National d'Aiguebelle in Quebec

Episode 495~ August 14, 2025 Podcast Info / Topics Kevin Callan talks about his recent Lake Superior Denison Falls voyageur canoe trip and as well as the trip that saw him heading to Parc National d'Aiguebelle in Quebec

Thank you to Jennifer Broome for being our guest and guide! Here's where you can connect with her!:sweptawaytoday.com* Instagram: @jenniferbroometravel* Facebook: JenniferBroomeTV * TikTok: @jenniferbroometravel * X (Twitter): @jenniferbroome * YouTube: Channel named “Swept Away With Jennifer Broome” Dreaming of a national park adventure this summer but dreading the notorious crowds at Yellowstone, Yosemite, and Grand Canyon? Travel expert Jennifer Broom returns to share her insider knowledge on spectacular alternatives that offer unique summer experiences without the tourist crush.Jennifer takes us first to Grand Tetons in early June, when wildflowers carpet the landscape beneath snow-capped peaks and wildlife viewing reaches its prime - including opportunities to spot mama bears with cubs (from a safe distance, of course). She shares practical safety tips, including the "thumb rule": if you can't cover the animal with your thumb at arm's length, you're standing too close.We then journey to Isle Royale National Park, a remote paradise in Lake Superior accessible only during summer months by seaplane or ferry. Jennifer describes her personal experience hiking through fern-covered forests and enjoying the tranquility of this island wilderness. For late summer travelers, Theodore Roosevelt National Park emerges as a hidden gem, offering "Yellowstone without the crowds but blending in a little bit of Badlands." The park's wild horse population - one of few places in America to observe these majestic creatures in their natural habitat - provides unforgettable moments as their manes blow in the wind against painted rock landscapes.Weather preparedness becomes a recurring theme as Jennifer (a meteorologist herself) advises on packing layers for temperature swings, rain gear for afternoon thunderstorms, and essential sun protection. Her suggested road trip combining Theodore Roosevelt with Badlands National Park creates the perfect late-summer itinerary, with opportunities to explore Wind Cave and Jewel Cave for underground wonders.Beyond breathtaking scenery, these parks offer something increasingly precious: opportunities to disconnect from technology and connect with American history. As Jennifer shares from her experience visiting over 258 National Park Service units, these landscapes appear much as they did thousands of years ago, providing living history lessons spanning indigenous cultures to westward expansion.Ready to discover America's natural treasures beyond the obvious choices? Subscribe to hear more from Jennifer in our next episode about fall national park adventures!Thanks for your ongoing support!http://paypal.me/TheROAMiesAlexa and RoryThe ROAMiesPlease subscribe, rate and share our podcast! Follow us at:http://www.TheROAMies.comThe ROAMies: Facebook and Instagram YouTube and X.

Kendall and Greg Peterson of the Peterson Farm Bros rose to fame in 2012 with their viral parody video “I’m Farming and I Grow It,” a twist on LMFAO’s hit song. Since then, they’ve continued using social media to bridge the gap between farmers and consumers through music videos and educational content. Stephanie Hoff caught up with the brothers at Wisconsin Farm Technology Days, where they shared how their advocacy not only promotes agriculture in a positive light but also supports their central Kansas farm and growing families through speaking appearances and public engagement. Heavy rain is back in Wisconsin this morning. Stu Muck spells out what's happening this morning, and what we can expect later today. It's time for score boarding! It's not a sport, but a field by field evaluation of the crop you've got out there. Steve Bailie, branch manager for the Monroe location of Helena Agri joins Pam Jahnke to point out some of the spots to watch in your fields. Bailie says the notes you make now will pay dividends when it comes time to start purchasing inputs for 2026. Paid for by Helena Agri. Despite the heavy rain in southern Wisconsin, the latest crop progress report shows some deficits in places like central Wisconsin, and far northern Wisconsin along Lake Superior. Pam Jahnke recaps the last crop progress highlights. All eyes were on China Monday in the marketplace with a comment from President Trump suggesting that China would be buying massive amounts of soybeans. Then, the tariff situation got extended until November and China decided to take its business elsewhere. John Heinberg, market advisor with Total Farm Marketing in West Bend joins Pam Jahnke to explain the turn of events. The market is also preparing for the next World Ag Supply Demand Estimates out today. Heinberg says while soybeans may be bearish - the bulls are on in corn.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We kick off this week's show with Kris Duerson of Rapid River Knives. Kris talks about the new Mike Avery signature model to benefit the Outdoor Driven group. Then, Andrew Comtois from Outdoor Driven joins me with details about that organization. Hour two features Mike Smith of Off Shore A Count Sportfishing. Mike talks about Lake Michigan salmon fishing. Cory Kovacs from the Michigan DNR is up next with details on a Lake Superior brown trout study. The Ask Avery segment this week features Conservation Officer Doug Hermanson to talk about where to find hunter safety classes. We're talking deer hunting in Hour 3 with Adam Lewis of Deer IQ. The show wraps up with Chef Dixie Dave Minar and a very nice salmon recipe.

8-7 Adam and Jordana 11a hour

Biking in the Superior Country is more than just a way to get around—it's a way of life. From gravel roads to rugged trails to family bike packing along Big Blue's shoreline, the region offers two-wheeled adventure in every season. In this episode of the Lake Superior Podcast, Walt Lindala and Frida Waara talk with Josh Rizzo, founder of thenxrth.com—an adventure site dedicated to unpaved cycling across three states--Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan's Upper Peninsula. Josh shares how biking became a lifelong passion, and how he's started bringing his kids along for multi-day trips. He tells what makes this corner of the world such a rich landscape for two-wheeled travel. Whether you're a road, gravel, mountain or fat biker, or even just curious about the lure of riding, Josh's stories are sure to inspire you to hop in the saddle.  Key Takeaways + Notable Quotes:-A Lifelong Love of Cycling Sparked by Childhood Adventures“My earliest memories in life were on a bike.”Josh Rizzo's biking journey began with childhood rides along the Chippewa River State Trail with his dad and sisters—memories that shaped his passion for exploration and outdoor adventures.-Why the Lake Superior Region Is a Cyclist's ParadiseJosh highlights the appeal of the Lake Superior region for cyclists: scenic towns, abundant water routes, and endless opportunities for gravel biking, mountain biking, and bikepacking.-Bikepacking as a Family Tradition—Even With a 10-Month-OldJosh and his family embrace adventure by bike—proving that even toddlers can be part of meaningful, challenging, and memorable outdoor experiences.-Fat Biking Brings All Cyclists Together in WinterRegardless of their summer biking style, winter unites all cyclists—making fat biking a special part of the community and culture in the Northwoods.-Thenxrth.com Is a Home for Off-Road Cycling AdventureJosh created the site to help others explore the region he loves, offering route guides, event listings, and community storytelling for all kinds of cyclists.-Which State Is Best for Biking? It Depends. “I think Minnesota has the best gravel biking... Wisconsin owns the crown for fat biking... the Upper Peninsula is the adventure capital.”Resources:TheNxrth – Gravel, Fat, Mountain & Bikepacking Routes – https://www.thenxrth.comInstagram – https://www.instagram.com/the_nxrth/ Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/thenxrthConnect With Us:Lake Superior Podcast Page – https://nplsf.org/podcast Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/NationalParksOfLakeSuperiorFoundation LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/company/national-parks-of-lake-superior-foundationSponsors:Cafe Imports – Minneapolis-based importers of specialty green coffees since 1993, focused on sustainability. Learn more: https://cafeimports.comNational Parks of Lake Superior Foundation – Donate to protect Lake Superior's five national parks: https://nplsf.org/donateBe sure to tune in to this episode of the Lake Superior Podcast to hear Josh Rizzo share his lifelong passion for biking, what makes the Lake Superior region a cyclist's dream, and how families of all ages can embrace adventure on two wheels.

Lake Superior isn't just a scenic destination — it's a hotbed of paranormal activity and ancient legend.  In this weird & wild episode, Dave Schrader welcomes author and researcher Chad Lewis to share stories from his new book, Supernatural Lake Superior. From Minnesota to Ontario, Michigan to Wisconsin, explore haunted ships like the William A. Irvin, cursed locations like Split Rock Lighthouse, deadly UFO sightings in Grand Marais, sea serpents, mysterious vortexes, mermaids, werewolves, phantom black dogs, and even encounters with the Men in Black. Don't miss this journey into shipwrecks, spirits, and monsters—right here on The Paranormal 60. Visit Chad Lewis' website here: https://www.chadlewisresearch.com/ Supernatural Lake Superior – The Paranormal 60 PLEASE SUPPORT THE ADVERTISERS THAT SUPPORT THIS SHOWHappiness Experiment - https://go.happinessexperiment.com/begin-aff-o2?am_id=podcast2025&utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=michael Factor Meals - Get 50% off your first order & Free Shipping at ⁠⁠www.FactorMeals.com/p6050off⁠⁠ & use code: P6050off at checkout Mint Mobile - To get your new wireless plan for just $15 a month, and get the plan shipped to your door for FREE, go to ⁠⁠www.MintMobile.com/P60 ⁠⁠Shadow Zine - ⁠⁠https://shadowzine.com/ ⁠⁠Love & Lotus Tarot -  ⁠⁠http://lovelotustarot.com/ ⁠⁠PLEASE RATE & REVIEW THE PARANORMAL 60 PODCAST WHEREVER YOU LISTEN! #Paranormal60 #ChadLewis #SupernaturalLakeSuperior #HauntedLakeSuperior #LakeSuperiorLegends #GhostShips #MenInBlack #Wendigo #HauntedLighthouses #HauntedHotels #LakeMonsters #UFOEncounters #HauntedAmerica #DaveSchrader #ParanormalPodcast #MidwestHauntings #GreatLakesGhosts #SeaSerpent #HauntedMinnesota #HauntedMichigan #HauntedWisconsin #HauntedOntario #CryptidStories #RealGhostStories Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Lake Superior has always had a magnetic power through the history of life in North America, drawing people to its shores and on its waves for millennia and this continue more so in the modern age. It would seem that it seems that the Lake even holds sway over those of a Fortean nature too, with strange creatures seen in its depths, mysterious disappearances, UFO sightings by the bucket load and haunted locations all around its shores. In his brand new book, Supernatural Lake Superior, our friend Chad Lewis takes us on a trip to some of the area's most notable cases, accounts and lighthouse on the hunt for the strange! Chad's books can be found here: His website is here: Our Patreon is now live, if you want to support the show and get Ad-Free episodes, bonus content, early release of the regular show and monthly prizes for everyone who signs up! Join here now for the flat fee of $4 a month which is a bargain! You can also support the show by leaving a review to help spread the word. Don't forget, you can now show your support with our brand new Merchandise shop on Tee-Public! Click here for all the show merch! You can join us on Facebook and Instagram as well. You can also subscribe to our YouTube channel! Email us at mysteriesandmonsters@gmail.com with any feedback, guest suggestions or if you'd like to appear.            All artwork by Dean Bestall and the show was produced by Brennan Storr of the Ghost Story Guys.  Our theme music is kindly provided by the amazing Weary Pines, you can find them here:    Intro - Zombies Ate My Shotgun       Outro - Into The Night  #ChadLewis #LakeSuperior #SupernaturalLakeSuperior #Supernatural #Haunted #Haunting #SeaSerpents #LakeMonsters #UFO's #KinrossIncident #Disapperances #Ghosts #Paranormal #Fortean #Merman #EdmundFitzgerald #Mysterious #Strange #GhostDog #BackRoadsLore

Lake Superior is not only the largest of the Great Lakes, but the water quality is also some of the clearest. Yet, historically, the Lake was often a dumping ground for all kinds of debris.  "Out of sight, out of mind” was an all-too-common mindset. Don Fassbender, president of Great Lakes Scuba Diving and Lake Preservation, has made it his life's mission to clean up Lake Superior's underwater world. With volunteers, including fellow divers and kayakers, he estimates 14 tons of tires have been hauled up from Marquette MIchigan's Lower Harbor. In this episode of the Lake Superior Podcast, Walt Lindala and Frida Waara talk with Don about how his mission started and the mysteries he's found below the surface. Key Takeaways + Notable Quotes:A Lifelong Passion for Diving Inspired by Jacques Cousteau“As a young man, I can recall racing home from school just so I wouldn't miss the undersea world of Jacques Cousteau.”Vintage Diving Equipment Connects Divers More Intimately with the Water“There's actually less things that can go wrong... Vintage kit would look like a tank, a regulator, some fins, maybe a wetsuit and a mask, and then you're off. No computers, no fancy gauges.”Tons of Trash are Hidden Beneath Lake Superior“We removed, what, 14 tons of tires out of Marquette Lower Harbor alone over a period of about five years. And there's still a lot of trash down there.”Removing Underwater Debris is Complex and LaboriousHeavy items, poor visibility, and underwater hazards make cleanup efforts extremely challenging.Why Tires are Prevalent in Lake Superior“Tires were used as boat bumpers for years and years…as weather wears them down…they would just string another one up in its place.”Community Involvement is Essential for Successful CleanupsVolunteers on land, in boats, and even kayaks significantly contribute to cleanup missions.Safety and Equipment Needs Drive Fundraising EffortsSpecialized gear and safety equipment are critical for diver safety and efficiency.Surprising Finds Beneath the Surface Tell Unique Stories“One of my favorite finds, a little diamond ring that was tied to a rock with a shoelace.” Every item retrieved from Lake Superior carries its own history, some humorous, some mysterious.Resources:Great Lakes Scuba Divershttps://greatlakesscubadivers.comConnect with Diver Don on Facebookhttps://www.facebook.com/DiverDonScubahttps://www.facebook.com/GreatLakesScubaDiversContact Don directly with cleanup leadsEmail: president@greatlakesscubadivers.comConnect With Us:Lake Superior Podcast Page – https://nplsf.org/podcastFacebook – https://www.facebook.com/NationalParksOfLakeSuperiorFoundationLinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/company/national-parks-of-lake-superior-foundationSponsors:Cafe Imports – Minneapolis-based importers of specialty green coffees since 1993, focused on sustainability.Learn more: https://cafeimports.comNational Parks of Lake Superior Foundation – Donate to protect Lake Superior's five national parks:https://nplsf.org/donateBe sure to tune in to this episode of the Lake Superior Podcast to hear Diver Don Fassbender share firsthand experiences from beneath Lake Superior's waters, the incredible teamwork required for environmental preservation, and how you can help protect the Great Lakes.

Frog Bay Tribal National Park has hiking trails, shoreline and wetlands. The nearly 200-acre park on Lake Superior is a great place to go for a run or to look out on the Apostle Islands. For members of the Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, the land also holds a special meaning. WPR’s Trevor Hook brings us this story on the park’s history and its significance.

There are monsters in the Great Lakes. Big ones. Ugly ones. Some with teeth like piano keys and humps like bad debts—lurching through the muck beneath your boat while you sip lemonade and pretend civilization is in control. From the icy, copper-veined depths of Lake Superior to the oddly hostile waters of Erie, the Great Lakes are lousy with local legends and long-bodied beasts that should not exist, but very well may. In this episode, the Hosts plunge headfirst into a boiling stew of cryptid lore, eyewitness accounts, Native legends, and 19th-century newspaper ramblings that blur the line between genuine horror and mad ravings. You'll meet a rotating cast of lake-dwelling weirdos that range from seductive water nymphs to glowing tentacled horrors. It's an all-American nightmare brewed fresh from the heartland. Citizens of the Milky Way, prepare yourselves for Sea Monsters of the Great Lakes! Music and Editing by Gage HurleyCheck out VaporVerse: https://www.youtube.com/@vaporversemusic++++Check out our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/creepstreetpodcastInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/creepstreetpodcastYouTube: https://youtube.com/@creepstreetpodcast5062?feature=sharedTikTik: https://www.tiktok.com/@creepstreetpodcast#GreatLakesMonsters #LakeMonsters #SeaSerpentSightings #CryptidEncounters #FreshwaterMonsters #Cryptids #CreepypastaRealness #ParanormalPodcast #UrbanLegends #UnexplainedPhenomena #MythicalCreatures #GreatLakesLore #MichiganMyths #OntarioOddities #LakeErieLegends #LakeSuperiorStrangeness #LakeHuronHaunts #CreepStreetPodcast #ComedyPodcast #HorrorComedy