(May 18th 2000)
The new year of 2000 had come and gone without remark, full of the usual laughter, dancing and drunken cheering that always led them into a brand new January. The millennium bug didn't wipe them all out as the media had feared, computer systems went unaffected, the world didn't end at the stroke of midnight and life continued to pass by as it always had.
But life on the Howard's farm was somehow different.
The first week of January, Bill collapsed unexpectedly whilst working and Kit, Maggie and Lena -- And Matt too - frantically raced him to the hospital, fearing the worst. "Just a stroke," the doctor said. "Best if he doesn't over-exert himself from now on."
He'd been given a special diet and care plan to avoid any more heart problems in the future, and Maggie had given him very strict orders not to go straining himself on the farm. Kit and Lena took over the day-today chores and Lena put her foster-father's health problems to the corner of her mind for the time being.
For something else had struck her heart, something which overrode every other rational thought in her mind. She came to realise that she loved Kit and not only loved him, but was in-love with him and needed him like she'd seen Maggie need Bill when he'd had his stroke.
She'd sat beside her foster-father's bedside back then, listening to Maggie cry and watching her grasp Bill's hand with fierce ferocity, as if, silently, she was telling him to hold on. And Lena had looked at Kit - her dear, sweet foster-brother -- and imagined that it was her crying and him lying there in that hospital bed; and tears welled, sharp and sudden, in her eyes and she cried with all her heart, because she knew she could never lose him; it would kill her, body and soul, to not have him in her life. She loved him more than life; so much it burnt at her heart and loins and she ached every minute she wasn't wrapped up in his arms.
And to add to her worries, Matt had been acting strangely with her lately. He was so distant, so quiet and sullen all the time. He often went wondering out by himself for long hours and sometimes seemed irritated by her presence. He didn't seem quite the Matt he'd once been somehow, all smiles and joking around; now he was pensive, moody and bleak, as if he took little pleasure from the world. And what was more was that he seemed to resent her, deep down, but why was a different matter and Lena could only guess.
But that wasn't all...the last year of school had, unavoidably, come to an end and everyone around her suddenly seemed to be asking the same damn questions...have you decided on which college you're going to? Have you enrolled yet? What do you want to do there? What do you want to do when you leave? Better hurry and make a decision...you're cutting it fine, you won't get a place at this rate...
It was driving her mad!
Lena sighed to herself and emptied a barrow-load of clean straw into the last of the Howard's four stables, the one which belonged to her own horse, Archie. She'd been mucking out now for nearly two hours, which was double the amount of time it usually took her. But Lena hadn't noticed much, lost in her tangled thoughts as she was.
The truth was, she didn't want to go to college, at least not yet. She'd just spent the last thirteen years at school, why on earth did everyone want her to go rushing back? All Lena wanted was to stay here, in the one place she loved more than anything else, with the people she loved more than anyone else...what did college matter anyway, when she knew she'd grow up and grow old in the farm life she lived now?
She'd never liked school anyway and didn't see how college would be any different...all the girls would still be airhead's, without a care for anything that was outside the realms of their plasticized, beautified, social lives...and as for the guys...jeez! Lena was seriously starting to think they could think of nothing but their dicks! Even the one's she liked at school, the one's she considered friends, drove her crazy with their snide remarks and childish comments about her small boobs or gangly legs. It was infuriating at the best of times...but mostly, it just made her feel ugly and alone.
Still, she'd left now, hadn't she? She knew she'd done well in her exams and was looking forward to spending the summer at home, doing farm work and helping Kit and Bill convert the old barn...the only problem was that she didn't know how to tell them that...
She knew that given time, Bill and Maggie would accept it, though they'd be disappointed; she knew that when it came down to it, they'd want whatever made her happy and if that meant not going to college just yet, so be it.
As for Kit, well...she wasn't sure how he'd react; she was so uncertain of him these days, that she never knew where she stood from one moment to the next. He wouldn't shout -- he never did -- but it wasn't that she was scared of; it was his disappointment; she was scared of failing him more than anyone else, even though he was the one who asked the least of her. Still, she knew he'd be alright too, if it made her happy.
But it was, of course, Matt, her presently dreary and short-fused brother that would be the problem...she knew he'd be livid when he found out and she was sure he'd end up loosing his temper. Still, it was her choice and she wasn't going to let anyone else make it for her...if he didn't like it, then that was his problem...she just hoped he'd come around in the end and not vanish on her like he did last time they fell out...
She cringed just thinking about it; see, for those of you who haven't guessed yet, Matt wasn't exactly...well, alive...he was a ghost, who could only been seen by a very few, gifted people...Lena wasn't gifted in that sense, but the fact that she and Matt had been touching when he died, meant that their souls had somehow fused; this meant that Matt was unable to pass on to 'the other world' until she died too and she was constantly being haunted by his ghost, which, though generally useful and reassuring, sometimes had its disadvantages...
This time last year, just before summer break, she and her friend Luke had been 'experimenting' after school...they were alone and Luke had asked if she'd show him her boobs. She'd blushed at first and knew she should say no, but her curiosity got the better of her. She agreed that she would, as long as he showed her his penis.
So there they were; Luke was sat in the front seat of his car, his flies open and his pants pulled down a little so that she could see the long, soft, pinky coloured flesh that hung there. Lena had expected something a little different, something more exciting, but a deal was a deal and so she unbuttoned her top to his waiting gaze. As she slowly slipped off her shirt, unclipping her little bra so that he could get a proper look, she was amazed to find that his penis was stirring...it was growing thicker and longer by the second.
"Er...um...s-sorry..." Luke blushed, his scrawny cheeks turning a bright shade of pink. "It's just..." he swallowed hard and turned away, trying to hide his erection from her eyes.
Lena had been fascinated. Her eyes were wide and disbelieving, fixed on his now throbbing, purple head. "No...don't...I mean...I don't mind...really."
Luke gave her a surprised look. "You don't?" Lena shook her head eagerly and Luke laughed shyly, turning slowly back to face her.
"C-can I...touch it?" she asked.
She thought Luke might choke. His brown eyes went wide behind his dark rimmed glasses and he took a big gulp of air. "Yes" he breathed nervously.
Lena tentatively stretched out her hand, brushing her fingers very lightly across his cock head. It bobbed wildly and Luke let out a low groan. He seemed to like that, so she did it again. "Ohhhh...maaan...." Luke breathed. "Lena, you're the best..."
