A pod of long-beaked dolphins was hunting salmon in the ocean just beyond the bay, their white sides gleaming against the dark, sun-sparkled waves. Melanie was supposed to be cleaning cabin number eighteen and getting it ready for a family that was arriving that evening. But it was hot and sticky, and this was her last assignment for the day, and the dolphins were a delight to watch, especially for an eighteen-year old prairie girl.
Above average height at five foot seven, lanky and lean ('Skelly-Melly' the girls at school had labeled her), with straight, dark brown hair that hung past her shoulders, brown eyes just a little too close together, nose and mouth just a little too big—her looks didn't attract second glances from boys. But her smile, the rare times that she used it, lit up her entire face.
She was a runner. On her high school track team she had excelled at the metric mile. A college down east had offered her a scholarship. It would be her first time living away from home and her parents thought a summer job out of province would be good experience for her. Obediently, Melanie had applied for a job as a chambermaid at a resort in British Columbia. The acceptance letter had come as a shock.
The resort was a privately-owned island in the middle of the Great Bear Rain Forest, accessible only by boat or float plane. In shape it looked like two small islands joined by a land bridge—a connection that disappeared underwater twice a month with the king tide. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries the southern half had been extensively logged, but the northern part was hardly touched. A main lodge and twenty-four cabins of various sizes, all built out of logs from the south island's trees, housed the resort's guests.
The area's main attraction was ecotourism—exploring not only the northern old growth forest, but also the many islands that made up part of the archipelago along BC's northwest coast. As well, the resort offered scuba and snorkeling packages, and even had a nine-hole golf course.
The majority of the summer staff at the resort was made up of college students, all in their late teens or early twenties. Romantic connections and sexual hook-ups among them were not uncommon. It was understood that any pairings would last only for the summer, although there were two returning couples who had maintained their relationships from the summer before.
Normally, summers on the island were mild, with afternoon temperatures rarely exceeding seventy-two degrees. The high humidity, however, made that feel closer to eighty degrees. Over the past week and a half the resort had been plagued by an unusual warm spell, with thermometer readings in the mid-eighties, and humidex values of close to a hundred. According to the weather channel a cold front coming in from Alaska was expected to bring relief by tomorrow, but there was a high risk of thunderstorms later that day.
Nolan had just finished his first year of college, and his golfing scholarship had helped him get a job as the assistant golf pro at the resort's nine-hole golf course. Tall (six foot two) and thin, his arms and legs seemed too long for his body, giving him an awkward, gawky look.
By one o'clock dark thunderheads were building up heavily in the northwest. Nolan had been advising golfers not to book a tee time past noon. You didn't want to be caught out on a golf course during a thunderstorm—golf clubs made excellent lightning-rods. At one-thirty he sounded the klaxon to advise golfers to leave the course. His last threesome had teed off at eleven fifteen and he could see them coming down the par four ninth fairway. After they left the green he hopped into his golf cart to do a quick tour of the course to make sure it was clear.
Melanie was just finishing in cabin eighteen when she heard Nolan's warning klaxon. A look up at the sky showed black storm clouds moving ominously close, bringing with them dark gray curtains of rain. She set out fresh towels and did a final check, then stored her cleaning cart inside the utility shed between cabins nineteen and twenty. She set out across the golf course to wait out the storm in a small, unoccupied cabin about ten minutes away. Cabin five was scheduled for renovation and was only used if there was no other accommodation. Having been teased unmercifully in high school about her skinny body, Melanie dreaded being naked where other girls could see her. To avoid using the communal showers in the girls' dorm, Melanie often showered in cabin five.
She'd already crossed fairway three and was starting up fairway seven when the storm caught up to her, staggering her with a sudden gust of wind. A torrent of rain bucketed down and in less than a minute had soaked through her dress and underwear all the way to her skin. Her saturated hair channeled rain down the back of her neck and over her forehead into her eyes.
Nolan was following the cart path between the par five third hole and the par four seventh when the first spatters of rain started to fall. The wind had picked up considerably, and the temperature was dropping fast. A flash of lightning electrified the sky and Nolan started counting. He had reached three when a loud crack was followed immediately by a rolling boom. The strike had been less than a mile away. Large drops of rain pelted down mixed with hail, and a minute later sheets of rain swept across the fairway. Even under the golf cart's canopy Nolan was soon soaking wet. Ahead of him a girl was struggling up the fairway, headed across to the other side, her gray and beige chambermaid's dress already drenched with rain. The wind plastered it like a second skin against her lanky frame.
That's Melanie! I'd better give her a ride.
He hesitated only a second before turning off the cart and charging onto the fairway to flag down the girl. Nolan tried calling her, but the roar of the rain and wind in the nearby trees drowned out his voice.
Motion to her left caught Melanie's eye. She turned to look, and through her rain-blurred vision made out a stick-like figure running towards her, waving his long arms.
Is that Nolan?
Melanie quite liked Nolan, and considered him a friend. He was quiet and polite, and he always seemed to have time to answer a question or offer assistance. Like Melanie, he didn't attract much attention from the opposite sex. She knew girls liked him, but none of them viewed him as a romantic partner.
Nolan had given Melanie a couple of free golf lessons. He looked gawky and uncoordinated but, hitting balls on the driving range, his swing was long and smooth and graceful. Melanie had wondered what it might be like to dance with him, perhaps a slow waltz. And maybe a little kiss at the end. She had never had a boyfriend; her poor body-image and lack of confidence made kissing Nolan a wistful dream.
Melanie stopped to allow Nolan to get closer.
I can't get any wetter!
His beige golf shirt and gray slacks were molded to his long, lean frame by the rain. She could see the outline of his briefs through the translucent, gray material. She glanced down at herself. Her uniform usually hid her gaunt figure, but in this downpour the drenched, clinging material had become almost see-through, shamelessly showing every detail of what was underneath.
He can see my underwear!
"You're soaking wet!" Nolan yelled in her ear. "Come in my golf cart and I'll drive you back to your dorm."
"I'm headed to cabin five," Melanie shouted back. "It's empty, and I have a key."
Another furious gust of wind pelted them with rain and hail.
"Come on, I'll drive you!" Nolan insisted. Melanie followed him to his golf cart. But when they got in and Nolan turned the key, nothing happened. "I guess the rain's shorted out the battery," he apologized. "Sorry."
"We'll have to run for it," Melanie shouted, and stepped out onto the fairway.
After another futile attempt to start the golf cart Nolan followed her. They had to fight the wind, rain and hail for almost ten minutes before finally reaching the cabin door, wet, cold, and very much out of breath.
Melanie fumbled for her keys, but her hands were too cold to feel anything. "In my right pocket," she told Nolan. "The keys are in my right pocket."
The pocket was wrapped around her upper thigh, glued shut by the relentless rain. Nolan forced his hand between the layers and dug for the keys. He had to steady her body against his as he searched, his fingers rubbing over Melanie's thigh and groin. They were both blushing by the time he retrieved the keys and unlocked the door.
Cabin five was no bigger than an economy hotel room, with a double bed, a dresser, a couch and two easy chairs. An open doorway led into a small bathroom. The room was dim; the log walls seemed to swallow up the gray light coming through the windows. Although it was early afternoon, the heavy thunderclouds and driving rain made it seem like evening.
Nolan clicked the light switch. Nothing happened. "Power must be out," he muttered. "No heat." He stared at Melanie, shivering beside him, her lips already turning blue. "We have to get out of these wet clothes."
Out of our clothes?
Melanie watched apprehensively as Nolan pulled off his sneakers and socks, then struggled out of his shirt and slacks. He straightened up, his rain-soaked, white cotton briefs virtually transparent. Melanie could see Nolan's curled up penis, small and shrunken from the wet cold.
It's kind of cute. And harmless.
Nolan looked down and shook his head, embarrassed. "These aren't hiding anything, are they?" he apologized."Sorry." He shoved them down and kicked them into the pile of wet clothes.
A flurry of lightning lit up the room, and a roll of thunder rattled the windows in the log walls.
Melanie stared at the naked boy in front of her. She knew what naked boys looked like, of course, from museum art works and from internet porn, but Nolan was the first she'd seen face to face. He was tall and angular, blond and fair-skinned. His long legs were nicely muscled, but his upper body was thin—she could see his collar bones and chest bones and the outline of his ribs and hips.
He's just as skinny as I am!
Damp, red-blond curls clung to the triangle at the base of his belly. Freed from his briefs, Nolan's uncircumcised penis hung pink and soft.
Nolan saw her stare. "Not exactly porn-star material," he joked wryly.
Melanie let out an embarrassed giggle. "That's okay, neither am I."
"I'll see if there are towels in the bathroom. You get out of your clothes."
