Author's Note: This story, 'Calypso,' is an alternate version of a story I wrote for this site years ago under my original handle, bluefox07, called 'The Finer Points of Sheila.' Originally, I had intended to simply polish up and flesh out the original story, but over the years as I worked on it, the story evolved and became its own beast. It became a whole new book, in fact. 'Calypso' is a sister to 'Sheila,' with new and old characters, some changed names and details, similar plot points but it is ultimately a new journey. If you're familiar with the original story, you'll know this is a Mature category story, though this new prologue doesn't dive into that aspect just yet. Gotta build the tease. That said, I hope you enjoy reading 'Calypso' as much as I enjoyed writing it. I'll be posting a new chapter every week or so until it's done. Cheers!
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PROLOGUE: HEAT
Let's start this out nice and simple.
My name is Douglas Aaron Kane, Jr. I was born in Mount Shasta, California on June 5th, 1970 and as of this writing, forty years later to the day ironically enough, I'm happy to report that I am still alive in the year 2010. I run a veterinary clinic in the shadow of the mountain that oversaw my birth, but I live just outside my hometown of Canyon Ridge, California in the ranch-style house my parents built in 1975. Douglas Sr. and Mary Kane were among the last of the old school archetypal parents that society insisted every American boy and girl should have. The world changed in the 70's, and as time went on, such things fell out of practical fashion or simply became semi-obsolete.
My father was a career firefighter and my mother was a domestic engineer, and by that I mean she managed to raise two sons, keep the house from falling apart and somehow work as an architect in her spare time from a small home office that is now my private study. I have three of her best designs framed and hanging on the wall next to some of the awards and citations my father earned throughout his life. They loved my younger brother David and I completely and we loved them just as much. Understand, we were dysfunctional as any other family in Canyon Ridge, California. I don't want to imply that we had anything close to the idealized Beaver Cleaver existence, but I think we managed to adapt to the insanity of the times a bit better than others might have done.
I was an athletic, moderately popular nobody with what was then a good head full of chestnut hair while my little brother was the artistic, emotional type that still has a good head full of blonde hair to this very day. I remember instances of Dad worrying that David was gay, and even calling me up one night while I was away at college to ask me about it. I had been taking courses in human sexuality, and my Dad managed to work up the courage to take advantage of my newfound knowledge. Not that he would have loved David any less if he had been gay. Dad was just old fashioned and sometimes even had a hard time saying the word, let alone actually discussing it. For the record, I later confirmed that David wasn't gay in his freshman year of college. The threesome he had participated in during spring break, described to me in the sort of graphic detail one brother just doesn't need from another, was definitive. The additional evidence of recorded footage revealing that this threesome was between him, another male friend and his girlfriend, firmly established that David was a bisexual.
I passed no judgment.
We all have our secrets.
Dad never knew the truth about David, and if he did, he never let on. Same thing with Mom, though I think any suspicions she had were quieted by a devout practicing of Baptist Christian faith. I'm not a religious man, but I do remember Sunday School. Such things were immoral and not of God, but Mom loved her sons so I believe even now that it was acceptance of ignorant bliss that never made it into an issue. Looking back on that time now, David could have engaged in a circle jerk with the football team in the town square on the Fourth of July and it wouldn't have eclipsed the drama I brought down on my family and myself in the summer of 1988, the year I graduated from high school.
Sounds fairly over dramatic, I know.
I assure you, it's not.
You'll have to forgive me. I'm not much of a writer. If I told you how long it took me to write this, let alone how long my editor labored tirelessly in her efforts to help me craft a narrative that was both truthful and made sense, you might be inclined to put this little volume right back on the shelf of whatever bookstore or library you're standing in right now. Or perhaps you're reading this online? Don't click away just yet.
In the spirit of honesty, I'll forewarn you that I'm not the sort of person to dance around the issue of sex. I'm blunt about it, and always have been. I've been called a sex addict, though I think that's a bit extreme. I suppose you could classify me as sexually promiscuous if you had to. I prefer to think of myself as healthily obsessed with sex. The point is, this isn't the sort of story that I suspect the more, well, let's just say the more prudish will enjoy. But if you're reading this, I imagine we're more alike than not.