The blur of greens and yellows against a vibrant blue sky burned themselves into the retinas of a young and smart Eric Henderson. The bus slowly came to a halt as the brakes whined with years of use. It had been a long trip from Kansas to Pennsylvania, but he was finally at his destination - a small town by the name of New Hope.
Eric was a short and somewhat thin man with a light skin tone and dark brown hair. His eyes were this striking shade of brown that appeared amber when the sun hit them at just the right angle. He must have taken exclusively after his mother because they shared all the same characteristics. Their facial features were even similar.
Eric lazily trotted down the steps of the bus and dropped down to the pavement. The glass door closed behind him, and the engine roared back to life as the bus took off again. Taking in a deep breath, he surveyed the neighborhood and began to walk north. According to the GPS on his smartphone, the walk would take about ten minutes. That didn't seem so bad, despite how warm it was.
He pulled a pair of earbuds out of his pocket and stuck them in each ear. He struggled to look through the glare on his phone as he chose a song to listen to while walking. He landed on a classic rock ballad and bobbed his head in appreciation as he made the short walk to his uncle's house.
It had been roughly seven years since Eric had last seen his uncle. From what he remembered, his uncle was a stocky man with thick dark hair and a thick beard. Darrel Palmer had gotten an offer he couldn't refuse on a pipefitting job he had performed in the area at the time. He moved to a home on the outskirts of New Hope and had lived there ever since. His home was a nice little ranch style house with big and beautiful yard.
Eric adjusted the strap on his shoulder as he rounded the corner of a wall of trees, his uncle's house coming into view. "Finally," he breathed, making his way up the drive and onto the front porch. He lingered for a moment to listen before letting anyone know he was there. There was no sound.
He peeked through the front window of the home. He figured his uncle would be watching the television, and he began to wonder if perhaps he had come to the wrong address.
Well, what could it hurt to knock?
He rapped the handle of the knocker on the front door a few times and waited. After a few minutes of silence, he knocked a few more times, slightly harder this time. Within a few minutes the front door opened.
Darrel wasn't that much different from what Eric remembered. His hair and beard were beginning to turn grey, and while he was still the same stocky uncle that Eric remembered, Darrel had added a few pounds to his gut. He wore a pair of denim jeans and a stained button down that was halfway buttoned up, revealing a thick tuft of fur on his chest where the shirt split.
"Oh hey." He said plainly. "Sorry, I must have forgotten to set an alarm this morning. Had to work a double last night." He pushed the screen door open to let Eric in. "Come on in, I'll make us something to eat."
Eric stood there for a moment with his mouth slightly agape as he took in the image of his uncle. He wasn't sure why, but something was very enticing about the thick chest hair peeking out from his shirt.
Eric made his way through the door, allowing his uncle to close it behind him. He was surprised to see that the house was very nicely decorated. "So, who's the lady friend? I thought you were single?" he called as his uncle walked toward the kitchen.
"Who?" Darrel called back.
"The one who's got this place looking so nice."
Darrel scoffed as he carried two packs of pop-tarts and a couple mugs of coffee to the living room where Eric had decided to sit down. "I'll have you know this was all me, dipshit."
Eric was genuinely surprised to hear him say this. "Oh, well I didn't mean anything by it. It looks nice. I just thou-"
"Just thought Uncle D was a sloppy construction worker with no pride?" he jived, before seeing Erics eyes widen and following with, "Relax, kid. I'm just teasing."
Eric breathed a sigh of relief for a moment. That's just what he needed, making great first impressions when he was supposed to be here for a whole two weeks.
Darrel plopped down into the recliner adjacent to where Eric was sitting. As he did this, his shirt flopped open slightly more. The thick grey and black fur was incredibly enticing. Eric imagined what it would feel like to run his fingers through the mount of chest hair, and what it might smell like.
"You hear me?"
Eric shifted his gaze back to meet his uncle's eyes. "Sorry, I zoned out, what did you say?"
"I asked how long you're supposed to be here." Darrel took a drink of his coffee and gestured to the other mug for Eric. "Go ahead and have some."
Eric pulled the mug with dark liquid to his lips and took a sip. He made a sour face and set the mug back down. "Coffee isn't really my thing. Besides, isn't it a little late for coffee?" He glanced up at the clock, which showed that it was just past one in the afternoon.
Darrel grunted disapprovingly.
"Just a couple of weeks. I'll take the bus back next Sunday." he said, unwrapping a pop-tart and taking a bite. It was blueberry.
"Well don't expect this to be some little vacation. I've got important things I need done, and honestly, an extra pair of hands wouldn't hurt." he spoke frankly, taking a long sip of his coffee and exhaling appreciatively. "Got lots of weeds that need pullin', need to get the garden tilled so I can start plantin', all good things like that."
'
Great,'
Eric thought to himself. He wasn't much of an outside person, which was why his mother had insisted that he went to stay with his uncle. She knew Darrel would have some jobs for him to do outside.
The two sat quietly for a while as Darrel flipped through the channels on the television while eating his breakfast. After half an hour of watching the news channel, Darrel kicked his footrest down and stood up. "Alright, let's get to hoppin'."
Eric pulled himself from the couch and followed his uncle to the back door and into the back yard. It was much larger than he had expected from the front side of the house. The garden his uncle had referred to was about thirty feet long and fifteen feet wide. The soil was still compacted from a winter of inactivity.
"Today we're just pulling weeds." Darrel said, passing Eric a pair of gardening gloves. "These will make it a little easier. I want you to go all around the house and pull any weeds you see out of those flower beds."
Eric looked down at the gloves with disdain. He grabbed them reluctantly and slid them over his fingers. Without another word he followed his uncle's orders and got on his knees to start pulling out little weeds as the sun beat down on the back of his head. Within just fifteen minutes, sweat was pouring off his forehead and nose. He frequently wiped his forehead on his arm.
After about an hour of pulling weeds, Eric made his way back around the house to where his uncle was now running a motorized tiller through the rows of his garden. He had obviously gotten hot too, as he was now working with his shirt draped over the handle of the tiller. Sweat was dripping off his nose and his skin shined in the spots where his hair wasn't so thick.
Eric stared at him from the back silently, his eyes glued to the tight ripples of the muscles on his back, and the flexes that he made with each step he took. He slowly approached and waited for his uncle to turn around. "Hey, I think I've got them all out!" he shouted over the sound of the motor.
Darrel killed the power and leaned on the handlebars. "Good, good. Go get me something to drink."
Not wanting to step on his uncle's toes, he complied and made his way into the house through the back door. He walked cautiously through the hallway and through the living room to where the kitchen was. He opened the refrigerator and grabbed two bottles of water before walking back through the living room and into the hallway.
As he progressed through the hallway, Eric noticed that the door to what he assumed was his uncle's room was cracked open slightly. He reached his hand up and hesitated for a moment before pushing the door open. The room was quite normal, aside from a few clothes that were lying on the floor near the closet.
Eric stepped inside tentatively, looking around for anything interesting. There were plenty of little trinkets and utilities on the dresser, along with some colognes and lotion. As he was turning to leave, he got a glimpse of something shiny out of the corner of his eyes. Laying on the bedside table was a thick metal ring. Eric picked the ring up and inspected it.
"What the hell is this thing?" he asked himself quietly. He set the ring back down on the table and noticed the object next to it was a bottle of silicone lubricant. His face started to turn red as the realization set in. "Oh," he muttered, subconsciously wiping his fingertips on his pants.
Realizing that his uncle was probably wondering where he'd gone, Eric decided it was a good time to wrap up his little tour and bring the waters outside like Darrel had asked. He opened the door to the back yard and jogged over to his uncle, reaching out to hand a bottle to him.
"Get lost in there?" Darrel prodded.
"Sorry I was just looking at some of the pictures you have up. There are some real cute ones of you and mom as kids." Eric said, figuring that was a good enough excuse to cover his tracks.
Darrel's face shifted into a warm smile briefly, before looking back down at the soil he was tearing up. After a moment he glanced back up at Eric and stood up straight. "Well, don't just stand there, kid!"
