FLASHBACK: Summer 1976

I couldn't help but stare at it.

It seemed to glow with its orange fluorescent halo.

It wasn't big, it wasn't deformed...I was just transfixed by it.

I couldn't take my eyes off of David P.'s genitals!

David and I seemed to gravitate toward each other within a few weeks of our summer program at the Woonsocket YMCA. Kinda like a summer camp, the program had all kinds of activities us kids were signed up for during our time there. Unlike summer camp, it wasn't for a set duration at a woodsy, lakeside resort, it was just every Saturday, at the downtown Y, in the city. We went home after the sessions.

But the staff at the Y did a great job filling our day. Usually it would start with some arts and crafts program, lunch, then swimming lessons, then athletics. I loved the arts and crafts...I remember making these wire-frames, twisted in the shape of flowers, then dipped in some chemical which caused a colorful film to fill up the space where a petal should be. This chemical goo, colorful as it was, smelled horrifically pungent and made us kids dizzy as we inhaled the fumes. No doubt today it would not be used as it probably had some nasty cancer-causing chemicals involved. Think paint remover and poppers and you got the idea.

Both David and I were a little bit on the shy side and we sensed each other out. Before long, despite our shyness, we struck up a conversation and found lots in common. We were soon fast friends.

David was a very pale and somewhat freckly redheaded kid, thin and a bit awkward. He wore horn-rimmed glasses and spoke in a faint, delicate voice. For some reason, I felt an immediate and intense attraction to him.

Since he and I were only 12, the concept of physical sexual attraction was not yet fully gelled in our minds. And, what's more, we were both boys, so it didn't cross my mind, at least, and perhaps not his, that we could be so attracted to each other.

But a sweet and innocent, yet highly sexually charged and passionate relationship ensued.

David and I hung out every second we could during our time at the Y. If we had different classes, we hung out 'till the last available second before we were summoned to attend.

When we were both assigned to the same swimming class, I was, for some unknown reason, delighted. We swam next to each other and we both visually and with fervent strokes of the arms or legs, were able to physically enjoy each others smooth bodies. We didn't know it at the time, but we were actually flirting and exploring our sexual compatibility.

In the locker and adjoining weight rooms, it was still the days of an acceptable nudist policy at the YMCA, that is, members could, and were encouraged to not have to be clothed during workouts on the equipment and within the locker room. The YMCA fitness area was still strictly a "Men's Only" club. Here, David and I stayed naked far longer than we needed to while showering and re-dressing into our street clothes. We were subconsciously advertising to each other our newly enhanced and now important assets of our dicks and asses.

But being too shy, and unaware of the way of the world, we didn't know how to interpret our urges. I focused on the orange glow of David's cock and perhaps he focused on the silky smooth luminescence of my taut, and hungry I might add, bubble butt.

David and I stayed good friends during that summer, I even remember one afternoon sitting on the ledge in the back of the YMCA building, sharing a box of Hot Tamale candies and David resting his head on my shoulder as we gazed off into the distance. I felt so content in that moment as I'm sure he did too.

By summer's end, David and I exchanged contact information. I gave him my phone number and address and he gave me his number and his Uxbridge, Mass. address.

But, as often is the case in such circumstances, we never got around to contacting one another. Perhaps we didn't know what step we should proceed with next. Surely, during that time, a romance could not even in the slightest be conceivable. And a friendship, between two boys from towns some 50 miles apart...well...

And so time marched on and we lost touch. But I'll never forget my magical summer Saturdays with him for as long as I live.