Short opening

Summer 1968…
We stood waist-deep in the sun-warmed crystalline water of the lake, the early evening air beginning to cool, the sun dropping toward the horizon.

I held Kelsey close, her youthful, summer-tanned body firm and warm. Still she shivered in my arms. “Will you come to the train station tomorrow,” I said?

She hesitated, then, “I don’t know if I can take it, Rob.” Her shoulders quivered. “This damn war, first it’s my brother, then Jack and Bill, your best friends, and now you. Off to Ft. Benning and then…” Her voice trailed off and I could feel the tears fall from her face onto my chest. “Please, just hold me tight. I don’t want to talk about you leaving.”

Later, we built a fire on the shoreline, opened a bottle of wine and curled up inside a large, cotton blanket. Soon after, we lay naked, her body moving in time with mine as we made love in the warm sand at the edge of the lake, with only the stars and moon as witness. A sexual union that, I believed, had included the bonding of our souls.

Watch for next excerpt coming after Labor Day - Rob