The Pole Shift

The Dam

Mnem had swum in dams before. Childhood memories of muddy feet and steep russet banks filled her thoughts as she stripped off and submerged herself. The teenagers were delighted, they painted their bare flesh with Australia's thin topsoil, Janet had stuck with her as they descended Mt. Beckworth, thrilled to have connected to the strange older woman. Proud to have made a friend outside their group. She felt protective of the trust Mnem had apparently shown her, and when her brother and the other two made to dunk Mnem with the sole intent of touching her up Janet sprung:

                "Oi! Quit it! No." She got the frown from her brother, but she had deep leverage on the other two and they backed off, kicking up muddy water in the violet of sunset.

                 At the base of the hill Peter looked on. When Mnem had taken off her top his eyes flickered slightly as if he couldn't focus, he both smiled and grimaced as Mnem's long legs paced into the dam, he watched her breasts move with her steps and he shifted on the rock with dangerous longing.

                "She's so good." He mumbled and then strolled around to the other side to face away from the setting sun. Peter knew what was happening to him, his infatuation was at fever pitch, it veered sharply away from the pleasant feeling of admiring someone of the opposite sex to wanting total control over them. The feeling hitch hiked with the possibility of reciprocation,  but Peter was old enough to know that as soon as Mnem sensed his entire being  focused on her she would freak. He just didn't know how to hide his feelings though and even though the teenagers were shooting him warning glances, he could not keep his eyes of the beautiful strange girl.

                Janet had spied Peter's body language and sighed, was it too much to hope he didn't fall for someone of the opposite sex just once? She had been the object of his infatuations herself, her brothers had put him in his place but she remembered the longing in his eyes, as if she had what he was questing for. There had been stories of girls who hadn't had brothers, she shuddered, if it wasn't for that old bitch Peter would have been ditched from the off, but the old bitch had a hold of them all, like grapes on an old vine. She didn't understand why, something to do with deep family history and money. she looked at Mnem who had painted herself with mud too, she hoped she would grow to be a woman like her, she was very easy to be with, even the boys had calmed their mischievousness and they were all doing laps of the dam, occasionally splashing and giggling but mostly just enjoying youth.

                Peter watched on, they weren't even talking, but they were happy. Was he ever happy like that? His teenage years weren't that far away but he couldn't ever remember swimming in a dam and being content in silence with others. There would always be something rumbling away in his mind, some clever thing to say, some story to tell, some girl to put up on a pedestal. He was never able to just be. The beautiful Mnem was happy with them and she was ten years older, she was closer to him in age, why did she want to hang out with kids when she could be sat up here with him? He could be impressing her with his farfetched stories. He felt a flicker of irritation and wondered how he could get her attention. Perhaps he would wait until it was dark, emotions and promise narrowed when there was less to see.