By the Creek Read Online Free PDF

began to climb one afternoon, David packed a cooler and a blanket, and put his bathing suit on under a pair of shorts before grabbing a towel and heading across the field to the creek.
    The shade greeted him with only slightly cooler air, and David continued down the path toward the deeper hole where he could swim, or at least get his entire body wet. The rain had swelled the creek, leaving high water marks on the bank. The water was already receding, but still flowed vigorously over the rocks in the streambed. The water slowed where the creek widened and then nearly stilled where the creek deepened. David had sort of hoped Benjamin would be there, but it was doubtful. When he’d come the day before, David had dangled his feet in the water, but had left after a while. Today it was even hotter, so he thought he’d try swimming. After taking off his shorts, shirt, and shoes, he slowly walked into the water.
    The creek was colder than he expected, and silty mud squished between his toes. He probably wouldn’t stay in very long, but cold or not, the water felt good on his sticky, sweaty skin. In the center of the swimming hole, the water was quite deep, and David couldn’t touch the bottom, but that didn’t matter—he was swimming and it felt dang good. After a while, the water began to feel cold, and he swam toward the edge to get out.
    David nearly slipped getting out, but he made it, dripping on the mossy ground. He spread out the old blanket and dried himself with the towel before lying down. Grateful to be out of the sun, he watched the leaves quake and dance in the canopy of the trees above him, not in any particular hurry to go anywhere.
    “You are here.”
    David jumped and sat up when he heard the other voice. Benjamin stood on the opposite bank, staring at him from across the sparkling pool.
    “It was so hot, and I was hoping I’d see you,” David said and watched as Benjamin continued staring across the water. “I’ll go if you want some privacy.” He remembered how shy Benjamin had been the last time they’d been here and his friend had wanted to swim. Then an interesting thought occurred to him, and David blushed. Maybe Benjamin didn’t swim in a bathing suit, and….
    “It’s okay,” Benjamin said, and he removed his shirt, revealing a pale chest with pink nipples that David knew he shouldn’t be noticing. Then he took off his pants. He was going to swim in his underwear, David supposed, and he watched as Benjamin stepped into the water and then jumped. The splash almost reached David, and he stood up, walking to the water’s edge before jumping in as well. He made sure to splash Benjamin, who retaliated by throwing a wall of water in David’s direction. David splashed back, and soon the entire area was filled with the sound of laughter. Then the splashing turned to roughhousing, with Benjamin jumping on David’s back. David threw him off and tried retaliating, but Benjamin was too quick and slipped away. David lunged again, but Benjamin had already shifted, and David found himself in Benjamin’s grip, the other boy’s chest pressed to his back.
    David tried not to think about how good Benjamin felt against him, and for a second he didn’t fight so he could feel Benjamin’s skin on his just a little longer, but then self-consciousness took over and he bucked. Benjamin fell away, and David pounced, catching Benjamin in his arms this time. They both laughed, and Benjamin squirmed away. They were both breathing hard, and by unspoken mutual consent, they stopped and just swam for a while. He hadn’t noticed being cold, but after a while David started to shiver, so he got out of the water and dried off again, then offered his towel to Benjamin. David wasn’t sure he’d take it at first, but then he did and began drying himself. David sat on the blanket, his skin drying and warming pretty fast. The bathing suit was still cold, but he wasn’t about to change now, so he did his best to ignore