Summer Internship

A Naptown Tale in Twelve Parts

by Altimexis & David of Hope

Part Eleven
Magic Kingdom — Paul

by David of Hope

“Paul,” Sammy snapped his fingers, “What’d’ya thinkin’ ‘bout?”

I rubbed my legs smiling, “Nice smooth legs, and a moist wet pussy.”

Then he brought me back, “Paul! What was the last thing I said about this math problem?”

No doubt about it, Sammy cared for me. He always helped me with my homework. He made me understand what was being taught at school. It was like he knew what I thought. Sometimes after school, he’d be talking away and I’d start thinking about girls — it was easier than thinking about Math or Science, and way easier than thinking about Reading.

Right now though, I had to think and think hard before I could tell him where he’d left off and then he started again, making me learn what the process was to solve the problem. It made sense when he said it. After we finished our homework, he said, “Now tell me about those smooth legs again.” It didn’t take long before we were both hard and enjoying jerking each other off. I couldn’t wait for the day that I’d actually get to enjoy the real thing.

Ya know, when I look at some people I see a glow. Actually, the first time I realized I didn’t see it, I was with Mom in the super market. I asked her why most of the people weren’t glowing like she was. That night after dinner, my Dad asked me a lot of questions about the glow I saw. Since then, he’s told me that only some people can see the glow — I think he called it an aura. I know its not really there ’cause other people can’t see it, but I can see it or maybe I just feel it. Dad said I was lucky to be able to see it and it was there to protect me. I knew he was one of the special people. Mom and Dad had their glow. Maybe that was when I learned the value of hugging someone. I knew these kinds of people would never hurt me. It’s like a piece of magic — it seems like something only I enjoyed.

That’s the way it was the first time Ms. Perkins introduced me to Sammy. He had it too.

Some people have a shadow. I stay away from them.

During our spring break in Washington DC, when I met the President, he had a glow and when he touched me on the shoulder, it was like an invitation to hug him. Sammy’s mom and dad, Lindsey and Rob were like that too. I know all this sounds dumb and I’m not the smartest kid around because of being a Down’s Syndrome kid, but it’s what I feel. I always do what I feel and sometimes I do things right away that catch my eye. I can’t help myself — my thinking takes me there.

Sometimes I see stuff, just behind my eyes — things that are going to happen — and I say it like it is. I knew David was going to be buried in Arlington Cemetery and I said what I saw. I always think that these are special messages, so I say what I see — doesn’t happen all the time — just sometimes.

It just blew me away the day that Ms. Perkins called us into her office and told us that if we both took the summer school, we both might be able to get into regular eighth grade classes together. Sammy was thrilled. Once we started summer school, it took Sammy a bit longer to make me understand what the hell the teachers were trying to say. I wished they’d say it like Sammy did, then the homework would be a breeze. Sammy was really smart.

Then Sammy changed. When Mr. Hinner recorded his voice and played it back the next day, Sammy looked so sad. Then he recorded the same thing when Sammy read it from a piece of paper and I was amazed how the words changed. He could talk like the rest of us! I’d never really thought of it before, but that was another magical change. He was a new Sammy on the outside when he spoke, but he was still the same Sammy inside — the glow never quit.

When Sammy gave that speech at Kurt’s award banquet, it was magic too. I was so proud that he was my friend because of all the clapping that the audience gave him. I’d helped him when he read his first draft of the speech to me. When I had to stop him, I’d point and smile, not to make fun of him, but to let him know that his old way of talking was coming through. Most of the time I tried to be quiet and just listen to the words he was saying. The way Sammy explained it, he wanted to tell the people what a hero Kurt really was and he didn’t want to embarrass anyone when he spoke. In the end, he didn’t even have to memorize the speech — he did a great job!

Summer school was tough on me although I was learning a lot of stuff. It wasn’t as easy as our regular classes. The things they taught us were more advanced than I expected, and squeezed into a shorter amount of time, but it all seemed to make sense to Sammy. Every night he’d go over the lessons with me ‘til I understood it. When I couldn’t concentrate anymore, my mind would start thinking about girls and the things we could be doing. But it seemed that Sammy wanted — maybe even needed — to get as much as we could from these classes because we wanted to catch up to Brad and Cliff. I wanted that too, but it was tough.

Mixed in with all this was all the stupid shit our friends were going through in Washington. Sammy and I really wanted to go on that support trip that Brad had organized, but we had to keep focused on our schoolwork. We were able to see a few of the news clips on TV. Brad was awesome! During those few days, it was nice having Sammy stay with me and my folks.

Added to everything else was Cliff — his cell counts were dropping like a thermometer on a cold winter day and I was feeling really sorry for him. It made Sammy angry when he talked about it. He’d end up saying, “Fucking Gary!” We went over to visit with Cliff every weekend and many afternoons, doing our best to keep up his spirits. Gee, I hoped they could stabilize his counts.

During our last few days of school, Sammy and I had our exams. I’d studied really hard with Sammy to prepare for them. I guess I gave the whole class a big surprise the day of the math exam. After we put our names on the top of the first page of paper, the teacher handed out the math test, face down on our desks to each of us. Then he told us to begin, and then he started the timer. First thing I did was to read the whole thing before I tried to answer any of the questions. I just got to question four when I saw something wrong, so I raised my hand.

“Sir,” I said quietly, “I think there’s a mistake in question four.”

The teacher came to my desk and looked at my exam paper. I asked, “Shouldn’t there be a closing bracket somewhere in that problem?”

It only took a glance before the teacher announced, “Pencils down.” Then he went to the chalkboard and wrote out the problem, large enough so all of us could see it. “Okay guys, because I made a mistake when I typed that problem, this is the question four you should substitute on your exam papers, and, because of this interruption, I’m going to turn the timer back to zero.” He handed my exam paper back. “I apologize for my error; pick up your pencils and begin again.” With that bit of help, we were all finished before the timer dinged. That was an easy exam.

After every exam, Sammy would ask how I felt I did. I’d just smile and say, “It was okay.” I really wasn’t positive that I did great on any test, but I knew that I’d tried my best.

Our last exam was in Reading and I was having a hard time concentrating — the words on the paper just kinda blended together and didn’t make any sense. I guess I was kinda staring out the window when Mr. Hinner knelt beside me and guided me through the exam paper. He didn’t give me the answers; he just very quietly nursed me through the questions like Sammy would do when we were studying together.

When we put our test papers on Mr. Hinner’s desk, I said, “Thanks Mr. Hinner. I don’t know how well I did, but I couldn’t have done it without your help.”

“Paul, you’re a special person in my life. I had to help keep you concentrating,” Mr. Hinner said smiling, “you see I have a younger brother who has Down’s Syndrome. I know how difficult it is for you to concentrate on some things. I think if my brother had had a friend like you have in Sam here, he may have progressed further. Sam, you’ve made a big difference to Paul’s abilities. I have a feeling that the two of you are going to go far in this world — how far is up to you. All the teachers here think you’ve done well.”

“Mr. Hinner, I know I’ve said it before,” Sammy said, “but I really mean it when I say thank you for teaching me to talk properly. I feel so much better about myself.”

“Sam, it was my pleasure — in fact, it’s going to take something pretty extraordinary to beat the satisfaction that I’ve had teaching both of you this summer. So you see, I owe you a debt of gratitude too.” He smiled, “Now get out of here and enjoy what’s left of the summer.”

When we cleaned out our lockers for the last time, we were pretty hyped. Then I saw it.

“Sammy, you’re going to be a teacher.” I saw it on that screen behind my eyes and I said it. Sammy just smiled. It made me happy to think of Sammy being a teacher, ’cause I knew he’d make an awesome one.

We dropped our school stuff at home, got out our bikes, and started pedaling over to Cliff’s house. It only took a half-hour. Cliff was waiting for us at the front door as we rode up, a big smile on his face. Right away we had to hug him. I knew he loved Carlotta, but that was the only person in his life these last few days while Jeremy, Brad and their folks were in Washington.

“Great news!” he exclaimed, “Jeremy just called — Brad’s going to be back tomorrow! God it’s been so lonely without you guys to hang with. Now I know what Jeremy meant when he said he was lonely in this mansion.”

“Well school’s finished and we’ll have lots of time to hang together now. I gotta phone my mom and let her know we got here okay.” I said.

“Hey guys, I was hoping you’d stay here tonight and tomorrow being Saturday, we could go down and welcome Brad.” Cliff suggested.

It only took a couple of phone calls between my folks and Carlotta and we were allowed to stay with Cliff for the night. My folks were so understanding.

That night the three of us shared the same queen sized bed in Cliff’s room. We were watching a movie with some sex in it and that’s when Cliff told us his secret.

“Sammy, don’t fuck up like I did,” he began. “I thought it’d be okay to screw a girl who was HIV pos, but I was wrong — I didn’t use a condom — that’s why my HIV has changed. When my HIV strain mixed with hers, it turned into a resistant one.” He kinda did a deep sighing sob then. “She’s had HIV all her life, and her immune system’s bounced back. Mine hasn’t. Now my blood count’s gone stupid and I’m on a whole new batch of pills and so far they aren’t working that great. They’re kinda hurting my stomach. Before I had a chance, but now, I don’t know.”

That news really bothered Sammy and me. The three of us hugged for a long time.

The next day we got the lift that the three of us needed. Mom came and picked us up and took us over to school grounds just before the busses started to arrive. The parking lot was full of cars. The parents were waiting for their kids to get off the buses. It was wild watching everyone getting off the busses and the parents running from one bus to another trying to find their kids. I’ll betcha there was a thousand people there.

Brad was in the last bus at the end of the line. As soon as he got off a wild cheer came out of the crowd. No doubt about it, he was our hero. The newspaperman was there and so were all the TV stations, and they asked Brad a lot of questions along with some of the other kids, and the parents, too.

The next Thursday was another reunion day at the airport when Trevor, Kurt, David, and Jeremy and their parents came home. Naturally, the brothers were hugging each other the longest. Although David had tears in his eyes hugging Brad, it was Jeremy and Cliff that cried the most. We all went out to dinner at the MCL on 86th Street, and caught them up on what had been going on while they were gone.

On Friday, I had dinner at home with Mom and Dad. Dad had an envelope beside his dish when we sat down, but I didn’t think anything about it until he picked it up after we finished dessert.

“Paul, this is from the school,” he said quietly, “It’s addressed to you. I think it’s a report on how well you did at summer school.”

I was really feeling more than kinda scared when I opened the envelope. I looked at the letter and right away I was having a blurry moment. Once I got focused, read quickly through the letterhead and who it was addressed to and what the letter was about, I found the part that said what grades I got.

Mathematics ‘A’ — well I knew I’d aced that.

Social Studies ‘A’ — I knew I’d done good on that ’cause of the stuff I learned when we went to Washington.

Science ‘B’ — I knew most of the stuff we’d learned and I guess they deducted some marks ’cause I didn’t get the last question done before time ran out.

Reading ‘B’ — WOW! Right away I thought of Mr. Hinner and how great he’d been to me and Sammy.

English ‘B’ That was okay ’cause I knew there was one question that had bothered me.

I jumped up and yelled, “YAHOO!”

Down at the bottom, it said I’d be going into regular eighth grade classes in the fall.

“Yahoo! No more Special Ed!” I yelled. “I gotta go see Sammy,” and I turned and ran out the front door still holding the letter. It’s only a short distance, and although I heard Mom calling to me and Dad running after me, asking me to wait up, I was so pumped I just kept running.

I burst through their front door and yelled, “SAMMY! Sammy! I passed! I passed! I’m goin’ into regular eighth grade!”

I ran right to him hugged him from behind and stuck the letter in front of his face. He was just finishing his desert. So was everyone else — Kurt, Trevor, Lindsey, and Rob. Just then, Rob got up and left the room.

Sammy got up and hugged me. “I knew ya could do it Paul.”

“Paul!” Dad shouted finally catching up after he shut the front door. “Where’s your manners! You can’t just burst into people’s homes and interrupt their dinner.”

“Oh now Fred,” Lindsey said, “Paul can burst through our front door anytime he wants. You know we think of him like another son we never had. Hilda come sit down join us for a cup of coffee.”

Rob came back in the room and handed Sammy his envelope smiling while Kurt and Trevor started cleaning off the table. Sammy let go of me while he tore open the envelope with a big smile on his face.

“All A’s!” he shouted.

Right away Rob grabbed us both into a hug. “I am sooo proud of both of you!” he said.

Then Dad came over and hugged me. “Paul, this wasn’t supposed to happen. Your Mom and I had decided the most we could expect from you would be for you to go to a trade school and maybe learn how to do some assembly line job.” Then he turned to Sammy and held his shoulders. “Sammy, you performed such a miracle for Paul and we’ll never be able to thank you enough.” Then they had a long hug. Both Mom and Dad had tears. Sammy and me were pumped.

Once Trevor and Kurt had finished giving us our hugs, and the excitement cooled down, we all drifted into the living room.

Rob was the first to speak. “Trevor, Kurt,” he began really serious like, “I have a really big favor to ask of both of you. I know you’ve worked hard in Washington this summer and you deserve a break, and actually, we have no right to ask, but we really need your help. Being in Washington with you guys, we’ve missed a lot of work and we need to spend the rest of the summer catching up.” Putting up his hands, he continued, “Don’t feel guilty about it — none of what happened in Washington was your fault, and being with you boys meant far more to us than the business, any day.

“I think both of you will agree that Sammy and Paul deserve a bit of a reward for working so hard at school this past year and especially this summer. Fred, Hilda, Lindsey, and I have had something in the works for a while, but with Lindsey and I having to go back to work, we’re going to need you to kinda baby sit your younger brother and friend for the rest of the summer…”

“Baby sit!” Trevor and Sammy exclaimed.

“Sammy and Paul know how to handle themselves.” Trevor said. “Dad, they don’t need to be baby sat.”

“Rob!” Lindsey grinned. “Quit teasing them and just tell them.”

“Oh all right sweetheart,” Rob replied. “Boys — I know it’s really a lot to ask — trying to keep track of Paul and Sammy — but do you think you could do it — while they’re at — Disney World?”

“D — Disney WORLD!” Sammy shouted. “DAD! You mean it?” He went over to Rob and gave him a hug. That started everyone hugging everyone else all over again. The glow — it was all over the room. Yahoo! We were going to Disney World! Trevor had been there once before when he was a kid, but Kurt, Sammy, and me never had.

That was Friday and on Monday, the four of us were on a plane to Florida.

For me, flying was real special. I could look out the window and everything I knew in my head meant nothing to the feeling of freedom I felt as the land and clouds passed below the plane. I guess I was at one with the sky and the heavens for the few hours it took to fly down to Orlando. Somehow, the trips in a plane never lasted long enough.

Trevor seemed to know his way around the airport and led us first to the washrooms. Then he led us outside to the Disney World Shuttle Bus.

“We got our backpacks, but what about our luggage?” Sammy asked.

“Not to worry,” Trevor answered. “They were pre-booked to our hotel room when we got on the plane.”

“Wow!” Sammy said quietly.

Then Trevor showed the driver a paper and we were told to get on the bus. Sammy and me were really excited. The first stop the bus made was at the Grand Floridian Resort, then on to the Polynesian Resort, then the Wilderness Lodge, and finally the Contemporary Resort, where we got off. It was 3 o’clock and we had arrived.

Trevor introduced us to the lady at the reception desk and she gave each of us a pass card to use in the door lock. Then we were shown to our room by another young guy — his name was Alan, and he looked to be about Trevor’s age.

Surprise, our duffel bags were in our rooms when we unlocked the doors — amazing how they did that! There was a huge queen size bed in each of the bedrooms and we each had a bathroom. There was a door that went between the bedrooms. That was sweet.

Before he left, Alan gave each of us a Disney cell phone with our names labeled on them and Trevor and Kurt were given video cameras to use while we were in the park. Then he gave each of us a pass to use on all the rides and things. Wow! Alan went on to explain that he’d be texting us on the cell phones while we were in the park so that we would see as much as possible during the six days we’d be there — kinda like an invisible guide.

“Now guys,” Alan said with his hand on the doorknob, “I know you’re maybe a bit tired and hungry, so I’d suggest you get yourself settled and then grab a quick burger or something. I’ll be sending you your first text message in about an hour. This is your first afternoon, so we’re actually going to get more than five-and-a-half days out of your package.” He handed Trevor an envelope full of things. Then he opened the door and was gone. We were on our own.

Before we could do anything, Trevor had to call the FBI in Orlando to let them know he was there. That really sucked, ’cause Trevor’s a good guy, but he said he’d made a serious mistake and he’d do whatever he had to do to make up for it, even if it meant going to jail.

Just then I saw on the screen behind my eyes that Trevor would be getting his computers back, and I knew everything would be okay. “You won’t be goin’ to jail,” I told him. My stomach chose that moment to gurgle. We all laughed and headed out to the California Grill after we all went to the bathroom.

They let us watch the guy cook the burgers on the flaming grill. It was great, but the burger itself was better. Best I’d ever tasted. The other guys said the same thing.

When we started wandering around the hotel resort, we were fascinated by the monorail that came right into the lobby. Then Kurt’s cell phone buzzed. He opened it and read the message.

The ride on the monorail was cool — Sammy said it was a better way of getting around than the subway in Washington. You got to see everything around the park.

Space Mountain was different. It was all dark except for all these purple lights as we got into our individual seats — one in front of the other. Once the ride started to move, sometimes I wasn’t sure if I was upside down or sideways. There were flashing lights through the long dark tunnels. It was such a new feeling for me, but the ride finished way too soon. Kurt looked a bit dizzy when he got off. He had us laughing as we walked back to the street with Trevor holding him up. I was glancing around when my Disney phone rang. The others peered over my shoulder as I read it.

The train was waiting for us when we got there. It wasn’t a thrilling trip, but it gave us an idea of how big the park really was. It made a stop at the main entrance to the park and then another at Adventureland where people were getting on and off. It was the first time I’d ever been on a train and it was kinda fascinating listening to the thing rattle over the tracks, blowing its whistle.

The walk through this piece of Frontierland from the station was amazing. With a flash of our pass cards, we were directed to the little open-air train seats with these big bars pulled down in front of us. Sammy said what I was thinking as it pulled gently away from the platform. “This seems like a little kiddies ride.”

Oh man, were we ever wrong! Slow but sure we were climbing up the side of this mountain real gentle like and the view was great. Then it let go! Racing down the mountain — over boulders and things this way and then the other way — up down around and through a tunnel. All of us were screaming! Whew! We all breathed a sigh of relief as we walked back into the crowd on the street. This time, it was Sammy’s phone that rang.

“What’s that mean Trev?” Kurt asked.

The three of us understood. “Splash Mountain!” we yelled together.

Sammy was thrilled right away. “Yeah!” he yelled back. We’d seen a few video clips about it on TV and always said we wanted to take a ride on it. Almost running, we followed Trevor as he led the way. Sammy and me were really bouncing — we couldn’t wait to get on.

It was really something. We were actually getting into a floating log. The trip up was slow and steady — and the view was awesome — especially at the top. Then we came out of a tunnel at the top and the world just started to slip away and my stomach came up to meet my throat. Yoweee! Sammy and me were screaming as loud as we could. Then we hit the water at the bottom of the falls. The splash was humungous. All of us got a bit wet, but not too bad. Then we floated back to the station. I didn’t want to get off — neither did Sammy — but Kurt said no way did he want to do that one again — at least not yet.

As we came down the walkway toward the street, Alan was waiting for us with another guy that was maybe a year or two older than him. They greeted us with towels in their hands. Once we toweled off some of the wet spots, he introduced us.

“Fellows, this is my boyfriend, Reggie. Reggie, say hello to Paul, Sam, Kurt and Trevor.” He shook our hands as Alan said each of our names. “This afternoon you’ve only had a glimpse of what you’re going to see over the next five days, and you’ll be visiting almost all the spots on your tour of Disney World. Right now though, it’s almost eight o’clock and we have to get you back to the hotel. Right Sam?”

“Yes, it’s getting near time.” Sammy replied.

“And I’m hungry,” I added.

“Well, as soon as Reggie and I get you back to the hotel,” Alan replied with a smile, “we’re off duty and we’d appreciate it if you’d have a late dinner with us at the California Grill on the penthouse of your hotel.”

“Hey, that’d be great!” Trevor replied.

We had quite a long walk from Frontierland back over to Tomorrowland. On the way, Alan and Reggie told us about all the things we were passing. It didn’t take long until we was calling them Reg and Al.

A quick ride on the monorail again, and we were back at the hotel. “Someday, no more pills, you’ll be good.” I said to Sammy. What I saw is what I said. Once Sammy had his meds down, Reg and Al took us up to the penthouse restaurant. The hostess that met us at the desk knew Reg and Al right away.

“Evening boys, I have your table ready and waiting for you.” she said as she saw all of us. She showed us to a big round table in the far corner. Sammy and me sat at the window side. The restaurant wasn’t that crowded at 8:30.

I smiled at Sammy as the hostess was leaving the table and in a pretty quiet voice I said, “Nice legs!”

“Nice tits!” he replied just as quiet. Trevor, Kurt, Reg, and Al started laughing.

“Well at least some of us can appreciate a beautiful woman,” Sam said.”

“It’s not that we don’t,” Trevor replied, “It’s just that for us, it nothing more than appreciation.”

“Same with us,” Reg agreed. “First off, I guess you’d have to say that Disney Enterprises is gay-tolerant. We aren’t allowed to flaunt it or fawn over each other in public though. Al and I were briefed about the four of you before you arrived and I guess because we’re a known gay couple we were assigned to be your guides. All we were told was that Sam is HIV pos, Paul has Down’s Syndrome and that the two of you are gay. Oh yeah, and Sammy they did tell us about your med schedule.”

During dinner, Reg and Al learned all there was to know about the way Kurt and Trevor met and then of course Kurt and Sammy had to tell how they became brothers and the story of what had happened at camp. Me, I just sat there and ate — the steak, onion rings, vegetables, and baked potato was delicious. When I finished eating, I told them about how well Sammy and me had done at summer school and how hard Sammy had worked with me and that we’d be going into eighth grade together when we went back to school.

While we had our dessert, Trevor told them about the summer they’d all had in Washington as pages, Brad and all the school kids going there to tell their stories at the investigation about the scandal thing, and I guess he saved the best for last when he told them about Kurt getting the medals. Kurt said it was no big deal, ’cause I got to hug President Obama when we were there on Spring Break.

That brought on a whole other conversation of all the things we did in Washington during Spring Break. I had them in stitches when I told them about the trick we’d pulled on Sammy and the guys after I wandered off. Sammy acted like he was pissed at me when he poked my shoulder, but I knew he wasn’t really mad at me ’cause he was smiling.

By the time we got back to our room, one look at the bed and I knew how tired I was. Next thing I heard was Sammy nudging me. “Paul wake up and answer your phone.”

“Huh?” I heard the ringing, but I couldn’t understand where it was coming from. I got out of bed and found it on the dresser.

“Morning Paul.” It was Reg. “Time for you and Sam to get up and go to breakfast!” He was real cheery and it made me feel warm inside.

“G’Morning Reg, okay, I’ll get Sammy up. Then what?” I answered.

“Once you’re all showered and dressed,” he answered, “Trevor will take you downstairs for breakfast and then we’ll send you a message. okay?”

“Okay Reg,” I said yawning as I closed the phone. “Hey Sammy, come on, get up.”

Just then Kurt came into our room. “Morning guys, did you get your wake-up call?”

“Yup,” I yawned again as I headed for the bathroom. Sammy was right behind me yawning as we stood in front of the toilet taking a morning piss. Then we looked after all the other stuff and got dressed.

By 8:30, Trevor had found us a nice café style restaurant where we could help ourselves to breakfast. We left the restaurant and were just cruising the mall and lobby looking at all the stores and food places when Trevor’s Disney phone rang. Looking at the text message over his shoulders, we read:

When we got off the monorail, Trevor led the way pulling Kurt by the hand. Sammy and me had no trouble keeping up. We got into this dark kinda theater where we sat side by side in these individual seats facing a big screen. Once we were all seated, the floor kinda fell away and a huge movie started. It felt like we really were flying up and over the snowy mountains, and up into the fluffy white clouds — it was so real and so beautiful — but we could feel the warm and cool breezes as we traveled through the air and I could smell the trees and the fresh air as we went from scene to scene. It was awesome!

Afterwards, Sammy got a beep on his phone:

It didn’t seem like much when we hopped into what seemed like a low sports car. The seats were nice, the top was down and we kinda agreed when Kurt said this might be a bit lame. Ooops — were we ever wrong! I’d been with my Dad on the interstate when he did 90 once and that was pretty exciting but this seemed a lot faster. This car really hugged the track and cornered without slowing down. “That was sick!” Sammy said when we got out at the end. We all agreed.

We were no sooner back out on the street than Kurt’s phone beeped with another text message:

The entrance lobby was cool with all the space suits and lots of other stuff. When we went in the capsule and sat down, we all had special jobs to do. Trevor was the commander, Kurt was the pilot, Sammy was the engineer, and I was a navigator. In front of us was what looked like a complicated control panel with a big window above it looking up at the sky.

Trevor announced we were ready for take-off. He pushed a big red button and we started to lift off — it felt like we were going straight up and right out the building, right through the clouds. The space cabin was shaking — it was a good thing we were all harnessed in. We could see the earth moving further and further away from us. Suddenly, we were flying through the deep canyons on Mars. All the time we were getting orders relayed to us from the Earth ground station telling us what to do with the control sticks. It almost felt like we really were controlling the capsule. We all loved it!

When we were done, we started wandering around, checking out the different exhibits in the World Showcase. Sammy wanted to see what Canada had to offer in their pavilion. We stood in the center of the theatre and the screen went all the way around us as they showed us a lot of things that were up there in Canada — the mountains sure were beautiful.

China’s pavilion was WOW!

Just as we walked out of there, my phone beeped with another text message:

“Yeees!” we all said together. We were definitely ready for some food and something more exciting.

It was a big WOW! Although Cliff and Jeremy had a lot of things in their game room — it didn’t compare to this. There was so much of it here. As soon as I spied the DDR machine I had to hop on. After a minute, I was right on the rhythm. Sammy and I both went over to the drum game where we followed the lights to play the right drum. Man was it fast — but a lot of fun. Then Sammy and I tried a pair of driving videos — screeching an old Pontiac Trans-Am through busy downtown streets. That was intense. I was going great for about five minutes until I crashed and took a deep breath as the game shut down. I looked over at Sammy and he was still going — all tensed up and making all sorts of faces.

But — there was these two girls on each side of him, looking over his shoulders. One was a bit taller than the other — dark hair, a great smile, and she was wearing shorts. Oh yeah — nice legs too! The shorter one was wearing slacks, blond, cute face even though both of them were wiggling and squirming as they watched Sammy guide his car at breakneck speed in and around the traffic on the screen. I stood behind Sammy and kept watching. Geez — he was good. I was swaying with every turn just as the girls and Sammy was. Looking at the screen all of a sudden the road became clear and Sammy was on the open road and the screen stopped and a sign came up that said he won!

“WOW!” Sammy yelled. “That was awesome!”

“You were awesome!” The blond girl swooned.

“You must be a great driver!” The girl with the nice legs said. “I’m Dorothy Harris and this is my sister Amber.”

Right away, with my widest smile, I had to say, “HI Dorothy! I’m Paul. Sammy’s my best friend.”

“Oh, hiii Paulll,” she answered with a bright smile. I suppose some guys might think she wasn’t too pretty, I sure did. We just kinda stared at each other for a second.

“Hi Amber,” Sammy said, he smiled too, “I’m Sam Franklin.”

Just as coy-like as her sister, Amber said, “Hiii Saaam.” Then she put out her hand and Sammy reached out and kinda gave it a quick squeeze. Then Trevor and Kurt came over.

“Oh!” Sammy said all surprised. “This is my brother Trevor and his boyfriend Kurt. Hey guys, say hello to Dorothy and Aaammber.” Now I knew it wasn’t his accent — he was gaga over this blond with the tight white sweater and cute chest. But then — I liked Dorothy a whole bunch too and we’d only said a long ‘hi’.

“Hi there girls,” Trevor said smiling. “You want to join us for the afternoon?” Oh boy, just the introduction I wanted.

“Yeah, for sure,” Amber said real excited. “It’ll be a blast!”

“Have you tried the skate board machine yet?” Dorothy asked me.

“No, but I’ll bet I’ll do better on that than I was at driving.” I’d done a lot of skateboarding during the last two years and although I hadn’t tried any of the dangerous stuff, I was a good jumper when it came to stairs. The first time I climbed a short wall and did an in-air reverse to come back down, I was thrilled — I made it! Everyone started cheering me on, and that just added to my excitement to try more daring parts of the track. The girls were squealing, Sammy, Kurt, and Trevor were shouting behind me as I went from wall to wall, but then I got a bit stupid and tried a real high one and wiped out. I was pooped after all that tension, but I felt great — I knew I’d impressed all my friends as they all patted me on the back.

Sammy and me asked the girls where they wanted to go next. Girls being girls I guess, they wanted to go shopping in the Virgin Marketplace, but that was okay with everyone — even Kurt and Trevor.

They had some great CDs and DVDs that each of us bought and some new video games for Cliff. I couldn’t keep him out of my head. Just down the street from there, we came across a place that said ‘Mouse Gear’. The girls ran us through there. Up until then, we hadn’t thought of buying goofy souvenirs, but Dorothy and Amber got all of us in the mood. In addition to the gold, silver and plaid Mickey hats that Sammy, Kurt, and Trevor bought, Amber got a silly hat that had a black wig attached and I got Dorothy and me a great pair of matching sunglasses — not too much oversized, but we liked them.

We were all a bit tired and thirsty, so we found a little stand across the street that sold pop and stuff, then found a small table to sit at outside.

“Paul, this is a game we play on all the new people we meet,” Dorothy said. “Guess something special about Amber and me.”

I looked at them sitting there side by side and nothing was coming to me that seemed special, except their smiles, so I guessed their ages. “Well,” I pondered as I looked at Dorothy, “nothing looks unusual, but I’d guess that Amber is twelve and you’re maybe fourteen.”

Amber giggled. “Actually, we’re both thirteen, but would you believe that we’re twins?”

“What?” Sammy and I said together.

“Whoa! Fraternal, right?” Trevor asked.

“Cool,” Kurt said, “the same age as Paul and Sammy.”

“Yeah?” Dorothy was surprised. “I’d’ve thought you were about fifteen Paul.”

“Oh it’s probably the Down’s Syndrome that makes you think that.” I replied.

Dorothy looked at me, kinda squinted her eyes. “I hadn’t even noticed — it doesn’t — make — a difference.” She said it slow and deliberate with a big smile and stared right into my eyes — I knew she wasn’t lying. “What does make a difference is the fact that I’m five minutes older than Amber.” She turned her head and stuck her tongue out at Amber.

“Yeah! Well you’re five years dumber than me!” Amber replied laughing. With that Dorothy poked Amber in the shoulder. Usually if someone would say something like that, I’d feel bad ’cause it was true, but with all the help Sammy had given me, I was okay with it — I was no longer five years dumber than everyone else my age.

“So what are you girls up to for the rest of your stay?” Kurt asked.

“Well we don’t know until our Disney phone rings and gives us a message.” Dorothy said.

“Same with us,” Sammy said, “We haven’t had one since they sent us to Disney Quest.” Then Sammy and me went on and told them all the places we’d been and the rides we’d been on. Turns out they’d been on the same rides we had and that they arrived at four in the afternoon the same day we had. Before long we found out they were from Chicago and were with their parents.

“We were just in Chicago for the Fourth of July,” I said. “I couldn’t get over how big it is.”

“We live in a suburb called Skokie,” Amber explained. “We don’t really get into the city that much, even though we’re, like, only a half-hour away.”

“Man, if I lived there, I’d be going downtown all the time,” Sammy said. “You have some really wicked museums, especially the Art Institute. That’s the whole reason we went on the trip.”

“Really?” Amber said, real surprised. “You don’t impress me as an artsy type of boy, Sam.”

Sammy got this real soft, intense look in his eyes when he answered Amber and said, “Ever since our trip to Washington over Spring Break, it’s all I think about.”

Squeezing his arm, Amber said, “I like art too, Sam. I like boys who like art.”

Just then a cell phone rang. It wasn’t the usual beep that the Disney phones made, so Kurt, Trevor, and Amber went for their other cell phones. It was Amber’s.

“Hi Mom!” she started. “Yeah Mom, come on over to the Virgin Marketplace. We’re at a table across the street with Saamm and Paul — hey they’re nice boys Mom, come on over and meet them — okay — Bye.”

Just then Trevor had a great idea. “You know we don’t know where they’ll send us tomorrow, so let’s get each others cell numbers so we can keep in touch.”

“Great idea!” Dorothy said — so as we sat there, they programmed each others’ numbers into their cell phones. In the meantime, I had my Disney phone out and was taking snapshots of the three of them. Sammy looked so cute beside Amber and then, of course, there was Dorothy with her beautiful smile. That was one that I wanted to tuck under my pillow when we got home.

Just then their parents arrived and quietly stood behind their daughters. “BOO!” the nice lady said with a smile. She looked a lot like Dorothy.

Amber jerked her head around. “Hi Mom! That didn’t take long. Mom, Dad, I’d like you to meet Saaammm.” Man was she ever gaga over Sammy — just like he was over her.

Being the gentleman he was, Sammy stood up and said, kinda nervous-like, “Hello Mrs. Harris, it’s nice to meet you.” He put out his hand and she shook it. That was nice and by that time I was standing and Dorothy repeated the same thing with me and I shook her hand too and then we both did the same thing with Mr. Harris. They were good people — of course I knew that — the glow ya know. We all forgot about Kurt and Trevor and they had to introduce themselves. Ooops!

We found out that they were staying at the Polynesian Hotel — not too far from ours and we told them that we wouldn’t mind hanging together tomorrow if we knew where we were supposed to be going. Mr. and Mrs. Harris had no idea about that either, so I guess we’d just have to wait.

Just then Dorothy’s Disney phone beeped. The four of them crowded together and read the message out loud:

Wow! Maybe we were staying at the wrong hotel. A Luau! I’ll bet that would be a good show. While we were strolling along, back to the Epcot monorail station, Kurt’s Disney phone beeped. The three of us crowded around him while we read the message out loud:

“Whoa!” the four of us shouted. “Quick! Press nine!” Sammy yelled.

“I’m all for nine too!” I said. Kurt smiled at Trevor and he nodded — it was unanimous — we were going to a Polynesian Luau!

After we dropped our stuff at the room, Al and Reg joined us in the lobby and took us over to the Polynesian Hotel on the monorail where we met the Harrises again.

Wow! What a time it was! There was eleven of us at the table. It was the best meal of sweet and sour that I’d ever had. Yeah the Polynesian dancers were hot, but what made it best — Dorothy sat beside me, I sat beside Sammy and Amber sat beside him. Millie, their guide, sat between Mr. and Mrs. Harris, Trevor and Kurt sat at the end of the table with Reg and Al across from them. All the dancers wowed us with the way they could bounce their hips like they were double jointed and then juggle torches all over the place.

There was another best part when we left the Luau; Mr. and Mrs. Harris led the way, holding hands. Sammy and Amber were right behind them, so they joined hands, then Dorothy grabbed mine. For the first time in my life, I felt connected to a girl my own age. I don’t know the word for what I felt — but I was happy.

All too soon we were at the elevator and the Harrises were going up to their rooms. I guess Sammy and me looked a bit down.

While we were saying goodbye to Dorothy and Amber, Mr. Harris smiled at Sammy and me, “Don’t worry boys,” he said, “you’ll see the girls tomorrow. Millie, Reggie, and Alan have it worked out so that your schedules will be coordinated.”

That news really put a smile on my face. These girls were special and it was a blast to be with them. They kept smiling and waved their fingers at us right up ’til the elevator doors closed. I couldn’t quit smiling. This was a new feeling and it was great. When we turned around, Reg and Al were saying goodnight to Millie.

“Hey! Thanks guys,” Sammy said smiling, “we’re glad we’re going be able to spend another day with Amber and Dorothy.”

When we got off the monorail and back to our rooms at the Contemporary, Trevor said, “Hey guys, did you have fun today?”

“It was a blast!” Sammy said as Trevor and Kurt sat on the side of the bed.

“It was sweeeet!” I said still thinking about Dorothy.

“Kinda like a first date, wouldn’t you say Trevor?” Kurt said smiling.

“Oooh definitely Kurt.” Trevor smiled. “Holding hands on the first date. Maybe it’s more serious than we think.”

“Aw you guys are nuts,” I said as I swatted Trevor with one of the pillows. “You guys are always holding hands.”

“Yeah and you guys are always teasing us when we kiss,” Kurt said laughing.

Just to tease us some more, they leaned together and I knew they were going to kiss, but Trevor’s cell phone rang.

“Dang it all,” he said just before he opened it and raised his eyebrows. He put it to his ear and said, “Hey there Jeremy, how ya doin’?” That had everyone’s attention. “Yeah, we’re having a great time. The rides are out of this world — how’s things at home? — Hey! That’s great — yeah, he’s right here.” I was all ears expecting everything except when he handed the phone to Kurt!

“Hi Jeremy&nhellip; It’s beautiful man, the first ride got me a bit disorientated, but I was okay after that… how’s everyone back home?… Yeah… uh huh… oh man that’s so great… sure, he’s right here.” Then Kurt handed the phone to Sammy.

“Hi Jeremy… oh Cliff!… How ya doing?… Yeah… Wow!… Geez, that’s great!… Oh man we’re having a blast… nearly pissed myself on beating one of the video games, but Paul and I really impressed a cute set of twins, but they don’t look like each other… You know it man, I can’t believe how huge this place is… you bet… hey… call my folks and tell them everything’s fine… thanks Cliff.” Then he handed the phone to me.

“Hi Cliff!”

“Hi Paul, isn’t Disney World a hoot?”

“Man I can’t believe the fun we’ve been having. After dinner tonight we saw a bunch of hula girls in grass skirts. Man can they ever wiggle their hips.”

“Hey Paul, what’s the name of the girl you met?”

“Dorothy — Cliff, she is so sweeeet.”

“What’s Sammy’s girl’s name.”

“Amber, you’d never think they were twins to look at them. Hey Cliff, how you doing?” I said kinda serious like.

“Lots better. Doc says my counts have stabilized and maybe we got a hand on things. Sounds great to us. It’s been great having Brad, David, and Jeremy here, but I still miss you guys.”

“I miss you too man, really glad your counts are getting better.” I said kinda sad ’cause I missed him, but at the same time, I was happy for him too.

“Hey Paul, Brad wants to talk to Sammy.”

“Okay, see ya in a few days.” I handed the phone to Sammy. “Brad wants to talk to you.”

“Hey there Brad… Yeah… they’re fun girls… don’t think so man, they live in Chicago… No way! They’re with their folks… yeah, we land on Friday night… hey that’d be great… see ya then. Bye.” After he closed the phone, he had a big smile. “Cliff’s doing good.”

The four of us just looked at one another with big smiles. “Yeah,” we all said quiet-like. We were happy for the good news.

“Okay guys,” Trevor said, “we’re going to get to bed, and so should you two. Now if you can’t be good or you can’t be quiet, you better be having fun.”

Sammy and me did have fun in bed that night — it felt so much better when he jerked me off while I closed my eyes and thought about Dorothy — I guess he was thinking about Amber while I jerked him off at the same time.

We were still sleeping the next morning when Kurt came into our room in his shorts and nudged me awake. “Better wake up Paul, your Disney phone’s going to ring.”

“G’mornin’ Kurt,” I said real groggy, then my phone beeped. I wiped my eyes awake before I opened it to read the message:

“I’ll bet they were sending the same message to Amber and Dorothy at the same time as us,” Sammy said looking over my shoulder.

“Cool!” Right away we were gung-ho to get to Epcot to see the girls again.

Sammy and me were raring to go — nagging Trevor and Kurt to hurry up once we’d finished showering and dressing. Then we nagged them again as soon as we’d wolfed down our breakfast. “Come on, come on,” I said, “we don’t want to miss the Harrises at Epcot!”

“Oh, they’ll wait for us,” Kurt said smiling as he took another bite of his toast. Sammy and me were finished and were just fidgeting. Couldn’t help it.

This time Sammy and me were the ones leading the way to the monorail. I guess timing means everything — when we pulled into the Polynesian Station, we saw the Harrises and started waving, so they hopped into the same car we were in.

Sammy and me had a great reunion chatting up the twins while we followed their folks, Trevor, and Kurt until we arrived at the Disney Studios back lot. We weren’t in such a hurry anymore.

We spent the rest of the morning watching all the cars and motorcycle stunts performed on the movie sets with fire and flames all over the place. Amazing the special effects they showed us. Even the girls were thrilled.

Once we finished lunch, the girls’ parents went off to see a backstage tour of Epcot, leaving us on our own to have some real fun. Dorothy’s Disney phone beeped.

When we got to the Hollywood Tower Hotel we were shown our way through the lobby and into the elevator. It was a quiet trip up to the top, where a bellboy guided us to our seats. That was Ok until the bar was lowered into our laps. I was still waiting to see what was going to happen — then the two doors in front of us slid across leaving nothing but open air all around us and right away, I knew. I’d seen the ‘drop of doom’ on TV before. The benches we were sitting on moved forward — then we started to move up a couple of stories — and then the biggest drop in my life and one that I don’t want to ever take again. We were all screaming, especially the girls — everyone’s hair was flying straight up as we dropped to the ground. The spongy slowdown at the bottom of the drop put our stomachs back where they were supposed to be. Once we were walking on solid ground again, everyone thought it was a great ride — especially now that it was over.

We were almost going to look for a place to get a drink when my Disney phone beeped.

Right away the girls had that clue figured out and within a short walk they had us in front of the Rock and Roller Coaster. Man the music of Aerosmith really had us rocking all right. After our rest from the Hollywood Tower, we were all pumped for another ride. It was quick! We all found out what G-forces were on that ride — 0 to 60 in 2.8 seconds then a quick bunch of curves until we were back at the starting platform again.

When we came out of the ride, the twins’ mom and dad were waiting for us. They seemed real happy and glad that we were having a good time. Finally, after a short walk, we all agreed that we should sit down and have a drink. While the four of us guys were telling the Harris family how it was that we were here and our parents couldn’t make it, Kurt’s Disney phone beeped. He was sitting beside Mrs. Harris, so they read it out loud for all of us to hear.

It was a great dinner. We got to tell the Harrises all about our Spring Break and Trevor and Kurt told them about their summer paging. Then their eyes lit up when they realized that Kurt and Trevor were part of that scandal that had made the news. Trevor set them straight about how it was all a vicious rumor that was started by one of the raggy tabloid reporters.

Ya know what was great — I realized that as we sat there after dinner talking, no one had mentioned the word ‘gay’. I glanced from one member of the family to the other — there was a look, but more of a feeling — total acceptance — not tolerance — acceptance.

The Cirque du Soleil was amazing — no two ways about it. I’d seen the regular circus when it came to town, but this was like nothing I’d seen before. Sharing it with Dorothy and the Harrises was the best.

Saying goodnight to them that night in the lobby of the Contemporary Hotel, we all shared hugs with them. I knew they were special people and now I had a deeper respect for them. I especially felt it when I hugged Dorothy in our goodbye.

As usual, morning came a bit soon with the Disney phone beeping again.

With a nudge, Sammy was wide-awake and the first thing we did was run through the door into Trevor and Kurt’s room. They were snuggled together, sound asleep, under the bedspread.

Together, we yelled, “Hey, get up, get up!” as we quickly pulled the covers off them. Now that was a sight we seldom saw. Their arms and legs were totally tangled together, facing each other, nude with hard-ons. Sammy and me started giggling and laughing trying hard to tell them that we only had 45 minutes to get down to the lobby, then we tore out of the room and headed for our bathroom.

Going down in the elevator to the lobby, Trevor said, “We’re going to get even with you two for that wake-up call.”

I think Sammy smoothed it over when he said, “You guys are so sweet together.”

I couldn’t tell what restaurant Reg and Al took us to, but it was great. Then the six of us, led by Reg and Al, went over to the shuttle bus and Reg told us that we were on our way to the Disney Animal Kingdom Park and that the Harrises would meet us at the bus stop there.

It was fun just starting out strolling along the trails looking at all the animals that were set up in what looked like their own habitat. We’d been to zoos before, but never like this. The bat cave really spooked Kurt and Dorothy. I enjoyed that part ’cause she’d grab my arm and hang on when she was a bit squeamish or scared. After we saw some of the gorillas and kinda imitated them and the lumbering elephants, we came across another place to shop.

The girls really liked that part for some reason. Sammy and I looked at each other and smiled when we spotted a sparkly broach-pin thingy. We bought a number of them, some for our moms and one each for the twins.

After we pinned the broaches on the twins, Amber’s Disney phone beeped.

It wasn’t a long walk until we saw the sign, “Primeval Whirl”. Even Mr. and Mrs. Harris said they would come on this one with us. It was like a big roller coaster except the train car you were in turned in a complete circle as it whipped down the track. Whipping up and down the hills, screaming around the curves — it was a totally different sensation than a regular roller coaster. Wow!

After a bus ride through the Animal Kingdom and lunch at the African Resort, the ‘rents told us they had plans for the afternoon, leaving us on our own. Sweet! Trevor got a text message from Al telling us to head over to Asia and the Kali River Rapids.

This time we were on a huge circular raft that all six of us sat in comfortably while we rode up this long hill — until it let go and then we had a crazy ride down over a winding river with lots of rapids in it. Yup — we got wet, but it felt good in the August heat. Sammy and me were enjoying these rides more and more — listening to the twins scream and squeal while we tried to act brave in front of them.

We wandered along the trails of the Asia area for a while, when our stroll was interrupted by a text message on Sammy’s Disney phone:

This was a great ride. It just started as we slid around a corner real slow and then it climbed slowly to what might have been the highest point in the Disney World, then we were off all the way to the bottom, screaming all the way, around a few wild curves through a few tunnels and up another hill. Then we started to fall backwards at breakneck speed, around the curves and through the tunnels again ’til we reached the top of another hill and went forwards again. We all thought that was the best ride in the whole of Disney World.

We ate dinner at the Wilderness Resort Lodge. That night at dinner we talked with the twins about our homes and friends and what it was like to go to our schools. Of course Sammy, the charmer, kept right up to them and more important to me, he and Dorothy knew how to draw me into the conversation. I think Sammy and me were at the point where we only had eyes for Dorothy and Amber.

After dinner, we went on a special fireworks cruise of Epcot. Man, I’d seen fireworks before, but this was magical.

After we said our good nights and were back in our rooms, Sammy and me went into Trevor and Kurt’s room just to talk. Sammy asked the question that we were both wondering about.

“Trevor,” he asked, “when do you know you’re in love?” Trevor and Kurt both smiled.

“It’s something you just know when it happens,” Trevor said, “and you know that the mental and physical space between you and the one you want is so close that there’s no turning back. You guys really like the twins, don’t you.”

I nodded. Sammy said, “Yeah, I can’t remember when I’ve ever been this happy.”

“Well vacations in a place like Disney World can do that to a person.” Kurt added. “Even Mr. and Mrs. Harris said tonight at dinner that this trip was like a second honeymoon for them.”

“Yeah,” I said, “This is just a place that makes everyone feel good, but I’ll always remember this trip. It really rocks.”

Our last full day there and we were wakened again with a text message from Al.

Sure enough, after breakfast, we met Al and Reg on the monorail concourse. Before we hopped on the monorail, they told us to hand over the video cameras and the Disney phones — they wanted to download all the material and tonight at dinner they would give us all the stuff we’d taken on a DVD and CD that we could use on our computers. Sweet!

Following the directions that they gave us, we ended up at the Blizzard Beach Water Park. The Harrises got off the monorail that came after ours, about ten minutes later. We all had big smiling good mornings and headed for the dressing rooms.

Wow! More magic! Both Dorothy and Amber looked great in their swimsuits — especially Dorothy.

While the twins’ parents decided they were going over to the wave pool to enjoy an easy swim, the first thing we wanted to try was the Summit Plummet that was like a gigantic water slide. There was a digital sign that told you how fast you were going when you reached the bottom. No one else wanted to go first, so I did. I hit 50.5 mph before I hit the big splash at the bottom, then Dorothy came down at 52 mph. Sammy came and he got up to 53.5 mph. Then Amber beat him — 54 mph, Trevor came down at 53 and Kurt came down at 53.5 mph. I was the slowest, but at that speed, who cared?

Next we went over to the Toboggan Races. Each of us had our own lane and we all took off at the same time. Amber and Sammy made it to the bottom first, I was right behind them, Kurt and Dorothy were right behind me, and then Trevor wiped out at the bottom. After that, we wanted something with even more excitement. We sure got it at the Crush n’ Gusher. The two person rafts swooped down a long slide with a lot of curves. I thought I’d team up with Dorothy, but Sammy and me didn’t have a choice — the girls went first — together. Shit!

After a light lunch with the ’rents in an outdoor place, right by the water, we headed for Typhoon Lagoon. That sure turned out to be a surprise when the guys at the entrance handed us snorkel gear and goggles and told us we’d be swimming with all sorts of fish, sharks, and stingrays. When I heard that, I kind of freaked out. I sure as hell didn’t want to get eaten by a shark or zapped by a stingray.

That’s when Kurt let the cat out of the bag. It really looked like they were in the same tank as us, but Kurt revealed the secret behind the magic — it was a tank within a tank. We really weren’t in the same tank as the fish. I was quick to run in the water and catch up to Dorothy. It was awesome sharing the view with her holding my hand. Amber and Sammy were doing the same in front of us. When we turned around, Trevor and Kurt were holding hands as they swam past us.

After an hour or so, we went into another area where there was a larger lake. We tried waterskiing and although none of us was great at it, I was amazed that I could stay up for almost twenty seconds before I wiped out. Then came the real magic — parachute gliding behind the boat we were harnessed to, two at a time. It was astounding up there with nothing between you and the water. Even when they reeled us in — it was awesome!

Dinner that evening was really nice. Before we left the restaurant, Reg, Al, and Millie gave each of us our CDs and DVDs of all the pictures and movies we’d taken. Everyone gave them a hug. As we all said goodnight to each other, the Harrises told us they’d meet us there on the Contemporary’s monorail concourse when it was time to take the shuttle bus together to the airport. Dorothy and Amber surprised us when they gave Sammy and me a hug and a kiss on the cheek before they got on the monorail. Sweeeet!

Sammy and me got kinda quiet ’cause we knew our vacation was coming to an end. Kurt and Trevor knew what we were feeling. They didn’t say anything when we got on the elevator — they just put their arms around our shoulders. It meant something special to me — they cared about what we were feeling.

It was a really emotional goodbye for Sammy and Amber at the airport the next morning. They both had tears. I held mine back as I hugged Dorothy, and I returned the hug and kiss on the cheek. She returned my smile through her tears. I said what I saw. “You’re going to be a good gym instructor.” My glimpse of the picture was there, but where the words came from, I don’t know.

Mr. Harris reached out and shook my hand and thanked me for being such a good friend to Dorothy. Huh? She was being a great friend to me — so that’s what I told him. He smiled. Then he shook Sammy’s hand.

“Kurt told me that even though he got the medals, you were the real hero. I know that God will see you through a lot of difficulties in life, even though you may never realize it.”

Just then I saw Mr. Harris preaching from the pulpit, and I knew that he could see the glow — not the way I did, but in his heart. His glow was strong like my dad’s, and I ran up and hugged him tight.

“And boys,” he added, “you’re more than welcome to come visit us, anytime, and to stay with us in our home. It’s only a four-hour drive, and you know our girls would be delighted to have you visit us any old weekend. We would, too.”

We watched as the Harris family left us to go through security.

During our flight home, my head was in the window again. The clouds were especially beautiful this time. The picture I saw wasn’t just behind my eyes this time — it was outside the window. It was Cliff — he was smiling and I heard his voice as clear as a bell in my head. I watched as I saw and heard him say the words, ‘I’m going to be fine. I’m going to be happy.’ I sat back in my seat and looked at Sammy beside me. He looked a bit down so I nudged his elbow. I smiled and said quietly, “Cliff is going to be fine.”

He smiled. “It was a lot of fun wasn’t it?”

“Awesome!” Sometimes that’s all I can think to say.

As soon as we got past the security gates, we were swarmed by our families and friends. Mom, Dad, Kurt’s mom, Rob, Lindsey, Brad, Jeremy, David and most precious of all — Cliff.

Even though we were no longer in the magic kingdom of Disney World, this was the best piece of magic of the whole trip — being with our families and friends. Yes — this was our magic kingdom.