m/m On A Cold Winters Night: A Christmas Tale

[elysiumfields]

Heres a little festive tale i wrote some while back that some of u may have read. Please be kind.. and be patient.

 

 

On A Cold Winters Night : A Christmas Tale. Parts 1 & 2

 

 

PART ONE:

 

Daniel Crown had been reclusive since the sudden tragic death of his beloved husband Jeff.. Ever since the state passed a legislature allowing gay marriage,both men,who had loved each other for close to twenty five years,and had the potential to grow old together,bonded in a lavish civil partnership ceremony. 

But fate dealt a cruel hand, and Jeff,now 50, was left to grow old alone.The pain was too much to bear for Daniel to move on,it had only been a year since Jeffs death from a sudden heart attack,and the loss was all too fresh.

.

Jeffs death hit Daniel hard.. He shut himself off from much of the world and shied away from the fun social life he had had with Jeff.. Places,people...brought reminders of his beloved back to him. Even though Daniel missed Jeff dearly,the reminders only caused him to sink lower into depression at the loss and emptiness....and to alcohol.

He hated life lately... Anything to seek an end to it and be with Jeff,but he was even too cowardly at that as he thought...

 

Now, as winter blew the first snows into the suburbs of the city where

Dan and Jeff had lived, Daniel felt this was a sign of change. He did not want to spend a second Christmas alone in this place...the first had been a heartbreak

Daniels grandfather had left him a cabin up in the pine hills away from the city where as a child and teenager Dan had spent many a summer with his gramps fishing on the lake and hiking through the woods. Sometimes Daniel had brought Jeff to this romantic retreat and its the one place that Dan felt happy with the memories of both his lover and his grandfather,who had passed shortly after he had 'come out'. 17.

And when his father neglected him for his homosexuality, his grandfather,one person who had been brought up in a time that had conservative and deeply homophobic values,surprised Daniel with his liberal compassion and sheer love.. love that he would still feel for his only grandson no matter who or what he was..

 

That golden time was gone. Daniel was all alone now as he packed up his VW Beetle convert and wrapped himself in his coat before glancing back one last time at the apartment before he got in, sputtering the engine into life and then drawing out of the driveway for the long drive to the cabin, in hopes of reaching it before the weather closed in.. And the weather would be notorious that high in the Pine forests.

 

====

====

 

17 year Jacob Quill sat in the diner overlooking the misty freeway that would take him to the next small town in search of some kind of solace and freedom from the harsh life he had with his worthless parents. A father that had often slapped him around and finally showing open disgust at his sons homosexuality.. A mother who had done little to 

openly support Jacob and largely shrank into the background of her husbands dominance.

 

Confused,alone with himself, Jacob had enough and packed and left his sorry existence in hopes of finding someone,..anyone with kindred spirit to 

share his life and love with..

 

Now he sat staring outside the diner window,stirring his murky cup of coffee and staring out at the passing traffic trundling along,hindered by the encroaching snows and mist rolling down off the forests. He had managed to hitch a lift with a truck driver this far but now needed to try and get another lift to go further..

 

...And he saw one potential lift now.. A rather smart red VW Beetle convertible rolling onto the gas station close by....

 

 

 

 

PART TWO:

 

 

On his way up to the cabin, Daniels gas tank beeped that it was near empty.. He cursed lightly under his breath that he not remembered to fill 

the car up before he left the city. Fortunately for him,he found a Gas station rather soon and pulled in to fill up enough to more than last him the journey there. 

 

After paying up in the convenience store,grabbing some mint sweets on the way, Daniel wrapped himself in his thick coat and trudged back through the slushy snow towards his car, as the wind whipped it around his head and howled over the tops of the Douglas fir trees that lined the edge of the freeway.

 

Just as he got to his car,he heard someone trying to gain his attention.

"Hey mister...mister..!'' 

Dan looked around to see some guy wrapped tightly in a snug grey duffle coat with its wool lined hood pulled up over the guys head and a black scarf that pretty much effectively hid much of his face from the elements,and carrying a heavy looking green duffelbag.

The guy drew level with Daniel and tugged down the scarf to reveal to Dan a young and strikingly handsome face that for a breif moment made something stir inside him.

 

''Hey Mister,....um,..are you heading towards Evendale at all..?'' said the young man,who by Dans standards looked barely into his twenties.

Dan grumbled for a few moments as he fumbled for his keys as the youth next to him hopped lightly from one foot to the other from the cold.

''I dunno kid,. I might not be going directly INTO Evendale,but..''

Dan had to pass through the outer suburbs of the town to get to his cabin but was'nt too comfortable with the fact of picking up a hitchhiker,who could turn out like the urban legend and be a crazy axe-weiling nutter,but as his eyes met with the kids stunning turquiose blue eyes,he again felt that tiny spark of attraction.

 

''Aw please mister.. I'll give you a couple of bucks.. I just wanna get that far at least.. Please.. I been waitin' here ages for a ride but everyones been too reluctant..'' pleaded the kid.

 

''Ok,..but i'll take you as far as i can, thats it.'' replied Daniel as he got into the car.

''Aw geez,..thanks mister.. Thought i was gonna freeze to death waitin' here''

Daniel started the engine just as the kid got into the passenger seat,placing his bag into the back and throwing down the hood to reveal his surfer blonde short cropped hair.

''Names Jacob..'' he said enthusiastically,pulling off a glove to shake Daniels hand.

''Daniel'' he replied.

 

Dan set off along the freeway towards the Ridge road that would take him up over the pass towards Evandale and on to his cabin..

 

''So what takes you out this way..?'' Dan asked Jacob.

 

''Oh, just wanna get away from some shit homelife and start afresh. Parents give me hassle and now i got the chance to cut free and live my own life'' Dan said, unbuttoning the coats top buttoms and warming his bare hands on the cars heater.

''And you..You live out this way..?''

 

''Oh,..i got a cabin up in the hills just past Evandale i'm gonna spend Christmas in..'' said Dan,his eyes on the road.

 

''Sounds real romantic.. A cabin in the woods all covered in snow,with a roaring fireplace..''

 

''I wish it was... I just got over the loss of..'' Dan hesitated.. ''Of someone i loved''.

 

''Sorry buddy,..i did'nt mean to be ....''

Daniel interrupted him with a gentle wave of his hand..

 

''Don't worry,..its fine'' He watched out of the corner of his eye as Jacob pulled out a small leaflet of some kind out of his inside coat pocket. Jacob noticed.

 

It was a Fitness and Bodybuilding leaflet advertising a some protein shakes and other muscle building products..

 

''You into Bodybuilding..?'' Dan asked Jacob.

 

''I'd like to be.. I wanna try and get big..massive. My pops kept tellin' me i was a scrawny and weak little..'' he paused, to find a different word..

''lowlife, who would'nt amount to much.. So it gave me the motivation to take up weight-training and now i'm starting to see some results''

 

Daniel could not see much of Jacobs body under his coat but he did have quite a thick neck,..and he had the face of an Abercrombie and Fitch model..''

 

''You go to the gym..?'' Jacob replied,eying up the rainbow triangle pendant hanging from the rear view mirror.. Could'nt be a gay symbol could it..? he thought.

 

''Only now and again. I pretty much stopped going when my partner died''

 

''Hope you don't mind me asking.How long..?'' asked Jacob, tentatively.

 

''Just over a year now..'' 'Fuck it' Dan thought.. 'Nothing to live for..Just come out with it..!' ''My boyfriend died of a heart attack last September''.

 

Daniel swallowed hard and waited for the boys reaction But after all, he had the car, so he could dump the kid somewhere safe if he acted up''

 

''You arer gay.?'' said Jacob, physically sitting up straight in the seat with the guys revelation..

 

''Yes i am.. Any problems with that and i can just dump you off.!''

 

''No...no,sorry mister.. Its just that...'' Jacob squirmed to find the right words. 'So am i.. I just try and keep it private because my pops was an asshole about it.''

 

Daniel relaxed and even smiled a little, reassuringly.

''Then your pops just does'nt understand..I hate bigots like that''

 

They sat quietly for a while as the snow blew into a blizzard and whipped around the car, visibility decreasing as the road passed throug a scenery of ddeper snow,blowing in drifts across the tarmac and howling around the trees that closed in..

 

''So, just how old are you Jacob..?'' Dan said,casting a quick glance to his young passenger.

 

''17''

 

''You are a brave man to f...''

 

Dan did'nt get to finish his sentance before Jacob shouted out ''Look out''.

 

A heavy tree branch that could no longer take the strain of the snow compacting onto it,snapped off and fell with a crash into the road ahead.. Too little too late for Dan to fully avoid..

 

His car clipped the branch as it cracked the windscreen and shoved the car to the opposite side of the road. Daniel tried to regain control but the car swerved maniacally across to the right side and then back onto the opposing lane,skidded on some ice and then hit a snowbank,throwing the car into a roll down a slope till it crash landed upside down against a Redwood tree that showered it with a heavy shower of snow from its branches..

 

 

 

TO BE CONTINUED....