The Distance Between Us, Chapter 1
The Distance Between Us
By Jason Finigan
This story is completely fictional. Any similarities to any persons or events, past or present are purely coincidental. This story may contain scenes which involve sexual situations between young males. If this type of material is offensive to you, or it is not legal for you to be reading this type of material, please do not read any further. This story is copyright © 2007 by Jason. Please do not copy this story for distribution or post on any online server without the author's permission. Please send all your comments to: greywolf_0173@hotmail.com, or jasonfinigan@yahoo.com You can also visit my site at: jasonfinigan.bravehost.com. Thanks and enjoy the story.
Chapter 1
Well, here I go again. Another day of working my butt off just to make all the kids and their families happy. It's the same old story for me. Here I am crawling out of bed and it's only four in the morning. For crying out loud, it's still dark outside, and rather than lying comfortably in my bed, like normal people do, I'm stumbling about my trailer trying to wipe the sleep out of my eyes. Turning on the light in the living room didn't help matters much either. God that hurts! Note to self; close my eyes before turning on the damn light.
And why is it that I have to get up so early? Let's just say that the public transit in Orlando sucks big time. Anyone who complains about public transit where they live has never had to deal with it here. Just getting to work from where I live takes two and a half hours. I swear, the people that came up with the bus routes did so just to inconvenience me. No, I guess that's not fair, but damn it, that's what it feels like sometimes.
Oh, I guess I should introduce myself. See what happens when I get up so early in the morning? My name's Brent Stevens. I'm forty years old and I work as a ride operator at Universal Studios Theme Park. Oh and yeah, I'm also gay. I know what you're thinking; what the hell is an old geezer like me doing working in a theme park? The answer is simple, I enjoy my job. I just don't like getting up this early in the morning. Of course that would bring about the next obvious question; why don't I just drive myself to work? Well that's because I don't have a driver's license. Couldn't afford to drive anyways with what Universal pays me.
So here I am, at four in the morning, getting my sorry ass ready for work, knowing that I have a two and a half hour bus ride ahead of me, another six hours of work, followed by another two and a half hours on the bus back. Isn't life grand?
I've finally woken up from my zombie state, of course it took me stubbing my toe on the coffee table to do it, but I'm awake. What I really needed is my morning coffee. I can't start my day without a good strong cup. Of course I forgot to get the coffee maker ready before I went to bed last night so naturally I have to fill it with water and put the coffee grounds in the filter. When will I ever learn? Probably never, I'm too set in my ways I think.
For the record, never fill a coffee pot in the morning when you haven't even gone to the bathroom yet. I think I broke the land speed record going from my kitchen to the bathroom to relieve my bladder. Why is it that running water always gives you the need to go to the bathroom? I think god had the blueprints mixed up when he made us. Then again, I don't even believe in god, but it's nice to blame someone.
Bah, don't mind me, I'm not always this grumpy. I'm just not very cheerful this early in the morning. I think that anyone who is, needs to have their head examined. That pillow is looking awfully inviting right now. But no, I need to get my sorry butt to work. Have to make those kids happy after all.
All right, the averted accident has been taken care of and now I can finally get my cup of coffee. Oh damn, I didn't even put the water in the stupid coffee maker yet, not to mention getting the coffee grounds into the filter. I'm pretty sure while I was getting the coffee maker ready, I had invented a few new swear words, most of them directed at myself for not doing this last night.
There, I've got the water and the coffee grounds in and I've turned on the damn thing. Now all I need to do is wait for it to brew at least one cup. That's all I'm asking for right now, just one lousy cup of coffee. I don't think that's too much to ask for, do you?
While that's brewing, I might as well go turn on my computer and check out my e-mail. No matter how fast they make computers, they never make them fast enough for my liking. I mean, why the hell does it have to take so long just to boot up for crying out loud? It's all Bill Gates' fault. I'm sure he designed these things just to piss people like me off. I bet he's sitting in his nice comfortable million dollar chair right now laughing his head off at all of us gullible lemmings. How is it that we became so dependent on this one man's stupid operating system anyways? And it's not even his in the first place. The stupid fool couldn't even come up with something original, so he stole it from his friend. If everyone could get away with something like that, there'd probably be no need for money anymore.
Oh great, in all the time it took me to ramble on about my computer, it's finally decided to let me do something. Thank God I have cable Internet, or I'd have to sit here waiting forever just to connect to the Internet. Just how people were able to tolerate the slow speed of dial-up Internet, I will never know. You won't catch me using it, that's for sure.
Now I just have to start up Internet Explorer and log onto Yahoo, and I'll be able to read my email. Heh, chances are it's filled to the brim with spam, as usual.
Stupid keyboard, won't type in my user name or password properly. There, finally managed to log in. And yep, there they are, all twenty-seven spam messages and a few regular ones. I'm so popular. One thing I like about yahoo mail is that I can go do a mail box and delete everything just by checking one box and clicking okay. And that's just what I did, getting rid of all that junk mail. Just how old do these people think I am anyways? Do they really think I need Viagra or hormone replacement therapy? Hell, the only thing mildly of interest would be the penis enlarger but I'm rather quite satisfied with what I have right now thank you very much.
Alright, I got rid of those annoying spam messages, now it's time to see what the rest is about. By the looks of it, I have some new fans. Oh, I forgot to mention that besides being a ride operator for Universal, I'm also an amateur writer, and I write gay fiction for a site called Nifty. You'd like it, if you haven't already been there. The whole site is dedicated to alternative fiction written by people like me.
The coffee is still brewing, so I might as well get it over with and open up the first email. Oh how unimaginative! I always love it when people write to me to tell me how much they enjoy my stories, but really, can't people do better than write a few short words? I mean, come on. It really must have taxed someone's brain to type out the measly five words that I now see before me.
Surely you can do better than: "I love your story, thanks." Like, what about it did you like? Was there something you wished to see in it? Or how about asking me to have online sex with you some time, I mean anything but simply an "I love your story" line. All you'll end up getting from me is a two word email back saying: "You're welcome."
Now the second email is more to my liking. A whole paragraph even. Not bad. This one deserves a response. If it wasn't for me stubbing my toe before, I'd probably be too asleep to send a reply, but since I'm awake, I might as well get it over with.
There, reply sent. Not as long as the original message, but still long enough for the original sender to know I appreciated their comments. Hey, hold on a second, the coffee is done, and I'm going to get a cup.
Okay, I'm back, and now it's time to open up that third email. Hey now this isn't bad! Someone really put their mind to work on this one. I think they actually wrote a whole novel considering the size of this one. These are the kind of emails I like to read from my fans. And since I now have my coffee, I don't have to worry about being interrupted in the middle of the email.
This guy is a dream come true for me. He's witty, intelligent, and I love his sense of humor. I think he likes what I wrote in my disclaimer. You see I'm kind of a political nut, and I have no problems ragging on politicians about their stupidity. And don't get me started on that here, trust me. I could go on for hours about how the politicians in this country have screwed things up. If I had my way, I'd fire every single one of them and have them replaced by seven year olds who could do a much better job in my opinion.
From what I've heard from others, I'm not alone in my opinion. At any rate, this guy's email is really enjoyable. He's the kind of guy I wish I could meet on the street one day and fall in love with. It's too bad this guy lives in Canada, he'd be really sweet to meet one day.
Now there's a country I'd prefer to live in. At least there people like me could fall in love with a guy and get married to him. Not here though. No, here there is so much hatred, and prejudice that it's a wonder this country hasn't fallen into another civil war.
Hey, I think a civil war would be good for this country. We'd be able to get rid of the conservative nitwits who seem to make it their business telling everyone how to live their lives.
Now, how should I respond to this guy. And damn, if he didn't send a picture of himself too! Lucky me! Oh he is so cute and adorable. God, he can't be more than eighteen years old, but according to him he's in his thirties. I just have to meet this guy. Let me describe him to you, and you'll see what I mean.
First of all, he's your typical European stereotype. I mean he has golden blond hair, and brilliant blue eyes. When I say he looks eighteen, I mean he really looks eighteen. He keeps his hair cut nice and short, but not so short that it would look like he was in the military. Actually, the style is somewhat similar to one I'd had when I was a kid. I think it's so cute that he does his hair like that. Also, he's clean-shaven, and has skin that looks really soft. He definitely knows how to take care of himself. That smile of his is so amazing I could stare at it for hours. Damn it though, I have to get to my bus stop in an hour.
Okay, back to his email, which I'm going to write an equally long response to. I guess if he's comfortable being that open with me I'm going to be equally open with him. Hmmm, I wonder if he has a boyfriend. Nope, I'm not even going to think about it. I'm down here, and he's up there. There's no way it'd work out between us, so I'm just going to give that up as a lost cause.
There, I've sent it off. Actually had a chuckle at some of the things I wrote back to him. I hope he likes it. I also attached a picture of me, though I doubt he'd like me, but hey, he sent one of himself, so I'm going to send one of me in return. Fair's fair.
Okay, it's time for me to get my butt ready for work, and I still haven't even had my shower or gotten dressed yet. There should just be enough time to get a quick shower, shave, and brush my teeth. Looks like I missed out on breakfast again, but that's okay. I'll pack extra snack for me to eat during my lunch break.
It's a good thing I sleep in the nude, otherwise I'd have to fumble with Pjs or even my underwear before getting into the shower. Did I mention that I hate wearing clothes some times? Well I do. I think I've always slept in the nude, except when my parents made me wear something when someone came over for a sleep over.
Damn it, why does the hot water never want to start right away! I should have learned by now that it takes forever for the water to get from the hot water tank to my shower. But no, what do I do? I step into the shower without checking the water first. Serves me right though, and if I wasn't awake before, I certainly am now. I hate cold showers.
Alright, I'm finally ready for work. Oh what? Did you think I was going to describe myself to you so you could get all hard and horny over my naked wet body? Sorry guys, not going to happen. I guess you'll just have to use your imaginations on that one. Enjoy!
It's a good thing that I don't have to wear a uniform to work, I think it'd be a little embarrassing walking onto the bus wearing what I have to wear in the park. It's not that I think it's an embarrassing costume, just that it's not something I'd want to be caught dead wearing out in public. Just trust me on this one okay? It didn't matter to me what I wore to work, just so long as it was comfortable, which is why I just threw on some shorts, my socks, and a t-shirt. Getting all that on, I then got my lunch ready and put it into my back pack.
Would you believe it's still dark outside and it's not even six yet? Well, here I go, grabbing my keys, my wallet, and my back pack, and opening my front door. Damn but it's cold outside. I don't care how warm it's going to be in the afternoon, I'm getting my jacket on. Finally I'm ready to get to work, but if I don't move my butt, I'm going to miss the bus and that won't be good. My boss really doesn't like it when I'm late for work.
Now, I'm not exactly an athletic guy, but I do try to keep myself in relatively good shape. I'm sure I look a little silly hurrying to catch my bus, but at six in the morning, who gives a damn? Most everyone else is still asleep. The only lights that are on are the street lights.
Hope the boss will be happy now. I just ran from my trailer all the way to the bus stop wearing my jacket, and I'm already starting to sweat. It's a good thing I have some deodorant in my back pack so that I can freshen up at work. It's never a good idea to go to work stinking of sweat, especially not when working around children all day.
The one good thing about having a two and a half hour bus ride is that I get to catch a few extra winks. That is, if some ignorant person doesn't sit beside me. I've had that happen to me a few times, let me tell you.
There was this one time I was riding in the bus and this older lady came in to sit down beside me. Along with her she was dragging two very young obnoxious kids. I'd say they couldn't have been older than about four or five years old. One was a boy, and the other was a girl. The girl looked to be the youngest, but at that age, who can really tell. They all look the same to me.
So this woman and two kids sit down next to me, and the kids were acting up, as kids their age usually do. Of course this happened to be as I was getting home from work one day. The little stinker of a boy decided that kicking off his shoes in my direction was funny. The first one caught me in the chest as I was looking out the window behind me. If that wasn't enough, the kid had the gall to kick the other one off and it went flying higher in the air and almost hit me in the head.
And do you think this woman did anything to apologize to me and correct her kid's behavior? No, but what she did have the gall to do was yell at me for not returning her kid's shoes to him. I mean, can you believe the audacity of this woman? Here's her kid tossing his shoes at me, and she's yelling at me for not giving them back. Well you're damn right I didn't give them back, instead I stood up, and took them to the front of the bus and handed them to the bus driver.
He was confused as to why I would be giving him the shoes so I told him, and he came back with me, and told the woman to control her child or the three of them would have to leave the bus. For my part, I decided to sit away from them. Stupid woman.
But that wasn't the end of it. No, see after about twenty minutes later they had obviously reached their stop and as they were walking past me, the boy stuck out his tongue at me, the woman had a dirty look on her face and looking in my direction, and what did the little girl do? Well she went right up to me and punched my arm as hard as she could and started yelling at me, telling me how mean I was to her brother.
That was a family that needed some serious counseling in my opinion. I think the bus driver was just glad to get them off the bus, and from the looks of the rest of the people on the bus, he wasn't the only one.
Thankfully, things weren't that busy this morning, so I was actually able to get a couple extra hours of sleep. The only interruption was when I had to get off the bus I started on to transfer to the second bus that would take me to the park.
Yep, life in Orlando can be interesting. The one thing I learned early on though is that Orlando seems to be redneck central in Florida, especially where I lived. You couldn't walk out the door without running into one. I remember quite well those stand up comedy routines by Jeff Foxworthy about rednecks. You know something? He's not kidding. There's a lot of them just like that.
Don't get me wrong now, I'm not stereotyping, but all my neighbors fit that description. I mean, my next door neighbor was so dense that he couldn't get his Bar-B-Q to work. So what does the fool do? He pours a gallon of gasoline into it and lights a match. The dumb idiot ended up in the hospital with second degree burns on his chest and face, and when he fell over, he knocked over the Bar-B-Q and some of the fire spread to the side of my trailer. I mean, how dumb can you get? It's a good thing that other people were there to put out the fire otherwise I'd have been without a home.
Thankfully I managed to get some sleep before the bus pulled into the stop just outside the park. It's a good thing that I don't have to actually start working until nine o'clock, otherwise I'd have had to leave for work a half hour earlier, and no job in my opinion is worth getting up that early. I draw the line at four o'clock.
Oh great, just what I needed. At the top of the escalators that take people into the park was my boss. What the hell does he want now? I'm not late, I had a day off the day before, so the only thing I could think of was that someone had called in sick and he wanted me to work a double shift. I don't know about you, but when the temperature reaches a hundred degrees and there's almost no shade where you have to work, I'm not exactly thrilled with the idea. The only reason I'd even consider it is because I could always use the extra money. And damn it if the boss didn't know that. It's probably why he never asks anyone else.
Hah, I was right, sure enough that's exactly what he asked me. So typical. And me being so gullible, I agree to do it too. If it wasn't for the money though, I'd tell him to kiss my butt and go find someone else. As it is, it looks like I'm stuck here for a nice long twelve hour shift. Aren't I the lucky one. If I get a sunburn, I'm suing his butt though. In this day and age, I could probably get away with it too.
As far as the rest of the day went, it was okay I guess. Though I still had to deal with a couple obnoxious little runts and their equally obnoxious redneck parents. Personally I'd appreciate it more if the park could warn us ahead of time when a group like that comes through the gates.
The most exciting thing that happened all day was this one woman who was Hispanic and while I'm sure she spoke English, didn't speak a word of it. Nor did her kids who I had refused to allow on the ride because they were too small. So instead of turning around when I stop them, what does she do? She starts yelling at me in Spanish. Like I'm supposed to be able to understand a single thing she was saying.
Eventually her husband came by and he wasn't so bad, and actually apologized for his wife's behavior and animatedly started explaining to her that the kids were too small to go on the ride. Boy she was a stubborn one. She must have argued with her husband for a good ten minutes before finally turning around and leaving. He gave me one last look as if to apologize, and I smiled at him in thanks.
Other than that, it was your typical hot day at the park. My double shift was finished at eight-thirty, and the muscles and bones in my legs were really beginning to bitch at me. I don't blame them. If I was being walked on all day long like that, I'd be doing some serious bitching too.
Since it was a double shift, I didn't feel obligated to stick around to help them out with the closing of the ride. I closed off my station and walked right on out of there towards the dressing rooms to get out of this uniform which looks more like a train engineer's outfit. Now do you see why I wouldn't be caught dead wearing this in public? Go on, laugh, I did too when I first saw it.
Okay, I'm finally out of that stupid uniform, and I'm back on my bus. My legs are definitely thanking me now that I'm sitting on my butt. All I need to do is be able to catch some more sleep on the way back home. Of course as luck would have it, that same Hispanic woman and her two kids get on the bus along with her husband. For a second I thought she was going to try to bitch at me about earlier when she saw me, but thankfully her husband held her back and sternly told her to sit back down.
Believe it or not, despite how packed the bus was on my way home, I was still able to get some sleep. Twelve hour shifts are murder, and I hate them. But at least the money is worth it. It means I can afford to get extra food the next week. I mean seriously, Universal really needs to start paying their employees more money. No one can live on their own with what they earn from there. Well, that is unless you are a manager of course.
Well, here's my stop. Thankfully it's not that dark out right now. It's almost eleven o'clock and the sun has almost set. I hate going to work when it's dark, and then having to come home when it starts to get dark again.
Oh well, what's a guy to do? There's no sense in bitching about it, after all I did agree to the extra hours today. Now all I have to do is drag my sore legs back to my trailer so I can sit on my chair and get on the computer, where I expect to see another batch of spam messages in my email. Maybe I'll get a chance to do some more writing. It's been a couple days since I started my last chapter, and I still hadn't finished it yet. My readers are going to be so pissed.
Yay! I get to wait for Windows to load up again. More than enough time for me to get the coffee on again. I get the feeling I'm going to need it tonight. I'm just glad that tomorrow I don't have to work until two in the afternoon. That means I get to sleep in a bit. That should give me enough time to read my email and get some more of the chapter done. I doubt I'll be able to finish it, but we'll see. I wonder if that guy I wrote to this morning was able to write me back. I'd love to see what he has to say.
Damn, what's happening to me? I can't be falling for this guy! I mean he lives in a whole different country for crying out loud. And yet, here I am sitting in front of my computer with my coffee in hand and I'm practically drooling waiting for a response to my email.
Hey, what do you know, there it is. He did reply back to me, and oh my god he's even included information so that we can chat on MSN! Do I dare to? I talk to a lot of my readers, but this guy is different somehow. Oh he's a riot. You should read some of the things he's saying in this email. I love his sense of humor! This is definitely a guy I could go out with. Oh heck with it, I'll add him to my contact list and see what happens. At the very least I can make a new friend. Well here it goes, wish me luck!
Well this is probably the most lighthearted story I've ever come up with. Flying shoes on a bus? I hope you're all enjoying it as much as I did writing it. All comments are welcome. You can reach me at: greywolf_0173@hotmail.com or jasonfinigan@yahoo.com You can also visit my site at: jasonfinigan.bravehost.com.