It is late spring, the sun is intense, and trees surround Thomas as he stands along the edge of the river.  He feels dwarfish in comparison to the massive trees towering toward a cloudless sky as he stares at his reflection in the water.  Thomas does not like what he sees and steps back from the water’s edge to avoid seeing his mirrored image glaring back at him.

Favoring to keep his feelings at bay, Thomas focuses intently on a deer along the other side of the river and admires its beauty.  The animal is extremely remarkable as the creature uses its antlers to clear away branches and brush in order to feed itself.  Admiring the beauty of the deer, Thomas continues to watch the gracefulness of the creature while it eats and aimlessly moves around. 

The deer notices Thomas and out of fear darts off into the dense forest never to return and is out of Thomas’ sight.  Thomas lies down on the ground, rubs his moustache and closes his eyes avoiding the glare of the sun bouncing off the water.  With his eyes closed, he sees a black and white silhouette of his surroundings and listens to the sounds of nature around him. 

Lying on the ground, Thomas listens to the melodic tones of birds and geese singing in the distance and the roaring rapids flowing downstream.  When water crashes against the river’s boulders, it echoes as though a symphony orchestra is reaching the crescendo of a Mozart masterpiece.  Thomas loves the splendor of the river and embraces her as if she were his lasting mistress.

When Thomas was a child, he used the secluded river to escape his step-dad’s alcoholic bouts.  His stepfather was a brute of a man that loomed four times over his stepson and Thomas always shuddered when his stepparent was near him.  When Tomas’ stepfather was drunk, the grown man took great delight in stripping his stepson naked and beating him brutally with a leather strap.  Thomas remembers wanting to strike back when feeling the strap hitting his bare skin but he could only coil like a snake with each blow striking his naked body.

Wanting to forget his childhood, Thomas begins reflecting on Jason when unexpectedly an unfamiliar voice interrupts Thomas’ thoughts.

Stranger yelling, “How yaw doin’?”

Preferring to ignore the intruder, Thomas acts as though he is asleep and hopes the intruding man leaves him alone.  Unfortunately, the stranger does not realize that Thomas prefers to be alone and he yells at Thomas again.

The unfamiliar person yells, “Nice day, bud.”

Irritated by the stranger’s voice, Thomas stands up and stares at the man without speaking but Thomas has to smile at the intruder.  When he observes the stranger, he chuckles to himself because he views a short, fat bearded man standing in a rowboat holding a fishing pole in one hand and a beer in the other hand.  Dressed in only his boxers, the portly man’s underwear is droopy and hanging below his protruding belly, partially exposing himself.

The stranger says, “Nice day, aint it?”

Thomas replies, “Yes, it’s a beautiful day.”

The stranger asks, “Wa ya say?”

Thomas yells, “It’s a nice day.”

Unexpectedly, the boat begins to rock from side to side and the unfamiliar person yells, “Damn it—birds are ugly, nasty things.  Got bird shit on top my head.”  The visitor drops his pole and beer into the water as he rubs his baldhead and wipes the bird droppings on his shorts.  After cleaning his hands in the river, the intruder tries to recover his fishing pole, beer, and oars from the water.   Because of strong rapids, the intruder manages to pull only one ore from the water as he and his boat begin floating downstream.

As he glides away, Thomas smiles, waves, and sarcastically yells, “Take care and good-by!”   Thomas lies back down, rubs his moustache, and covers his eyes again with his forearms because of the bright sun.  With his eyes covered, Thomas sees a profile of Jason and reflects on their years together.

When Jason and Thomas met, Thomas was in his early twenties and Jason was a few years older than Thomas was.  He remembers how strikingly handsome Jason was in his youthful years and how his genuine charm and personality complemented his features.  Upon their introduction, the two men were immediately attracted to one another and spent the evening together in another room far from the others at the party.

Even though they were drawn to each other, neither one was interested in an affair nor casual sex.  Thomas was tired of short-lived romances with men that abused him physically and emotionally and Jason had never acted on his homosexuality.  In spite of Thomas’ skepticism and Jason’s sexual identity, the two men were captivated with one another and began meeting secretively in fear of what others might think.

During the first year of their relationship, Jason and Thomas managed to overcome an assortment of difficulties due to diverse backgrounds.  Jason came from a loving family and his father was successful in advertising and provided well for his family.  In contrast to Jason, Thomas grew-up with a non-supportive mother and a deadbeat stepfather who drank too much and rarely held a job.  Jason graduated from a top university in Southern California and Thomas managed to graduate high school but had no desire or plans to better himself.   

In spite of the odds, the two men committed to one another, Jason divorced his wife, and Thomas moved into a comfortable lifestyle in the hills of Los Angeles.  Prior to meeting Jason, the home on Devlin Pl was something Thomas could only dream about and envy from a distance.  Living together and dedicated to each other, the two men generated a relationship of love and harmony that friends and relatives could only envy.

Thomas thinks.  We have a wonderful life together.  Sweat pouring down his forehead and feeling hot from the intense sun, Thomas stands up, strips, and exposes his bare skin to the blistering sun and meanders around and eventually walks to the river.  Standing at the river’s edge, Thomas squats, cups his hand in the water, and then dampens his back with a stream of cold water.  Enjoying the freshness and the cold water against his back, Thomas plunges into the river and takes pleasure in the coolness of the water touching his nude body. 

Rising to the surface of the water and standing silently, Thomas sees a water moccasin approaching him before the snake encircles Thomas’ legs.  Unable to get out of the river quickly, Thomas stands motionlessly holding his breath in fear of threatening the reptile.  Thomas watches the creature as it glides  around him and after several seconds, the moccasin finds Thomas uninteresting and it slips away, leaving Thomas trembling.

Slowly and cautiously, Thomas steps out of the water, sits on the shore next to his clothes, and shudders wishing Jason were with him.  Quivering, he uses his T-shirt to wipe the combination of water and perspiration from his forehead and then lights a cigarette.  Rubbing his moustache, Thomas looks across the river and sees the once sprightly deer lying on the ground.   Tears begin running down Thomas’ cheeks because the creature that once walked so proudly and gracefully through the forest is unable to move.

Throwing his cigarette into the river, Thomas becomes aware of in the silence in the woods.  The sounds of birds and geese singing melodically in the background are gone and the rapids of the river are soundless as well.  The deafening water crashing against boulders that once gave the impression of a symphony orchestra reaching a climax is hushed.  The massive trees soaring toward a cloudless sky are now sluggish and sagging into muddy water and dark clouds only add to the darkness of daylight. 

Thomas thinks.  The splendor of the river is dead and so it Jason.