Excerpt from:

 

Songs for the Sensual Spirit

 

Incense, Iowa

 

Cheri didn’t like the local boys. They smelled like manure or sweat which was natural, as a lot of them were farmers, wrestlers or football players. The few boys who weren’t FFA members or jocks were small, skinny, or shy. They read computer manuals, snuck off to smoke a joint during lunch period, or rehearsed for the school musical. The worst of them would touch her butt or brush against her body as they passed in the crowded halls. She ignored them and dreamed of a nameless man from far away.

She had graduated but unlike her friends, when the fair came to town she was not excited to see her former classmates. She made plans with two of them to see the annual battle of the bands that kicked it off. Eating fair food and listening to music would be fun even if it meant running into jerks she thought she had finally escaped

In Incense, Iowa (Locals jokingly called it “Incest”, Cheri didn’t consider it a joke.) there was one cinema in town and it showed only two movies: usually one “slasher” and one comedy or kid flick. Outside of that, the only activity for young people was getting drunk at someone’s house or watching high school sports.

The fair was crowded; it always was. Everyone showed up for “First Night” dressed in things they weren’t allowed to wear to school. Girls tried to outdo each other with tummy tanks, tight jeans and fake tattoos. Boys also wore tanks emblazoned with rebel flags or obscene words. Cheri wore a long skirt, sandals and short-sleeved sweater, the most comfortable things she owned. There was no one she wanted to impress.

Perhaps it was because she wasn’t dressed like everyone else, perhaps it was because of the dreamlike look she had on her face as she took in all the sights and smells around her. Maybe it was because her father had mistakenly dried her sweater shrinking it two sizes and causing it to embrace her breasts, that she was noticed anyway.

The carnie had been barking out come-ons to everyone who passed. His booth was full of boys trying to win the right to carry a big stuffed panda for a girl he hoped to meet later, or who stood waiting for his money to run out. He stopped barking and asked his partner to take over the second he saw her.

He startled her out of her dream world by jumping out of the booth right in front of her accidentally bumping her shoulder..

“Oops, sorry I didn’t see you.” He lied.

“Common mistake.” It was true; she felt invisible sometimes.

“Did I hurt you?”

“No.”

“Would you like me too?”

She gasped wondering if it was a threat or a shocking enticement. One look at his eyes told her it was the latter. Shocking eyes too, brown and soulful, there was something sad and exciting about them that she had never seen before. She fell speechless.

“Cheri, we have to get going. The show starts in ten minutes.”

 She looked around. The direction of the crowd was definitely headed for the bandstand.

“I’ll pass thanks.” She grinned as she breathed in the surprisingly clean scent of the tanned man and snuck one more look at his eyes; they twinkled as he smiled confidently.

“I’ll be here until 11:00”

The girls were still within earshot when her friend April squealed “As if! My God does he know he’s a carnie?!”

Cheri just smiled and fought the urge to turn around. She could feel that he was still watching her.

 

Explicit scenes follow….in the book.

Howard-Hirsch Publishing

Content for a contented life.