Tom and Huck

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This work is intended for ADULTS ONLY. It may contain depictions of sexual activity involving minors. If you are not of a legal age in your locality to view such material or if such material does not appeal to you, do not read further, and do not save this story.
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As the late June sun beat down on the town of Panama, Iowa, Tom Fredericksen and his chum, Henry "Huck" Hansen, were holed up in Tom's room playing video games. Summer vacation had begun just three weeks before. But now, already, boredom descended like a cloud, seeded by a lack of funds. Both boys had already spent their allowances. On a day like this, they'd have liked to bask in the waters of the municipal swimming pool, and Huck said as much with a sigh. If only they had money for admission.

Tom agreed wistfully, and then got a gleam in his eye.

"Why don't we go to the pond?" he said. Tom was the idea man of the two.

"You know what our parents told us about that," Huck said; Swimming in the pond was strictly forbidden due to the lack of a lifeguard.

"They don't have to know about it," Tom said. "The pond's half-a-mile out of town."

"I dunno. I don't want to get into trouble."

Tom was impatient.

"Fine! Forget I even mentioned it. We'll just sit here and play video games all day if it makes you happy," he said.

"Well.......," said Huck.

"C'mon!" said Tom.

"Oh, okay," said Huck. "I just have to run home and get my suit."

"No, doofus!" said Tom. "That's a dead give away. "Your mom knows you don't have any money! Forget the suits."

Soon the boys were making their way along the railroad tracks towards the pond. They had contests to see who could walk longest on a rail without falling off.

"So are we gonna swim in our boxers?" asked Huck.

"No. The pond's a skinny dippin' hole. I found out from the older kids at school," said Tom. "Everyone skinny dips."

"Oh," said Huck. "Um.....what's skinny dippin'?"

"Swimmin' naked."

Huck fell off his rail.

"For real?"

"Sure," said Tom, with the casualness of a veteran, belying the inconvenient fact that he'd never actually done it. "It's no big deal. There are no girls around."

"I suppose," said Huck thoughtfully.

They walked on in silence. Soon they reached the pond, actually a sandpit dug out at the time the interstate highway was constructed. Perhaps 250 feet long, 150 feet wide, it was said to be pretty deep in places. Sandy beaches abutted the pond, though the side away from the tracks was overgrown. As they descended a small hill leading down to the pond on a path cut through the weeds, they could see one boy on the beach, resting, and two swimmers in the water. They recognized the boy, though he was three or four years older than they. He was reclining under the sun and was naked. He had a healthy bush. The boy waved at them casually. Tom and Huck waved back. While the boy was on the northern shore, they decided to turn right and head a short distance to a bit of beach on the Eastern side that had a convenient log to sit on. Once there, they paused, looking out at the water. Time passed awkwardly.

"Well, let's do this," said Tom.

"Okay," said Huck.

The boys sat down on the log and removed their sneakers and sockettes. Then they stood. They'd not worn shirts, just fashionable knee-length athletic shorts and boxers. They faced a moment of truth. Though Tom and Huck were in junior high and had changed frequently in gym class, boys didn't wear jocks for gym anymore, so they only stripped to their boxers or briefs. Though showers were available, it was a rare boy with the courage to strip off to take one. So frankly, even though Tom and Huck were best buddies, they'd never actually seen each other naked.

They turned their backs to each other, latched onto both shorts and boxers with their thumbs, dropped them to the ground, and ran into the water until it was safely waist deep. Ahhh. A little cool, but just right for swimmin'. At first the boys kept their distance from each other, paddling this way and that. After a while, though, they came closer to chat, agreeing that swimming without trunks felt really nice. Tom splashed some water in Huck's direction. Huck returned fire. And soon the two were horsing around in the water with great glee. They even dunked each other, being very careful where they grabbed, of course. Then, finally, Tom waded to shore, followed by his friend. They hadn't any towels. The two were going to have to sit on the log without any clothes and let the sun dry them. They looked mostly at the water at first as they noted how nice it felt not to have clammy trunks sticking to them. Each stole a few glances at the other's crotch, self consciously. But time went on, and they were dry, and still they made no move for their clothes. Ah, this is nice, Tom decided. Just letting each other see each other. Huck looked at Tom, pointedly looked down, then back up, and grinned. Tom did the same. And they laughed.

"We gotta come again tomorrow," Huck said.

"Agreed," said Tom.

With a bit of sadness, they pulled on their shorts, put on their shoes, and began the trek back home.

The next day Tom and Huck lunched on sandwiches and chips at Tom's house about noon. They played video games for an hour, then headed again to the railroad tracks that would lead them to the pond. Along the tracks, they passed two well-tanned boys in their middle teens coming the other way.

"Headed for a swim?" one of them asked.

"Yeah," said Tom. "How's the water?"

"Perfect," said the older boy. "Have fun."

Tom and Huck pressed on and soon reached the pond, noting that they had the place to themselves. They returned to the same spot they'd claimed the day before. Unlike yesterday, the boys removed their clothes very matter-of-factly and entered the water leisurely, wading to waist-high depth before pushing off and swimming at an unhurried pace maybe fifty feet from shore. They circled and swam back, changing strokes from time to time, or simply floating and allowing the water to cool their overheated bodies. Then they came ashore, not finished for the day, just to rest and to bask in the sun for awhile. Then back into the water for some horseplay, and back to shore again to rest. It was a little bit of heaven for Huck and Tom, and if not heaven, it was certainly a blessing for two spectators hidden among the trees and overgrowth at the top of the hill.

Mary Beth and Liz were 11-year-old girls who knew about the pond and its occasional special sights. On days they hadn't anything better to do, Mary Beth borrowed her father's powerful binoculars. Then the two girls mounted their bicycles and pedaled along a road that ran parallel to the railroad tracks about half a city block to the north. They'd take up a position in the weeds overlooking the pond and do a little sight seeing. Catching a boy au naturale brought a special naughty joy to these pre-teens, and they'd had enough luck over time to have gained a certain expertise in the matter of who was well endowed.....and who wasn't.

Today Mary Beth had Huck and Tom in their sights, and through her powerful lenses they looked no more than 20 feet away, and at a very good angle!

"Let me see! Let me see!" cried Liz.

"Shhhh," said Mary Beth. "You don't want them to hear us."

She handed Liz the binoculars. Liz took a long look, and sighed.

"That Huck Hansen is sooo dreamy," she said.

"Better hung, too," said Mary Beth, who had picked up a lot of jargon from her older sisters.

Tom and Huck sat resting on the log several minutes, allowing their hidden admirers a good, long look.

"I read 'Huckleberry Finn'," Tom noted. "There's a part where Huck said he didn't like to wear clothes. I can kind of understand what he meant."

"Yeah," said Huck, looking lazily into the distance.

"Imagine rafting naked down the Mississippi," Tom said. "Just the two of us."

Huck laughed. "We better pass the towns at night."

At length the boys grew restless.

"How about we race to the other side?" Huck suggested.

"You're on!" said Tom.

They ran into the water, dove in, and stroked furiously toward the far shore.

"Shows over," said Liz, sighing again. "We might as well head back."

"Hang on a minute," said Mary Beth. "Looks like they're swimming all the way across."

An evil thought entered her mind.

"They're gonna be gone awhile," she noted. "Let's take their clothes!"

"Oh, I don't know," Liz said, startled (and thrilled) by the idea. "That'd be mean."

"Oh, c'mon, Liz," urged Mary Beth. "It'd be SO funny! C'mon!"

And she rose from her hiding place, making her way rapidly down the hill, across the tracks, and through the path to the log, with Liz on her heels. They gathered up the shorts, boxers, shoes and sockettes, and ran for their lives back up the hill, sprawling and catching their breath only when they were safely out of sight. The boys were just reaching the far shore, with Huck in the lead.

The boys rested their tired muscles a few minutes, standing in shallow water and restoring their breathing in the process. Then they began a more leisurely swim back to the log, side-stroking lazily under the afternoon sun. Atop the hill, the girls waited for the boys to come ashore, almost peeing their pants in anticipation.

Tom was still in shallow water when he noticed. There was nothing by the logs. Nothing.

"Oh, no!" he said.

"What?" said Huck, wading right behind him.

"Just look," said Tom.

The boys' stomachs knotted. Their faces paled.

"Let's look around," said Tom. "Maybe someone moved them a little for a joke."

They scoured the area in a panic, even roaming around to the beaches on the north shore and searching the weeds beyond. Nothing.

Huck looked at Tom helplessly.

"What are we gonna do?"

Mary Beth cackled as she viewed them through her binoculars.

"Did you see the looks on their faces?" she asked.

"I would if you'd let me see!" said Liz.

"Oh....sorry," said Mary Beth, handing the binoculars to her.

Tom decided they'd return to the log and wait a little while, hoping that the prankster would return their clothes.

Mary Beth and Liz gathered up their booty and headed to their bicycles, one of which, conveniently, had a basket. It would've been nice to tail the boys further, but Mary Beth thought it would be a friendly gesture to inform certain boys and girls back in town that Huck and Tom would likely be headed their way in a rather comical condition.

After half an hour, Tom concluded that waiting any longer was a waste of time. He looked his friend up and down, and he looked down at himself, now picturing their lack of attire, not in the context of the pond, but as if they were on a street in town. People were laughing.

"I'm afraid they're gone for good, Huck," he admitted, to which his friend nodded sorrowfully. "We should get started back."

"But how can we go back?" Huck moaned. "We can't go in public without any clothes!"

"I'll think of something," Tom assured him, sounding more confident than he felt. "Let's go."

They climbed up the path to the tracks and walked in the weeds abutting the rails, their penises swinging to and fro like the trunks of elephants. The track bed itself was too full of rocks for their tender bare feet. Their senses were alive for any movement.

Tom hoped they might encounter boys coming to swim so he could ask them for help, but none came. A locomotive hauling a dozen cars did pass, moving toward a switching yard a dozen miles to the east. The boys sprinted into a field of young corn and hid until it passed. The trip back to Panama took twice as long as the trip out due to their lack of footwear. As soon as they neared buildings, Tom led Huck from the tracks, and they moved stealthily through a corn field toward the edge of town. He'd had time to think as they approached civilization, and he'd come up with a plan that offered some hope. As they knelt in the young corn, Tom filled in his friend.

"Over there lie some tall grass and weeds, and then there's an alley, and on the other side of the alley are the backyards of some houses. Let's sneak up and try to spot something we could cover ourselves with. Maybe we could find some clothes drying on a line. Maybe there's a tarp lying around. Just anything."

Huck nodded, and the two moved gingerly in a low crouch through the weeds and knelt at the edge of the alley. They could see three back yards from their vantage point, but nothing that would help them.

"Let's move over that way," Tom said quietly. They crept to their left a couple hundred feet and knelt again. The boys spied clothing articles on a line in the yard of the house on the far left. They moved closer, and discovered, to their dismay, that the things hung out to dry included panties, bras, stockings........and two sun dresses. Tom and Huck looked at each other.

"We gotta," said Tom.

Huck agreed, glumly.

"I'll try to get them," Tom volunteered. He edged leftward along the weed cover until the clothes line loomed dead ahead. Then he took a deep breath and scampered forward. Reaching the line, he grabbed a dress in his right hand and removed the clothes pins with his left. He threw one dress over his shoulder while he freed the other. A dog inside the house began to bark. Soon he was running with the loot back towards Huck, who was waiting in the weeds. He'd just reached his friend when a female voice called out from the direction of the house. "Hey, you kids. Bring those back!"

The boys' hearts leapt, and they took off running toward the cornfield as fast as their poor, sore bare feet would carry them. They put three blocks between them and the scene of the crime before falling to the ground, out of breath. But they had the dresses. After regaining their breath and calming themselves, Tom picked up one of them and, after examining it, lifted it over his head and let it fall over his body. His shoulders were bare, of course, and the garment definitely was loose in the chest. Also, it was a bit too long. Huck's fit him better, as he was the taller boy. As they looked over each other they would have laughed, if only it had been a sister's bedroom and they were wearing them on a lark. But they were going to have to parade themselves in girls' clothes six blocks to Tom's house, and there would be no cornfields or weeds to help them. His parents' home was in the middle of town.

They returned to the tracks and proceeded to a street at town's edge. The plan was to jog all the way, if possible, to minimize their exposure. Unfortunately, they were spotted by a boy on a bike who was serving as a scout, since Mary Beth and Liz had spilled the beans to half the kids in the neighborhood about naked boys on the loose. The boy quickly rode to find his comrades.

"I've found them. They're up this way. And they're not naked. But wait until you see!" he said with a smile. A dozen and a half cyclists, including five girls, followed him back. Soon Tom and Huck were surrounded by jeering, wolf whistling, giggling, laughing, wisecracking cavalry. Knowing they had no chance to outrun bikes, the boys stopped jogging. Instead they plodded gloomily on with unfocused eyes. Tom thought of the Bataan death march. The boys blushed violently. Their escort gained in size as they moved along. The boys' humiliation was spectacular.

On and on they walked, objects of ridicule and unbridled glee, their spirits having sunk to below-sidewalk level. Then a car honked repeatedly, and the cyclists gave way as the auto screeched to a halt.

"Stop those thieves!" shouted a woman, emerging from the driver's seat.

The pedestrians in the crowd prevented Tom and Huck from running. The woman came around the car and approached them in a huff.

"Those are my daughter's dresses, you pranksters!" she bellowed. "Give them back this instant!"

And quickly she grabbed hold of Huck's dress by the shoulders and yanked it off of him. Throwing it over one shoulder, she turned to Tom and lifted his up and off as well.

Suddenly the pair were nude in front of dozens of eager eyes. The boys reflexively crouched low, their hands crossed over their crotches, their eyes wild with panic. They saw happy faces, some red from laughter, all around them as the sounds of ridicule reached new heights of volume, while the girls in attendance looked with pleasure upon the boys' protruding buns. The woman, glad to have retrieved her daughter's pilfered dresses, was unaware at first that she had stripped the boys bare. But she responded to the noise, looked down, and was aghast. The boys crouched before her in tears.

"Oh, please help us, ma'am," Tom pleaded. "We were swimming and someone stole our clothes!"

"I see........okay, get in the car," she responded as she walked quickly to the vehicle and opened the back, righthand door. Huck jumped in, followed by a much relieved Tom. As the door shut behind him, the crowd moved in to get another look but was shooed away by the woman. As she opened the trunk to put the dresses inside and the boys' hearts began to beat more slowly, a voice spoke from the front seat. "Hi, Huck. Hi, Tom." They looked up and immediately, with dread, recognized Jane Herman. She was a year ahead of them in class and a girl rated "a looker" by the males in the school. But right now she was looking at them, and her eyes were roaming. Their hands instinctively covered their vitals again.

"Um, hi Jane," they said, awkwardly.

The woman, obviously Jane's mother, got in and started the car.

"My, I do believe you boys look better in my dresses than I do," Jane teased.

Tom and Huck flushed redder.

"Now Jane. Stop embarrassing them," said mom.

Jane merely smiled and continued to gaze upon their mostly uncovered (and quite trapped) bodies.

"Eyes in front, daughter," said mom.

Following Tom's directions, the woman headed to his house, and her car soon drew up to the curb in front. She escorted the boys, who looked nervously all around them as they walked to the door. She rang the bell. Tom's 10-year-old sister, Stephanie, answered. Her eyes widened as she looked upon her brother in his birthday suit for the first time in years. And his best friend, naked, too!

"Mom! I think you should come in here,' she said.

"Who is it?" sounded his mother's voice from the kitchen.

"Tom and Huck. With a lady," she said.

Soon Marilyn Fredericksen appeared at the door. What she saw made her jaw drop.

"Thomas Fredericksen! Henry Hansen! What are you doing running around outside with no clothes on?" she demanded. Then she noticed the woman.

"I'm sorry. I was....distracted. I'm Marilyn Fredericksen, this one's mother," she said, pointing to Tom.

"I'm Barbara Herman," replied the visitor. "These two boys had their clothes stolen while they were swimming. They took a couple of my daughter's dresses off our clothesline to cover themselves, and when I caught up with them I pulled off the dresses, not realizing they were naked underneath. They'd drawn quite a crowd! It was terribly embarrassing for them. I got them in my car as soon as I could and brought them home."

"Thank you so much," Mrs. Fredericksen said. "May I launder the dresses for you? I'll be happy to pay for replacements if they're damaged."

"No, I'm sure they'll be fine. I'm just glad to see the boys safely home," she said. And Mrs. Herman left.

"Okay, Tom, I want an explanation for this," she said as she closed the front door with the two safely inside. Stephanie hung close to her mother, exceedingly interested in the boys' anatomy.

"It's like Mrs. Herman said," Tom began. "We were swimming, and somebody stole our clothes....."

"Swimming? Swimming where?" asked Mrs. Fredericksen.

"....The pond," Tom admitted glumly.

"And what is the rule about the pond?" Mrs. Fredericksen queried, raising her voice.

"We aren't supposed to swim there," Tom admitted, looking at the floor.

"And then you stole some dresses?"

"We were desperate, mom!" Tom protested.

"So one indiscretion led to another. Is that it?"

"I suppose so," Tom said, avoiding his mother's stare. "Mom, can Huck and I go and get dressed now?"

"No you may not! I want Huck's mom to see in just what condition you showed up here. Go over and face that wall, both of you, until I say otherwise. I'm going to call Mrs. Hansen right now."

And as the boys put their noses to the wall, Marilyn Fredericksen disappeared into the kitchen, where she picked up the phone.

"Hello, Pearl? Marilyn here. You'd better get over here right away if you can. You're not gonna believe what Huck and Tom got themselves into. Come to the back door."

As the Hansens lived just across the street and two doors down, Pearl Hansen was knocking in less than five minutes.

Mrs. Fredericksen quickly filled her in.

"Imagine their faces when they found out their clothes were gone!" said Mrs. Hansen, giggling.

"And Mrs. Herman said that when she pulled the dresses off, there were a couple of dozen children around!" said Mrs. Fredericksen.

"Oh, that's priceless!" exclaimed Mrs. Hansen. "I'll bet they could have died!"

"I'd give a pretty penny to have seen those two in their dresses," Mrs. Fredericksen added.

The two women struggled to keep their chortling at a low volume so the boys wouldn't hear.

"So did my Huck borrow some clothes from Tom?" asked Mrs. Hansen.

"Oh, they're not dressed!" said Mrs. Fredericksen. "I made them stay in their birthday suits. Their faces are against the living room wall. Would you like to have a look?"

"Oh, yes!" said Mrs. Hansen.

The women swung open the kitchen door. Mrs. Hansen looked at the boys' backsides with a smile. Stephanie had invited in a couple of friends, and they were sitting on the couch teasing the two redfaced miscreants. Tom and Huck had their hands over their buttocks, trying to hide as much as they could from their young female audience.

"No covering up boys," said Mrs. Fredericksen. "Put your hands behind your heads."

"Make them go away, mom!" Tom pleaded as he faced the wall. He and Huck reluctantly raised their hands to their heads.

"Stephanie has the right to have friends over if she wants," Mrs. Fredericksen said. "You just stay there. Mrs. Hansen and I are deciding how you'll be disciplined. And Stephanie. You girls can look, but no touching!"

The two mothers retreated once more to the kitchen.

"Aren't they adorable? Such cute little buns!" observed Mrs. Hansen. "Too bad we can't keep them that way."

"Well.....maybe we can. At least for a little while," said Mrs. Fredericksen with a sly smile. "What if we withhold their clothes for a couple days as punishment? They're getting a little old for spanking, and definitely the punishment would fit the crime."

"Marilyn, you're a genius!" Mrs. Hansen offered in admiration.

The women returned to the living room and called the boys over.

"The way you came to the door gave us an inspiration for an appropriate punishment. For the rest of today and all of tomorrow, your clothing privileges are suspended. You will not hide in your rooms. You may go there only to sleep. You'll be out here in your birthday suits with the rest of the family, and whoever might visit, and will help with the chores to keep yourselves busy. Any questions?"

After cowering naked before a couple dozen guffawing chidren, they found that their punishment didn't sound so severe. Their calm acceptance of their fate was aided by their total exhaustion.

"Mom, Huck and I are really tired," said Tom, his eyes half closed. "Can we take a nap now?"

"Yes, but not in your room," said Mrs. Fredericksen. "Grab yourselves pillows and sack out on the carpet."

The boys did as they were told and were almost immediately asleep.

"Like angels. Like little cherubs," Mrs. Hansen whispered to Mrs. Fredericksen as they returned to the kitchen.

"How about I keep the two of them with me for the rest of today, and you can have them all day tomorrow?" suggested Mrs. Fredericksen.

"Sounds fine to me," said Mrs. Hansen.

"Wait'll they find out they have to mow the lawn tonight!" Mrs. Fredericksen said with a giggle.

"Would you really make them do it naked?" asked Mrs. Hansen with raised brow.

"I would if I could get away with it," Mrs. Fredericksen replied. "But I don't think the mothers with little girls would look too kindly on two sets of genitalia on display. It'll be all right to have them do the back yard bare. For the front, I'll let them talk me into letting them wear speedos, which I will confiscate, of course, the minute they're back inside. You've seen the length of boys' shorts these days. In speedos they'll feel plenty bare. You should come over and join me on the patio tonight. We'll sit and drink iced tea and look at their cute little bodies while they work."

"Sounds like a great idea," said Mrs. Hansen. "I'll be there."

"No speedos when I send them your way tomorrow morning. It's only a couple houses and across the street. I'll make them streak," said Mrs. Fredericksen with a giggle.

"Call me before they set out," said Mrs. Hansen. "I want to watch."

"Sure thing," said Mrs. Fredericksen.

" Tomorrow's laundry day at our household, said Mrs. Hansen. " I'll have them hauling basketloads of things to hang on the clothes lines in back. And the hedges back there definitely could use trimming. And while they're inside doing odd chores, I'm sure Huck's kid sister and brother will have great fun. They'll probably invite friends over. Yes, red faces and cute buns. What a great combination!"

(The End)