DISCLAIMER: This is a work of fiction. If you are offended by 
sexually explicit material or are under the age of 18, stop reading 
now. This material cannot be reproduced for commercial purposes 
without the consent of the author.

John Carter
By
Lazlo Zalezac 
Copyright (C) Lazlo Zalezak, 2003


Part 1: Shield, Staff, and Compass
Chapter 5

The walls of the room were bare except for a handful of posters 
showing Ansel Adams photographs. The accordion doors of the 
closet were open allowing the contents to be viewed. There was a 
handful of shirts hanging from clothes hangers. The shelf along the 
top of the closet contained camping equipment such as, tents, 
sleeping bags, canteens, knives, axes, and similar gear; souvenirs 
of a youth spent camping. Everything in the closet, including the 
equipment, was too small for him or too worn to be used. 

In the corner of the room was the backpack he had been using on 
his last hike. It was open and contained one shirt and two pairs of 
pants. His other shirt had been cut apart when he had been taken to 
the hospital. There were the spare socks and underwear. Every 
other day, he had to wash his clothes to have clean clothes 
available. He knew he would have to buy more clothes soon. Next 
to the backpack was the walking stick.

There were only three pieces of furniture in the room, a bed, a 
chest of drawers, and a bookcase. The first shelf of the bookcase 
held books about hiking and survival, including a complete set of 
Foxfire books. The rest of the shelves contained science books 
covering mathematics, electronics, biology, chemistry, and 
physics.

Everything was just as he had left it, years ago when he had gone 
off to college. It was a Spartan room. As he often told visitors, he 
liked to live simply and be able to take off on a moments notice for 
the great outdoors. All of his college possessions fit in three boxes. 
One box of clothes, one box of books, and one box of hiking gear. 
He had mailed them to himself in care of the university's 
department of physics. His roommates had laughed when they had 
seen him move. They had rented U-Haul trucks to carry their stuff 
away. 

Lying upon the bed with his hands clasped behind his head, John 
Carter stared up at the ceiling. He was restless and felt like 
something was pulling him from the house. He had been at his 
parent's house for ten days. He felt fully healed although he had 
been shot two weeks ago. He'd rather be hiking, but his shoulder 
was still sore and couldn't carry much weight. He wouldn't have a 
chance for an extended hike until next summer. Between now and 
then, all he would be able to do is take short weekend hikes. 

Giving into the pull, he grabbed his walking stick and left the 
house. He ambled randomly down various streets, but headed in a 
direction that was generally towards the center of town. He took 
his normal hiking pace, stopping occasionally to observe his 
surroundings. He passed by trees that he had climbed as a child, 
houses where his classmates had lived, and other places that were 
special. Everything looked a little older, a lot smaller, and more 
worn down than he remembered.

As he passed one house, he remembered Jenny. She had lived here 
when he was in high school. He smiled with his recollection of her. 
He had lost his virginity to her one afternoon in the woods behind 
the high school. She was a popular girl in school and he was the 
lone wolf - a wanderer even at that time. He never understood why 
she had decided to take him into the woods that day. 

His experience, in hindsight, was not particularly great, but at the 
time he was ecstatic and couldn't have imagined better. Yes, he had 
fumbled through getting out of his clothes with fingers that no 
longer seemed his own. Yes, he had climbed on her in the 
missionary position without much foreplay at all. It had taken him 
longer to get his cock into her than he spent actually fucking. 
However, her expectations didn't seem to be much beyond what 
she had experienced. That afternoon, and for years afterwards, she 
was the most beautiful woman that he knew. They had never 
repeated the experience, but she had always acted kindly towards 
him.  

Losing his virginity had opened some sort of door within him. He 
spent hours reading everything about sex that he could find. For a 
time, it seemed like his hand was always wrapped around his cock. 
Then one day, he realized that he had been a rather lousy lover. It 
was an amazing revelation to him and one that he knew he had to 
correct as quickly as possible. His reading changed from getting 
off to learning how to be better in bed.

It was a couple of years later before he had sex with his second 
lover. That time he had been much better. There had been lots of 
foreplay and it had been good for her. She had come before he 
even entered her. However, his personal performance still was bad. 
Again, it had taken him longer to get his cock inside her than he 
had spent in her. This was his second great sexual revelation. Not 
only did he need to learn what actions to perform, but he also had 
to learn out to control himself. 

His masturbation took a different direction. Now instead of trying 
to get off as quickly as possible, he tried to see how long he could 
make it last. It was a difficult habit to break. He had years of 
furtive masturbation where his goal had been to get off before 
someone might discover what he was doing. Now he had to plan 
his activities where he could expect to be alone for a significant 
amount of time. His efforts paid off. It took a while, but the time 
came when he was able to last for more than fifteen minutes with 
his girlfriend. She seemed to enjoy the experience much more. 

She broke up with him a couple of months later. Her reason for 
leaving him crushed his self-esteem. During a fight involving some 
minor difference of opinion about the color of a rug, she had 
launched the salvo that killed the relationship. She had stated that 
his lovemaking was mechanical and he did the same thing every 
time. In effect, she had told him he was a lousy lover.

He had walked away and never saw her again. It wasn't until 
several months later, when circumstances had forced him to take 
the same hiking trail four weekends in a row that he understood. 
The first time along the trail was exciting. Every corner lead to a 
new view. The second time was just as good as the first. That time 
he noticed things that he hadn't seen the first time through. The 
third time, the trail seemed comfortable. No surprises, nothing 
new, and somewhat boring. Still, the simple act of hiking had 
relaxed him and put him in a nice state of mind. The fourth time 
had been horrible. There was nothing new and his hike had seemed 
mechanical. He walked, but his step carried an air of impatience. 
He hardly looked around at the sights around him. When he had 
reached the end of the trail, he didn't really remember how he had 
gotten there. 

Variety was just as important as performance. One time it could be 
slow and sensual. The next time it could be wild abandon. Another 
time, maybe fast, furious and powerful was appropriate. Since sex 
didn't involve him alone, it was something that had to be right for 
both of them. From that time to the present, no woman had ever 
complained about his lovemaking. 

As he stood outside of Jenny's house, he wondered what it would 
be like to sleep with her now. In a way, it saddened him that his 
first time had been so poor. It was true that he had been ignorant, 
but it was a lost opportunity for a much greater shared mutual 
pleasure. He shook his head and returned to the reality of his 
surroundings.

His stomach rumbled and he glanced at his watch. He had been 
wandering for an hour now and was just a block from downtown. 
He decided to walk into town and get a bite to eat. When he 
reached downtown, he was shocked at how much it had changed 
and then realized that six years had passed since he had been there. 
He looked around at the stores and noted that there were three 
places to eat. The old hamburger joint that had served root beer in 
frosty mugs was gone. He felt drawn to the little cafe that 
announced its presence with a dainty little sign proclaiming it to be 
the 'Soup Shoppe.'

As he entered the cafe, he stopped and looked around. It was a 
cozy little place with small tables covered with red and white plaid 
tablecloths. There were little vases with a single flower on each 
table. A white board covered with feminine handwriting presented 
the dishes served. The soup de jour was Wisconsin Beer Cheese 
Soup, which happened to be his favorite. He noticed they had 
sandwiches listed and decided upon a roast beef sandwich. His 
stomach announced its' concurrence with his decision by emitting a 
long low rumble. 

He selected a table next to the wall and leaned his walking stick 
against the wall where it would be out of the way. He had just 
seated himself when he heard a choking sound from one of the 
other people in the dinner. He looked around and noticed a portly 
old man gesturing frantically. His companion and other diners in 
the cafe started to panic. No one moved. John stood and walked 
calmly to the man. Lifting him out of the chair, he performed the 
Heimlich Maneuver. On the second attempt, the guy ejected a 
piece of breadstick and his breathing returned to normal.

Satisfied that the guy was okay; he patted him on the back. "Better 
watch out for those breadsticks, they can be killers."

The guy turned around to see his savior. "Thanks so much."

At the sound of the man talking, the other diners broke out into a 
momentary applause and then returned to their meals. A common 
topic was the choking incident. The applause brought the waitress 
from back where she was informed by one of the other patrons of 
the events that had just occurred.

It took a moment for John to recognize the man he had just saved. 
"Mr. Means! How are you doing?"

"Much better now." He reached down and took a sip of water. The 
coolness eased a little of the irritation in his throat.

"I'm John Carter. You were the principal at the high school when I 
was a student. It is so nice to see you again."

Mr. Means was still in the process of recovering from his 
experience. He vaguely recalled the young man. Then he 
remembered the incident that had brought this student some 
notoriety. John had been somewhat of a loner and troublemaker. 
Then one night, his brother, the Wilkins boy, and him had been 
drinking and probably doing drugs. The boys had a fight and his 
brother had driven away leaving the other two several miles 
outside of town. The brother had wrapped the car around a tree and 
died. Afterwards, John remained a loner, but he was no longer a 
troublemaker. His grades improved and he disappeared into the 
background. "Your timing is impeccable. So what are you doing 
here?" 

"Oh, I'm recovering from a minor injury. I'll be going to the 
University of Texas in a couple of weeks to work on my doctorate 
in Physics."

"Really?"

"Yes. Are you still the principal?"

"Yes, but this is my last year. I'm retiring."

"Wow, that's great. Tell me, what are you planning on doing?"

"Oh, I'll play some golf, work in my woodshop, and putter about 
the house. I'm looking forward to it." Mr. Means was not too 
concerned with his retirement. Years teaching school had taught 
him how to fill his summers with activity and live with his wife. 
He had known many people that had retired and died from 
boredom shortly afterwards.

John nodded to Mr. Means and his dining companion. She was 
probably his wife by the way she was acting. He smiled, "Well that 
sounds great. Now, I'll leave you to finish your meal with 
companion here. Just watch out for those breadsticks."

Taken off guard, Mr. Means replied, "Thanks. Take care of 
yourself."

The waitress came over to John's table and stated, "Thanks for 
saving him. Your lunch is on the house."

John shook his head, "No need. I was just the first one there. I'm 
sure someone else would have stepped in if I hadn't been here."

He stopped a moment and looked at the waitress. His mouth slowly 
opened as he recognized her. Time had not been exactly kind to 
her. She was still an attractive woman, but when she was younger, 
she had been amazingly beautiful. He exclaimed, "Jenny, is that 
you?"

She started and looked again at the customer. She realized who he 
was. "Well, I'll be. John Carter?"

"Oh, this is amazing. I was out walking and passed by your house. 
It brought back so many memories."

Jenny blushed as she remembered her high school days. She had 
been so popular then. Every guy was trying to sleep with her. The 
only one who treated her like a human had been John. He just 
nodded to her when she walked past with her followers. He'd stop 
and talk to her when she was alone and upset. He never put any 
pressure on her.  She'd even slept with him once, but learned that 
he was like everyone else in bed. Afterwards, he was still the same 
old John. He wasn't possessive and didn't stalk. He still nodded to 
her or stopped to talk. He also didn't tell stories and that was 
important to her.

Now she was a single mother raising a five-year-old boy on the 
little money that the cafe brought. The father didn't even know he 
was a father. Truth to tell, she didn't know who the father was. Too 
much booze at her first college party and her life was changed 
forever. She decided that memories weren't very great to have. 
"Are you back here for good?"

"No, I'm just visiting for a couple more weeks. Then it's back to 
school for me."

The mention of school made her flinch. Her answer suggested the 
lack of enthusiasm for the topic. "Oh, that's nice."

John examined her for a moment. He noticed there wasn't a 
wedding ring on her finger. He suggested, "How about you have 
dinner with me tonight after you close up the shop instead of 
buying me lunch?"

Jenny licked her lips and blurted out, "I can't. I have a son and I 
really have to go home and take care of him."

Without hesitation, John answered, "No problem. How's this? You 
get your son and I'll find a place that all three of us will enjoy."

Jenny hesitated. This was the first offer to get out of the house 
since her son had been born. In a way, she needed this very much. 
She whispered, "Okay."

John replied, "Great! I'll walk around and find the perfect place. 
How old is your son?"

"Five."

"Oh, that's a great age. So much of the world is still new to them. 
It's fun exploring the world with someone that age."

Jenny stepped back in surprise, "What do you know about kids that 
age?"

"Oh, I babysat a lot when I was an undergraduate," he replied. His 
stomach growled loudly impatient at the delay in being filled. 

Jenny laughed aloud. It was a genuine laugh and not the kind she 
often used when customers told bad jokes. Her hand went up to 
fiddle with her hair, "I think your stomach is trying to tell us 
something. What can I get you to eat?"

They went through the ordering procedure typical of all 
restaurants. She disappeared for a moment and returned with a 
bowl of soup. Other customers demanded her attention and she 
was busy while he ate his soup. He watched her move around the 
room interacting with people. She would occasionally glance in his 
direction and smile. As soon as he finished the soup, she returned 
to the table with his sandwich. With a roll of her eyes, she stepped 
away from the table to serve a customer that had snapped his 
fingers to get her attention. 

Mr. Means stopped by his table and gave thanks again. He also 
introduced his wife, who spent a few minutes thanking him for his 
heroism. John shrugged it off as though he had done nothing. The 
couple left arm in arm.

He had just finished his sandwich when Jenny arrived at the table. 
He noticed that he was the last customer in the cafe. She sat in the 
chair across from him with a smile, "Now that we've fed that 
animal in your tummy, maybe we can talk a little."

John smiled appreciatively. In the half an hour since he had entered 
the cafe, it seemed as though five years had dropped from her face. 
He reached across the table and touched her hand, "That would be 
great. It's so nice to see you again."

Jenny sat up a little straighter and pulled her shoulders back. It had 
the effect of emphasizing her breasts. "I was always comfortable 
talking with you. Do you know that you were the only guy in 
school that treated me like a human being and not a sex object?"

John shrugged, "I was still in a state of shock over my brother's 
death. I appreciated being able to talk to you on occasion. You 
were very nice and didn't treat me like a pariah. So what has life 
after high school been like for you?"

Jenny frowned and stated, "Well, I went off to college and got 
pregnant. Came back here and had Davie. Then I opened this 
place. For the last five years, I work here from the morning to the 
afternoon and then go home to take care of the kid."

His reaction surprised Jenny, "Wow, you are so … so brave and 
independent. I can't imagine raising a kid and running a business at 
the same time. That's amazing!"

Jenny sat back and stared at John. She viewed her life as a deeply 
entrenched rut. Everyday seemed to blend into the next without 
distinction. Yet, when she looked at it from his perspective, it did 
seem to have a little more meaning. She hesitated, "I never really 
saw it that way before."

He smiled and patted her hand, "You're just being modest."

A confused look passed over her face. She stuttered, "Not really."

John looked around the cafe and noticed the dirty plates on tables. 
Realizing that she was uncomfortable with the topic, he chose to 
change it. "How about I bus the tables while you straighten up 
here? Then I'll go and find a place for our date tonight giving you a 
chance to finish up your work here without trying to entertain me."

Jenny smiled, relived at the suggestion and thankful for the help. 
She answered, "That would be great."

True to his word, he bused the tables with his normal efficiency. 
After finishing that minor chore, he learned when and where to 
pick her up that evening. Grabbing his walking stick, he left the 
restaurant while waving goodbye to Jenny. Behind him, a very 
happy Jenny returned to her work.

At five o'clock John knocked on the door of the address that Jenny 
had given him. The door was opened by a five year old boy. John 
knelt down so that he was at eye level with the child. Without 
extending his hand, he greeted the boy, "Hello. I'm John. You must 
be Davie."

The child nodded solemnly. The man in front of him looked 
strange with part of his beard white and the rest brown. He held a 
staff in his hand. Davie finally stuttered, "Are you a wizard?"

John scrunched up his features as if he was thinking hard, "No! 
Were you going to challenge me to a wizards' duel?"

"No."

"Oh, that's good, cause I know you would have beaten me. I'm not 
good at magic."

"Really?"

"Yeah, really!"

Davie relaxed a little. This was the first time that a man had come 
to their house and he was a little unsure what he was supposed to 
think. He asked, "Are you the guy taking mom and me somewhere 
tonight?"

"Yep!"

"Where are you taking us?" Davie asked. 

"That's a surprise. I'm sure you'll like it, though!"

Jenny appeared behind Davie and greeted John, "Hello. You're 
right on time!"

"I try to be prompt. Are you guys ready?"

Jenny inspected Davie making sure that he was wearing his shoes. 
Satisfied that Davie was ready she answered, "Yes we are. Where 
are we going?"

"It's a surprise, mommy!"

"Really?"

John answered, "Yes, really. Now let's get in the car and I'll take 
you there!"

They piled into the car with the giddiness of kids. Jenny felt years 
younger and John just was young. Davie was the only one acting 
his age. After a little hassle over him wanting to sit in the front 
seat, John was able to convince him that it was hard to be a 
Chauffeur when the important person was seated in the front seat. 
John took the walking stick apart and set it on the seat between 
him and Jenny. Turning to face the back seat, he asked, "Is the 
Master ready to leave?"

"Yes! Let's go! Follow that car!" giggled Davie.

Jenny smiled at the easy banter between John and Davie. She had 
worried about Davies' reaction to having a man show up at the 
house. She guessed she was lucky that it was John. He had a very 
disarming way about him.

It was a short drive to the place that John had picked for the date. It 
was a combined miniature golf course and go-cart racetrack. She 
looked at John in surprise, "Here?"

Davie uttered one word in an awed voice, "Cool!"

John smiled and only stated, "Let's go guys!"

For the next three hours, they played miniature golf, ate, and drove 
go-carts. Davie won the prize for high score in miniature golf. The 
prize was Cotton Candy on a paper cone. The prize quickly 
disappeared. He was delighted. John and Davie had gone on the 
go-cart racing Jenny. John drove while Davie encouraged him to 
go faster and faster. They tied and had to share the first-place prize 
of Nachos. They had a little racetrack with electric cars that went 
about as fast as a walk. Davie drove his car on the track against 
four other kids. John and Jenny were jumping up and down along 
side the track cheering him on. He came in second place and was 
flushed with excitement. 

The only negative of the evening was when one kid swung a putter 
at the head of another. The blow, which would have been very 
damaging, had been blocked by John who had inserted his putter in 
the path. The mothers of the two children were frantic and thanked 
John profusely, but he just shrugged it off. He was fortunate that 
Jenny and Davie were in the bathroom at the time, so it didn't spoil 
the evening.

Davie was tired by the time they headed back to the car. He offered 
no resistance to getting in the back seat or buckling his seat belt. 
He fell asleep after uttering a weak, "Follow that car."

On arriving at Jenny's house, John carried Davie into the house. He 
followed Jenny to Davies' bedroom and laid him on the bed. He 
stepped back and whispered to Jenny, "They're so cute when they 
fall asleep like that."

She smiled and went to get Davie dressed for bed. John discretely 
stepped out of the room and retraced his steps to the living room. 
He looked around the room at the toys scattered on the floor, most 
of them in front of the television. It looked like any other living 
room that was occupied by a five year old kid. 

He sat on the couch to wait for Jenny. He continued his 
examination of the room from his position. There were very few 
pictures or items of a personal nature reflecting Jenny. Most of the 
pictures were of Davie. Despite the apparent chaos due to scattered 
toys, the room was neat. There wasn't any dust or empty plates 
scattered about. Things that were out of Davies' reach were in their 
place. Despite her circumstances, she still managed to keep track 
of the important details.

Jenny entered the room and immediately began to apologize, "I'm 
sorry the house is such a …"

John interrupted, "Your house looks like every house that has 
children. I think that if I ever went into a house that was spotless 
and had children, I wouldn't like the children and I'd hate the 
parents that forced their kids to live that way. Kids are messy and 
to pretend otherwise is wrong."

Jenny laughed, "You always did know the right thing to say to 
me."

John smiled as she joined him on the couch. She leaned her head 
against his good shoulder as he wrapped his arm around her. They 
sat there quietly just enjoying each other's company. After a while, 
John noticed the deep regular breathing that indicated Jenny had 
fallen asleep. He carefully got up and laid her down on the sofa. 
Looking around, he spotted a blanket. He got it and laid it over her. 
Kissing her on the forehead, he went to the door and turned to take 
one last look at her. She was beautiful again. He left the house, 
locking the door behind him.