Note: This story was dynamically reformatted for online reading convenience.
 
 Mountain Retreat

   By Emi Tsuruta

   Note: this is one in a series of posts about my life.  If you'd like to
know more about my friends and me, drop by my home page at:
/~emitsuruta/

   This happened a couple of years ago, the spring of the year my American
friend Debbie was supposed to graduate.  We were sitting around in the cafe
at school talking about what we should do to celebrate her graduating.  Her
friend Angela was there, and this other Japanese girl Fujiko who I'd been
playing tennis with.  Debbie told us about the university chalet up in the
mountains to the east of Oceanview.  I'd heard about it before, from my
boyfriend Ryosuke I guess, but it took me a moment to remember why. 
Apparently, there was a pond for swimming nearby, and students used to go
skinny-dipping there back in the day.  Ryosuke had found out about it in
one of the old yearbooks.  He'd been pushing me to go, but neither of us
knew too much about it, so we never went.  Debbie had been there before
though, and she said she could make the arrangements.

   At first, I kind of hoped it would be an all-girls thing, but Fujiko has
been on me for a long time to introduce her to guys.  She's not in
university with us, just studying English at a local language school, but
she really wants to stay on in the States, so she's kind of been looking
for an American boyfriend.  I wasn't so keen, but Debbie suggested we
invite Winston, this Chinese American swimmer and his frat mates.

   I knew Winston because he often came swimming at the campus fitness
center where I work.  I liked him.  He was quiet and honest, but one time
when I invited him to come drinking with us, he brought two of his American
frat mates Gus and Paul with him, and they seemed a bit out of hand. 
They're nice enough I guess, but Gus kept hitting on me all the time, and
not just me, just about any girl he met.  Paul wasn't so forward, but it
seemed like he was always cracking jokes, one after another.

   I told Fujiko all this, but she said she wanted to see for herself.  I
guess I'm a bit careful when it comes to guys, but Fujiko is different. 
She's always so open and friendly to everyone, even people I wouldn't
normally talk to.  Anyway, I finally gave in, and we set the whole thing up
for the weekend after exams finished.

   Debbie and I finished exams early that year, so we went up on the
Thursday.  Fujiko was supposed to come on the Friday and then Angela and
the boys on the Saturday.  Even though I had my doubts about how all it
would go, I was really excited about the trip.  On the bus, I kept going on
and on about it.  Ryosuke had told me a fair bit about the place, and even
showed me pictures, so I sort of had this romantic image in my head about
what it would be like.

   The bus dropped us off in town, but from there, we had to walk quite a
way up this tree-lined road that ran up the side of the mountain.  We
finally found it, and knocked on the door, but the place was deserted.  The
campus club center back in Oceanview had lent us a key though, so we let
ourselves in.  It was a nice place.  There was a big meeting room, a small
kitchen, and up this long hall at the back, a shower room and bedrooms.  We
opened all the windows to air it out.  There was this cool patio deck out
back looking out over the trees and down at the town below.  We were
getting hungry, so we ended up walking back down to town to buy some
groceries.

   After supper, we sat out on the patio for a while, and then I wanted to
go find the swimming hole.  We had to walk up the road even further, and
then cut off down this path into the woods till we finally found it.  It
was big and round with even a bit of sand on the banks.

   "You know they used to skinny-dip here," I told Debbie.  "Oceanview
students back in the day I mean." She didn't seem nearly as impressed by
this as I'd been when Ryosuke told me.  I thought it was great that people
had been so free in those days.  Debbie likes to have fun, but actually,
she isn't really the skinny-dipping type.  I had managed to talk her into
it a couple of times in her backyard pool when no one was around, but she'd
always refused to come to the nude beach with me.  Ignoring her, I pulled
off my running shoes and my hoodie.

   "Come on.  Let's swim," I chimed.  She just sat down on a rock by the
water's edge, and motioned for me to go ahead.  I stripped naked, and waded
in.  The water was cool, but it had been a warm day.  It was refreshing
after a long day cramped up inside a bus.  I swam around for a while,
enjoying the feeling of the water on my bare skin, but Debbie looked bored,
so I finally came back out, and went over to my clothes.  I didn't want to
get back dressed while my body was still wet, so I sat my bare bottom down
on the rock beside her, brushed off my feet, and then pulled on my socks
and shoes.

   "What are you doing?" she asked.

   "It's OK.  I just want to let my body dry off," I told her, flicking my
arms out to shake off the water.

   "You're crazy, you know that?" she said, disapproving.

   "We haven't seen anyone since we arrived," I noted.  I knew of course
that it probably wasn't a good idea to wander around outside naked, but
Debbie doesn't object as much as some of my friends.  She doesn't like to
advertise it, but she's done some pretty crazy things herself.

   Debbie started walking back around the pond, laughing to herself at my
strangeness.  I stuffed my clothes into my bag, and then scurried after
her, all goose bumps from the feeling of the cool night air on my bare
skin. It did feel weird walking around outside naked.  I can't really do
that in Oceanview.

   As we approached the road, I began to get worried again.  Debbie looked
back at me wondering I guess if I really was planning on walking along the
road naked.  Despite my brave words, I hesitated to step out from the
woods. I looked this way and that, and only slowly edged out into the open.

   "Maybe you'd better get dressed," she warned more kindly now.  I knew
she was right, but I foolishly came out onto the road, following along
behind her.  I was so excited I wasn't really thinking straight.  I handed
her my bag, and then started hopping, skipping and kicking pebbles into the
forest.  Soon though I heard the sound of a car coming from behind.  I
dashed down the embankment into the woods trying to hide.  By the time I
turned around, the car had gone.

   "I told you someone would come," Debbie called out from the road.  It
was hard to tell for sure, but it looked like they hadn't seen me.  I
finally came back up to where Debbie was standing, sheepishly took my bag
from her, and pulled on my hoodie.  The hoodie wasn't quite long enough to
cover my bare bottom, but there didn't seem to be any more cars coming.  We
made it back to the chalet.  I had a shower, and tucked in for bed.  It had
been an interesting day.

   The next morning I woke up before Debbie.  Getting up and wiping the
sleep from my eyes, I walked - naked - down the hall to the kitchen.  I
almost jumped out of my skin because in the kitchen, there was this strange
man standing at the counter making breakfast.  He looked even more
surprised to see me.  I quickly backed up into the main room, but he
followed me out.  I picked up a throw pillow from the couch to cover myself
with.

   "Wh-wh-who on earth are you?" I stuttered.

   "Henderson, Jack Henderson.  I'm the custodian here," he replied. 
Dazed, I fell back onto the sofa, trying in vain to cover both my pussy and
breasts with the pillow.  It wasn't quite big enough, but he took pity on
me, and tried not to stare.

   "They told me you'd be coming," he went on.  "Three ladies and three
gentlemen from Oceanview U., reserved for this weekend." He glanced past me
at the hall that led to the bedrooms.  "Are the gentlemen here already?" he
asked, taking me for some kind of spring break party nympho.

   "No, no, of course not," I replied, shocked that he would even think
such a thing.  "I would never...  I mean it's not that kind of group."

   He gestured towards my bare behind.

   "Then why...?" he asked.

   "I was...  I mean, I thought..." Unable to explain why I was naked, I
bowed my head down low, and apologized, "Sorry." Leaning forward made my
nipples pop out, startling him even more.  Annoyed, I finally stood up
clutching the pillow against my tummy, and turned to leave.  He stared at
my bottom as I scurried off down the hall to go fetch my clothes.

   It turned out he was who he said he was.  He lived nearby, and prepared
meals for guests of this chalet.  He naturally had a key of his own, and
had let himself in.  Debbie shot me such a look when she found out I'd let
him see me naked, but Mr.  Henderson was very polite to me after that. 
Fujiko showed up a bit later.  I finally managed to get my mind off my
troubles by going down, and playing some tennis with her and Debbie in this
park down by the town.

   That night while Fujiko and I were showering, I debated telling her
about skinny-dipping at the swimming hole, but eventually decided not to.
It's so hard to bring up these things when you don't know people well.

   The next day around lunchtime, Angela, Winston, Gus and Paul finally
showed up.  We ate lunch together.  Gus and Paul had brought some beer with
them, and were trying to get Fujiko and me to drink with them.  Eventually,
while they were making all this racket, I managed to corner Fujiko and
Winston, and convince them to come check out the swimming hole with me.  I
wasn't really sure what they were expecting, but none of us took our
swimsuits.  When we got there, we sat down on the bank, and watched Winston
skip stones across the surface.  Winston is a quiet boy, very tall and a
good swimmer.  I finally managed to get up the nerve to say what I'd been
meaning to.

   "They used to go skinny-dipping here years ago."

   Winston didn't react at all, and Fujiko looked over at me, curious.

   "Really?" she snorted, amused.  I was trying to figure out if they were
interested, but neither of them said anything.

   "Do you want to try?" I blurted out.  Fujiko looked at me again, and
then broke out laughing.

   "You're not serious?" she guffawed.  Winston finally looked over at me,
the faintest hint of a grin on his lips.

   "Sure, why not?" I asked cheerily.  Winston still didn't say anything,
but I could tell from his eyes he wanted to see me naked.  I am pretty sure
Fujiko is not an exhibitionist really, but she does have the sort of
personality where she is ready to try anything.

   Winston and I started stripping, and before long, Fujiko did too.  It
had been a long time since I'd gone skinny-dipping with boys, but I'd seen
Winston in his Speedo often enough I could kind of guess what his...  uh...
'equipment' looks like, if you know what I mean.  He's tall with a
well-toned body.  His penis wasn't particularly big, but I guess he wasn't
all that excited yet.  I don't know if he likes me, but he did raise his
eyebrows as I stripped out of my clothes.  Fujiko kept on laughing the
whole time.  She has a very muscular body for a girl, almost like an
athlete, but her breasts are fairly large considering.  Winston looked her
up and down, but she quickly dashed out into the water to hide.

   One thing that surprised me was that the two of them seemed to treat the
whole thing as some kind of joke.  I must admit that I was a bit turned on
at seeing Winston naked, but the two of them seemed reluctant to admit that
there was anything sexual going on here.  I eventually got out, and lay
face up on a big rock.  This got more of a reaction.  Winston peered over
at my pussy.  He was a man after all.

   Unfortunately, soon we heard Gus and Paul shouting and joking as they
headed this way.  I didn't really mind letting Winston see my naked body,
but I wasn't so keen on showing Gus or Paul.  I really didn't understand
what Debbie saw in them, but I guess that was true of a lot of her guy
friends.  I dove into the water to hide, and warned Fujiko to stay in, as
Gus and Paul came out of the woods.

   "What are you guys doing here?" Gus called out to us, perhaps a little
drunk.

   "Swimming," I answered trying to make it sound innocent.  Winston nodded
backing me up.  Gus and Paul stared over at our clothes perhaps already
suspecting that we were naked.  They finally sat down at the water's edge
settling in to watch.  Fujiko looked at me, just as unhappy with the
situation as I was.  She had wanted to meet them, but I don't think she'd
intended to let them see her naked first thing.

   "Where are Debbie and Angela?" I asked hoping they'd leave.

   "Angela got angry at us, so we decided to come down here, and see what
you guys were doing."

   That was what I was afraid of.  Now what do we do?  Winston looked over
at us sympathetically, but if he got out, they would know we were naked
too. I tried different ploys to try to convince Gus and Paul to go away,
but they wouldn't budge.  I wasn't sure if they knew or not, but in any
case, they seemed determined to stick around till we came out.  I finally
nodded solemnly to Fujiko.

   "This is hopeless."

   She looked over at Gus and Paul, but they just raised their beer cans to
us in a toast.  Slowly, the three of us emerged from the water.  Gus and
Paul's eyes went wide in astonishment to see the three of us, the 'shy
ones' in their eyes, buck naked.  I didn't want to pull on my clothes while
I was still all wet, but I had to.  We hurriedly pull on our things, while
the guys looked on in shock.  On the way back, I tried to make out like it
was no big deal, but Gus and Paul were clearly ecstatic at having got a
look at Fujiko and me naked.

   After we got back to the chalet, Fujiko and I hid in our room for a
while, too embarrassed to face them all.  We could still hear them down in
the main room laughing away.  Debbie came to see what was wrong, but I told
her we just wanted to relax.  We came out for a quick bite to eat, but Gus
and Paul were still carrying on, making all these cracks about what sweet
bodies we have.  Neither Debbie nor Angela knew what they were going on
about, but I guess they could tell something was up.

   Eventually, Debbie, Angela and the guys moved the party outside onto the
deck at the back, and things quietened down.  It was still early, but I was
starting to feel sleepy, so Fujiko and I headed down to the showers as we
had the night before.  Down in the shower room, we couldn't hear them
anymore.  We stripped out of our clothes, and went into the shower.  At
first, I didn't really think about it, but the windows were still open from
when Debbie and I had opened them on the first day.  I turned on the
shower, rinsed off, and then lathered up my body.

   Only slowly did I begin to feel like we were being watched.  I glanced
out the windows, but I couldn't see anything.  Still unsure, I caught
Fujiko's attention, and pointed out the window.  She looked that way, but
shrugged that she couldn't see anything either.  I went back to showering,
but the feeling wouldn't go away.  I finally shut off my shower, grabbed my
towel, and walked around to the change rooms where there was a door to
outside.  Wrapping my towel around me, I opened the door, and peered out
into the dark.  I could see the silhouettes of the trees, but it was hard
to see much in the dark.  As far as I could tell, there didn't seem to be
anyone near the window, so I came back inside, and went back to showering.
Fujiko was looking over at me with this curious look in her eye.

   "You like this kind of thing, don't you?" she asked.

   "What?" I replied, playing dumb.

   "I don't know - skinny-dipping, showing off your body."

   "No, no, I don't.  Honest."

   Fujiko didn't say anything, but clearly she didn't believe me.  Was it
really that obvious?

   After drying off, I pulled on my hoodie, and wrapped the towel around my
waist, but Fujiko wanted to go talk with the others, so she got back
dressed.  Alone in our room with the others all outside, I soon drifted off
to sleep.

   The next morning, I awoke soon after dawn with the sun shining in
through the window.  I still had my hoodie on, but my towel had come
undone, so I carefully wrapped it back around my waist, and tied it in
place.  It looked like Fujiko had stayed up late.  She was completely out
of it.

   I got up, and went out into the hall, but all I could hear was the sound
of birds chirping outside.  The others must have been up late too, because
there was no sign of life anywhere.  I glanced at the clock.  It was
something like 6 in the morning.  Mr.  Henderson wouldn't be here for at
least a couple more hours, so I decided to fix my own breakfast.  I got out
a bowl, poured some cereal, and sat down to eat.

   It looked to be a beautiful day out.  After breakfast, I pulled on my
shoes, and decided to go for a little walk.  I suppose I should have gotten
dressed first, but with everyone still asleep, I didn't think it would
matter.  Instead of walking back up towards the swimming hole, I wandered
down the road back towards town.  There is a forest blocking the view most
of the way, but I finally made it all the way down to the corner, and gazed
out over the village below.  From way up here on the mountainside, I could
see the whole town and surrounding countryside spread out before me.  I
always thought people in the countryside got up early, but it looked pretty
quiet.  I guess it was a Sunday and all, so everyone must be still asleep.

   When I got back to the chalet, there was still no sign of Mr. 
Henderson, but Winston was up, in the kitchen looking for something to eat.

   "Here, sit down.  I'll make you something," I offered.  He nodded,
smiled, and sat down.  He was really the alright sort.  Maybe it was just I
knew him better than Gus or Paul, but somehow I felt comfortable with
Winston around.  He reminded me a bit of Kennedy or Clint from the pizzeria
back in Oceanview, two other Chinese Americans I was friends with.  They
were shy too in a way, but Winston was shyer still, strange I thought for
someone so tall and athletic.

   I poured him a glass of juice, and started making some bacon and eggs
for him on the stove.  When I glanced back, he was peering down curiously
at my backside, reminding me that I didn't have any panties on under the
towel.

   "What's wrong?" I asked, checking the towel to make sure everything was
covered.

   "No, nothing," he said, pushing his glasses up his nose.  "It's just
that..."

   I turned, and looked him in the eye, but that just made him stop.

   "No, nothing.  Forget it."

   He really was terribly shy, but I kind of suspected he was beginning to
fancy me.  Perhaps he'd been thinking about our skinny-dipping yesterday,
or maybe he was just happy that I was cooking for him.  I must admit I
hadn't really thought about him in that way before, but if it was true, I
was flattered.  He did seem like a nice guy.  If I didn't already have a
boyfriend of my own...

   As soon as they were done, I moved the bacon and eggs to a plate, and
served them to him.  I sat down across watching him eat.  He seemed so
self-conscious, and barely looked at me.

   "What time did you guys stay up to last night?" I asked.

   "Oh, I was only out there with them for a bit.  I came back in, and went
to sleep soon after you did."

   Maybe I'm overly suspicious, but the way he said this struck me as a bit
strange.  He refused to look me in the eye.

   "Hmm!  I didn't hear you come in," I mused aloud.  He just shrugged, and
continued eating.  Suddenly, a strange thought struck me.  Was he the
peeping tom I sensed last night?  Almost as if to test him, I pulled my
legs up onto the chair, aware that this would leave my pussy exposed.  He
couldn't see of course, because the table was in the way, but in spite of
myself, I was starting to get excited.

   "Were you walking around outside?" I pressed.

   "No," he answered flatly, still not looking me in the eye.  It was hard
to tell if he was lying or not.  He seemed pretty calm, but maybe he was
just good at hiding his feelings.  Then again even if he did see us,
there's not much I can do about it now.  It wouldn't be the first time some
guy spied in on me while I was naked.  I set my legs back down, but the
knot at the side of my towel was coming loose.  I went to fix it, but then
got another naughty thought.  Maybe I'll just leave it, and see what
happens.

   "So what are the plans for today?" I asked more cheerily now.

   "I don't know.  Those guys are probably going to be out of it for a
while.  They are always so hung-over the morning after."

   I laughed, straightening up in my seat.  The knot finally gave way, and
the towel fell open.  I covered my pussy with my hand, but realizing he
couldn't see it anyway, I finally lifted my hand back up leaving my pussy
exposed.  I felt so naughty now sitting across from him naked from the
waist down.  My pussy was tingling like crazy.  Almost as if he could sense
what I was feeling, he asked,

   "Do you wanna go swimming again?"

   The image of his naked body flashed through my mind, getting me even
more worked up.  I felt this incredible urge to touch myself.  I managed to
resist, but I was seriously starting to lose it.  Spreading my legs, I
reached down, and ran a finger along my pussy lips confirming that I was
soaking wet.  Unfortunately, before I could answer, we heard noises coming
from the next room.  Gus stumbled in, and by some incredible stroke of luck
didn't notice I was sitting here bare-assed.  I quickly closed my legs, and
tried to pull down the hem of my hoodie at the back to cover up my bare
behind, but it was way too short.

   "Aw jeez, what a night that was!  My head feels like it's in a vice."
Gus stumbled over to the fridge, blinking in the bright light.

   I was sitting on my towel.  I tried to grab the ends, but it was caught.
I have to do something though.

   "I'd better go," I whispered to Winston, starting to get up.  I fumbled
to grab the towel, but I was so nervous.  Winston leaned way over staring
at my pussy.  I blushed, embarrassed.  I didn't want Gus to see though, so
I finally turned tail, and ran.  I don't think Gus saw, but Winston got up
and followed me out into the big room.

   "Emi!" he called after me.  I stopped at the far door, looking back to
see what he wanted.  He didn't say anything though, just stared at my bare
behind.  Fearing Gus might come out, I finally said,

   "I'd better go," and scurried back off to my bedroom.  Fujiko was still
asleep.  What am I doing?  She's the one who came here to find a boyfriend,
not me.  Sliding one hand up my hoodie, I gently kneaded one breast and
then the other.  Where is Ryosuke when you need him?  Wetting my finger
tip, I gently drew circles around my hello kitty, then dipped my fingers
in. I swear I never used to do this kind of thing.  I don't know what's
gotten into me lately.  I lay down on my bed, searching, probing for
release, but even after I came, I still felt excited.  I heard Debbie and
them getting up though, so I dashed down to the showers, and did my best to
clean up, and cool off.  Later, after I'd gotten dressed, I finally
answered Winston's question.

   "Maybe we can go swimming again some other time, but today we'd better
just get packed, and do some sightseeing on our way back."

   He continued to watch me on the trip home, but he never did ask me out.
On the train back, it became apparent that Fujiko had hit it off with Gus
and Paul, and they were making plans to see each other again.  I was glad
for her in a way.  It'll be nice if she can find a boyfriend of her own.

   Emi Tsuruta
/~emitsuruta/