Fragments Fiction

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Dave Fragments

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THE CLEARING

1 May, 2006

"Do you know how many people I've had to justify this summer vacation trip ever since that movie about the broken penis mole hill came out to the theaters?" Clay talked as he drove. He could see the first glimmer of the sunrise on the horizon.

"Hah, hah, hah, if only they knew the real truth. We really are gay lovers," Tyler laughed as he checked their position on the GPS gadget. It agreed with the mile marker exactly. He didn't trust Clay's navigation skills.

"Yeah, but I told them that two years ago and last year they all came with me to the pride parade. I danced nearly naked. You're an activist. We lead the community. What the hell else do they want, public fucking, tattoos on our bodies, what?" Clay asked. Tyler pointed to an exit. He didn't give Clay a chance to answer.

"There it is, County Keith, sounds like my grandfather's county back in Ireland. Take the turn to Ogallala," Tyler said.

"Small minds used to small jokes, I guess. At least we're not herding sheep," Clay joked.

"Who, my grandfather Angus Tyler MacArdle? He was rather broad-minded meaning he liked the broad butts of most women, fathered at least ten illegitimate kids. My Dad was the youngest. That's how I came about, in case you ever wondered. Men and women still have sex, don't ya know?" Tyler braced as Clay exited the highway and zipped onto a local road.

"Been there, done that," he said and then regretted it. "No, I meant I've herded sheep and cattle to make money for college, not what your dirty mind is thinking."

"The sheep can't talk. They'll never tell, unlike my Grandfather who I owe blood allegiance to and who you just insulted by implying either you had sex with my Grandmother or you had sex with a sheep named Shirley," Tyler answered. Clay almost wrecked the car as he pulled off the road. He didn't see the police cruiser behind the billboard watching him.

"Just where the hell are we, the middle of nowhere, the twilight zone? All I see are cowboy hats and bow-legged, testosterone-oozing heterosexuals. And just for the record, I've never fucked a sheep at any time in my life and you are the only person in your family I've ever had sex with including but not restricted to your parents, grandparents, great grandparents, great-great-grandparents, cousins, uncles, aunts, in-laws, business partners, casual acquaintances and possible even, complete strangers… if they even exist. Now, more important, are we lost? I think you got us lost. I think we have to ask directions and not depend on this technological disaster called GPS when you can't even read a map. To be blunt about it, we're lost again, thanks to you," Clay pumped his fists in the air as if to illustrate his frustration.

"You had to stop the car for that? There's a gas station and roadhouse two miles ahead where our guide, Jack Carson will be waiting. We'll know who he is because he'll be dressed in buckskins and fringe. Now how gay is that?" Tyler explained. Clay stopped and thought for a moment. Then he started the car and pulled out onto the roadway.

"Buckskins? Very gay, like Absolutely Fabulous gay, like Graham Norton gay, like John Wayne gay, maybe even Carson Kressley gay! Buckskins? Really?" Clay missed a stop sign. He more than missed a stop sign; he blew through one of County Keith's prized speed traps manned by County Keith's intrepid duo of Mindy Persimmons and A. Morgan Wolfeson. It was, as they say in the moving picture business, Lights, Camera, Action! And, as they say, in the police business hot pursuit, at least as hot a pursuit as exists in Nebraska. Police scanners within twenty miles echoed Trooper A. Morgan Wolfeson's excited radio call of hot pursuit of a fire-engine red, Mercedes convertible, sports car. Clay pulled over a couple hundred yards from the roadhouse. Tyler just shook his head while Clay put on his most innocent look. In the rearview mirror, he watched as Trooper Mindy Persimmon Birdsong extricated her three-hundred pound bulk out of the police car. She has a commanding waddle, he thought, and those pants, those pants that flared at her already immensely wide hips. She has the fashion sense of a walrus and the demeanor of a gorilla. Clay quickly banished the thought from his head. Tyler turned around and saw the second officer get out of the passenger side of the car. He had long legs accentuated by the leather boots and thigh-tight trousers that flared at the hips. A nightstick and flashlight hung from his left side and a large .45 caliber revolver hung from his left. I wonder if the rest of his equipment is as large, thought Tyler. He was tall, rangy and overly padded by a bulletproof vest. A mass of curly blond hair hung out from the sides of cap. Somebody ought to tell this guy that mullets went out of style several years ago, thought Tyler. Please Mister Custer, I don't want to go away from you, Clay thought.

"Did you see that stop sign back there?" Trooper Birdsong asked her voice harsh and commanding. She tapped her left palm with her nightstick making an audible smacking noise. Clay swallowed. His innocent look faded to a worried display of guilt, guilt, guilt. If formed a mantra in his mind.

"No," Clay squeaked out. He stared at the immense woman in front of him.

"Show me your license," she demanded. He did and she took it back to Trooper Morgan for him to check it for wants and warrants. Then she returned to the side of the car. Before she had a chance to say anything, an old, red pickup truck with rust holes and badly faded paint pulled up next to them. A man dressed completely in buckskin wearing an old western hat over straight black hair got out of the passenger side of the pickup and let it drive away.

"I guess that these guys belong to you, Carson," Trooper Birdsong turned her back to Clay giving him a clear view of her more than spacious backside. Hmmm, oh beautiful for spacious buns? Vast amber waves of pussy hair? Purple mountain's… ran through his head. He pushed the thought from his mind and then put one hand on his mouth to stifle a laugh. He grabbed Tyler with other. Jake Morgan caught the motion as he greeted Trooper Birdsong.

"Mindy, Morgan," Jack Carson said, white teeth flashed from under a coal black moustache. He had a wide and appealing smile on his long, angular face. He looked to be about thirty years old with a deep tan and weathered skin. "How are my two favorite patrolpersons this fine and beautiful day?" His voice was deep and resonant. The soft, leathery buckskin fit his body like a glove.

"Cut the friggen horseshit Carson. The fine for running a stop sign is $100 with costs. You're lucky I don't charge them with reckless driving," she answered. Jack Carson pulled $100 from his wallet and handed it to Trooper Birdsong.

"It's a pleasure doing business with you, Mindy. Will you be singing at services on Sunday? You're the sunlit relief to Pastor Prandal's dark and dreary sermons. Everyone at the church says you are the bright ray of sunshine we go to church for," Jack Carson said. He pushed his wallet back in his pants and hiked them up flashing his tanned and muscular abs at the Trooper.

"You think so? You're so nice Carson," Mindy Birdsong giggled and floated back to the patrol car. Jack Carson straddled the Mercedes and stowed his body in the small back seat. He had a sexy, outdoor, woodsy, masculine smell. Tyler guessed that it was the buckskin.

"Gentlemen, you're safe from the clutches of the law. I suggest that you drive away and start your vacation," Jack Carson said. Clay quickly started the car and carefully drove away. They drove another hour before they got to Carson's Dude Ranch and Cattle Emporium. The main house stood between several barns and outbuildings. A crew of men worked around the various buildings. They paid no attention to Clay or Tyler. Carson transferred their bags to a pickup truck. He drove them out a gravel road that wound around and up into the hills. Tyler sat in the middle between Clay and Carson. He realized that Carson wore only the buckskins and boots. The buckskin was soft and Carson was hot underneath it. Tyler could see Carson's bare chest and abs through the opening of the buckskin jacket. Eventually, they arrived at an isolated clearing in the forest. A large tent and campsite located next to a sparkling, blue pond waited for them. They parked the truck and unloaded their bags.

"I figure that you two can spend the day alone while I take the truck back and bring horses and hunting equipment. There's food and drink in the coolers. You can hike in the forest, swim in the pond, bird watch, or just lay in the sun. We don't have problems with wolves or predators. You won't need a fire for heat tonight. Your sleeping bags will keep you warm. We pitched the tent on a soft mound of moss and peat. It's comfortable to sleep on. Tomorrow they'll bring horses and hunting gear and we'll be ready for a month or so."

"You're not going to stay? Your advertisement said that you would spend the time and that we wouldn't be left on our own." Clay asked.

"Oh no, sorry about that, I misspoke. I'm going to take return with horse. You'll be OK until this afternoon," Carson answered. Both Clay and Tyler agreed. Carson drove the truck out of sight.

"I'm ready for a tan, let's go for a swim," Tyler pulled his shirt and pants off, left them in a pile near the tent and ran into the pond naked. Clay joined him all the while complaining about the stones hurting his feet and worrying if leaches and other bloodsucking creatures occupied the pond. The water was refreshing but as Clay called it, little boy cold. Both Clay and Tyler were nearly devoid of body hair and when they stood up out of the water, their bodies looked like ancient Greco-Roman artwork with big muscles and small endowments. They swam until the sun reached its zenith, ate a late lunch of roast beef sandwiches on crusty bread with roasted red peppers and afterward, took siesta on the soft, mossy grass of the campsite, and afterward, hiked bare-chested through the woods in cut-off jeans and sneakers. Clay and Tyler passed a bucolic and pastoral afternoon watching the wildlife in the woods. When they returned to the campsite, they could see a horse drawn cart carrying two men and leading four ponies. As the cart got closer, they heard the clop of horse's hooves on the gravel path in the distance.

"That looks like the policeman who stopped us. He's dressed in buckskin just like Carson," Tyler looked through a small pair of binoculars.

"Interesting, when you booked a real, Wild West experience as a vacation, I didn't think it would include two, hot humpy men as guides." Clay held his hand over his brow and squinted. He could just make out Carson's black moustache and the patrolman's golden hair.

"I think we ought to dress for dinner, don't you? Besides, it's getting cold," said Tyler. Clay and Taylor pulled on jeans and muscle shirts as the cool of the evening displaced the heat of the day.

"Clay, Tyler, I want you to meet Jake Morgan, a fellow traveler and aficionado of the Wild West. By happenstance, his vacation overlaps yours and he has agreed to be my assistant. He knows as much as I do about the Wild West," Carson said. He got out of the cart and picked up the carcasses of two rabbits from the back. As Jake got out of the cart, the thick, blond hair on his peaked out from the opening of his shirt-jacket.

"Dinner tonight will consist of wild rabbit roasted over an open fire. You, gentlemen, are improperly dressed. I've brought buckskin outfits and boots for each of you. I'll start the rabbits and you can shed that clothing." Carson took the rabbits to the pond and began to gut them while Jake opened a trunk on the back of the cart and handed trousers and shirt-jackets to Clay and Tyler.

"Carson likes his Wild West free of cotton. In fact, most of the early cowboys wore canvas or animal hide like these. We make these from animal hides. They're comfortable once you get used to going regimental. Even the boots are purely leather and don't need socks, easier on the feet," Jake explained.

"You want us to wear these? Are they really animal skins?" Clay fussed.

"They're as authentic as we can get them. This style of clothing dates back to the Lewis and Clark expedition. We use furry skins for winter, of course," Jake answered. Tyler pulled his muscle shirt over his head and kicked his sneakers off. Jake picked them up and put them in the trunk.

"Lewis and Clarke, that's a few years earlier than the typical cowboy era, isn't it?" Tyler asked.

"Not too much earlier, Lewis and Clark are the start of western exploration, the civil war is the middle and the late 1800's and early 1900's are just too modern. You didn't want a dude ranch experience and if you did, you wouldn't be here with Carson. Besides, we get lots of animal skins and there's no reason to let them go to waste."

"Should we go in the tent?" Clay asked.

"Why?" Jake asked.

"Well, I guess no one is around to see us," Clay answered and prepared to undress. Tyler shrugged his shoulders and dropped his jeans on the ground. The evening air felt a little cold on his body. He folded his jeans and set them in the cart.

"Are these comfortable? They feel a little stiff," Tyler rubbed the material against his side.

"Sleep in it tonight. If it's still stiff tomorrow, you can wet it and that will make it soften," Jake said. Tyler stepped into the buckskin pants and pulled them up his legs. The animal skin felt soft and supple against his skin. A rope tied at his waist and a panel similar to that on sailor's pants supported his cock and balls up tight against his stomach. The pants fit tight against his buttocks and thigh and the calves opened with laces to let him put the lace up boots up over his ankles. He pulled the boots over his bare feet and laced them up his calves. Jake showed him how to fasten the pant legs so they wouldn't catch anything while horseback riding. Tyler pulled the shirt-jacket over his shoulders it fit tight to his broad shoulders and back. He left the front of the jacket open to the middle of his chest and fastened the bone buttons over his abs. He flexed and felt the skins stretch to fit his movement.

"These outfits are always a little stiff and rough when you first wear them. The hides get softer the longer you wear them. Not only that, the hide is warm. You know what I mean tonight when we sleep out under the stars on the horse blankets," Jake closed the trunk and set it on the ground by the cart. He picked up wood for a campfire and returned to the campsite. By that time, Carson finished gutting and skinning the rabbits and had them impaled on spits. He mounted them over the fire and put a slab of bacon in a skillet to make some beans. He set a pot onto the embers to make coffee.

"Dinner will be authentic western food. You guys ate your last prepared meals for lunch today. We'll be living off the land for the next couple weeks," Carson said. Both Tyler and Clay nodded in agreement. That was what they paid for, an authentic cowboy vacation. They ate roasted rabbit. Afterward they lay around the fire watching the sunset and the stars fill the sky. The last of the full moon filled the early evening with a baleful light. Carson called it a strawberry moon. The four men made small talk.

"So, is your partner, what's-her-name, on vacation too?" Clay asked. Carson almost choked on his coffee. Jake put his hand on his forehead and shook his head to either side.

"Oh, we hit a sore spot, huh?" Tyler's eyes brightened up. He started humming "America the Beautiful." Clay knew the joke all too well and wagged a finger in his direction.

"Nah, she's hard at work beating back the cutting edge of crime in Keith County," Jake answered. He gave Tyler a strange look.

"Oh yeah, pardner," Carson used a fake drawl. "She lives on the edge, the edge of her seat. Her ass is so big she can't fit into most chairs. She's always on the edge of raping the next man who breathes around her," Carson winked at Clay and Tyler. They stifled giggles at the joke not wanting to laugh aloud. Tyler resumed his humming. This time it was "God Bless America."

"Aw pardner," Jake answered with the same drawl. "You're the one who likes Mindy? You praised her singing and made a date to meet to go to Sunday services. If anyone has the hots for her, it's you." Jake pulled his mullet back around his head and tucked it under his hat. He wanted to shift the gag back to Carson.

"Tell me, did they equip your patrol car with heavy duty shocks?" Tyler asked. The big blond cop blushed and sputtered. Tyler and Clay started humming louder.

"No, they didn't!" Jake objected. "But I hear that we're going to get the new alternative fuel vehicle. It's very special. It works on liposuction fat. The Department figures Mindy is good for five, maybe ten thousand miles before she slims down," Jake answered. Clay and Tyler almost lost it. They continued humming. Jake looked over at them exasperated. Carson listened to the tune and started to laugh.

"What are you two humming about?" Jake said. Tyler and Clay sat up and leaned against each other. They both started to sing.

"From her mountains, to her prairies, to her oceans white with your sperm..." At the word "sperm," they broke up laughing. Jake pulled hi hat off his head and threw it on the ground. He stood what he would call, fighting mad, and then softened and laughed with them. Tired and worn out from the long day of vacationing, the four men lay on the soft ground and slept.

The hot sun woke them the next morning. They washed their faces and hands and ate breakfast. Carson suggested that they ride bareback or Indian-style. Clay and Tyler agreed. They spent most of the day exploring the countryside on horseback. The day was hot and both the men and the horses sweaty. During the day when they got hot and sweaty, the buckskin pulled the sweat off their skin and let it evaporate. The grass was high and thick. It formed a soft mat for a welcome siesta during the heat of the day. That afternoon, Carson taught them to track down rabbits, quail and other game. The found a clearing and cooked the game. Tired and satisfied, they simply lay on the ground and slept next to their horses. The four mares seemed to enjoy their company and stayed by them. The buckskin suits kept them comfortable and warm at night. They spent days wandering the countryside and living off the land. For the four men, the plains had no end and no beginning. They hunted, trapped and played the time away. Carson knew variations on a dozen different games suited to four men out on the high plains.

Tyler and Clay stopped counting the days. Their hair and beards grew so fast that they joked that one day they had fuzz and the next, outright beards. The moon waned to a narrow sliver and then to nothing at all. On the night of the new moon, Tyler realized that Jake, the policeman, might leave them. He'd grown fond of the big, blond man. He asked Jake about his vacation.

"I've got lots of vacation time left. To tell you the truth, I'm not sure I want to end this vacation. I've been thinking about staying out here. Carson owns this prairie and he says I can live out here," Jake answered.

"That's a little impractical in this day and age, isn't it?" Tyler commented. He rubbed the thick hair on his chest absentmindedly. The animal skin and his new body hair kept him comfortable. Jake smiled at Tyler, and shrugged his broad shoulders. His long blond hair fell in ringlets to his shoulders.

"I reckon you're right but Carson asked me to stay until the full moon, the Buck moon, and then decided," Jake answered.

"What's the Buck Moon?" Tyler asked.

"The seventh moon of the year is dedicated to the Buck, the male of the species, all species. Special thing happens on that night. You'll see," Jake said. Jake turned to tend his horse. When he asked Carson, he got no answer to his questions. They simply enjoyed the hot summer days and cool nights as the moon waxed to fullness.

A day before the full moon, Tyler pulled Clay aside and they talked about his conversation with Jake.

"Jake says he doesn't want to end his vacation out here and that Carson has some way of letting him stay out here indefinitely," Tyler said.

"I can understand that. You know that this entire trip has been filled with the unexpected. We're living more like the early Indians in the years before contact with Western Civilization than we are like cowboys or even explorers during the Louisiana Purchase. Don't get me wrong, I don't care about the discrepancy. We wanted to get away from everything to enjoy life without pressure and this vacation certainly fills the bill. I've never been happier. I'm just curious about this Buck Moon thing," Clay shrugged.

"I don't care, this is the first time in my life I've been free of pressure from anything. Look, "We've never gone this long without boning each other. Hell, even as kids going through puberty we got off nearly every day. These past few weeks, I'm ashamed to admit that I've enjoy not even having the pressure of sex," Tyler blushed. Clay laughed.

"You hump the ground in your sleep. I hear you making little squeaky noises and I can smell it on your body," Clay said. Tyler blushed.

"I know, I know and the semen makes the leather silky soft and it clings tight my body. The buckskin fits better than ever. It's skin-tight. I've seen the way your suit clings. Do you feel it like I do?" Clay asked. Tyler agreed.

"Yes, and I'm going to hate to take these animal skins off. It's so snug and pleasant that I want to live in it. I don't care about the hairless musclemen we were, I want to keep this fuzzy, hairy exterior," Tyler said.

"I know, I can sweat through the buckskin. It's so tight against my body that sometimes I think it's my own skin and I can feel through it. This summer has been so extraordinary, so satisfying, let's just enjoy ourselves and quit worrying. Whatever happens to Jake at the full moon doesn't bother me in the least," Clay said. Tyler agreed.

The silvery disc of the full moon rose over the mountains to the west.

Carson had a larger than usual fire going. Clay and Tyler lay together against a log and watched the clear, star-filled sky. When he finished tending the horses Jake sat next to them. The three men watched the fire and stars.

"I used to hate nights like this, the coldness, the clearness. Now it refreshes me. I love sleeping in the fresh air," Tyler said softly. He stroked Clay's hair.

"Well, we have the rest of the summer. We can do this again next year," Clay said. He laid his head on Tyler's chest. The night was so quiet that he could hear Clay's breathing and the thump of his heart.

"Ask Carson, his answer just might surprise you? What's more, on the first night of the full moon he has to tell the truth," Jake said. Carson lay on the ground at their feet and let the fire warm his body. Tyler nudged Carson with his foot.

"What if we wanted to stay here all the time? What if we didn't want to leave?" Tyler asked.

"You're enjoying your lives more than ever before. Why would you want to leave? Do you want to go back to sixteen-hour workdays, seven days a week? Do you like jumping to a boss's demands?" Carson asked.

"No, we don't. What if we just want to stay here a few months longer than the summer?" Clay asked.

"That would be hard considering that none of us has removed these skins since we put them on a month ago. These skins do funny things to human bodies," Carson said. Clay pushed upright bracing one hand on Tyler's chest. He tried to open Tyler's shirt-jacket to expose Tyler's chest but the hide fused to Tyler's skin. Tyler wrapped a hand around Clay's arm and stopped him.

"That hurts," Taylor said. Carson and Jake laughed at his remark.

"I thought you guys knew about the hides when I gave you the buckskin. Once it bonds with your skin, it won't come off as long as you are here," Jake explained. He pulled at his jacket and showed them how it blended with his skin. Both Clay and Tyler tugged at their outfits. The hides had become part of their skin. The buckskin formed a pouch around their balls letting the two orbs hang tight up against their stomachs. A flap of hide in front of the trousers came loose to let their cocks out of the buckskin. The pants didn't have trapdoors at the rear but the skin had formed around their buttholes. As they explored their bodies, they realized that the hides were now part of their bodies. Even their body hair was growing through the buckskins. The buckskin had merged with their bodies and fused to their skin.

"Wow, this is the most amazing thing I've ever seen," said Tyler.

"It's a new skin, isn't it?" Clay asked.

"Does this stuff grow like our own skin? Can it spread over our hands and faces?" Tyler asked.

"What happens now that we can't take it off," Clay asked. They waited for Carson to answer.

"It's your new skin only if you stay here on the high plains. The bonding will be permanent if you stay here. And yes, it will grow like your old skin. Now I have a question, why would you ever take it off. I've worn my suit for ten years now and no one seems to care." Carson answered.

"So we are perfectly suited, no pun intended, to stay here on the plains with the horses?" Taylor asked. He wasn't sure if it was a question or a statement.

"Jake is going to stay here. You guys have to decide if you want to return," Carson answered.

"Where is here?" Tyler asked.

"We're still on the high plains in Nebraska. We've been wandering far and wide," Carson said. Tyler wasn't satisfied.

"Why aren't there any cities or roads? I mean, in all the month we've been traveling, we haven't encountered any signs of civilization. How do you explain that?" Tyler needed to know the whole story. Carson wasn't forthcoming.

"I took us back in time just over ten thousand years. There's no civilization, Indian or white man in Nebraska or in North America, at this time unless you count the horses," Carson explained. He adjusted the fire and sat up on his haunches.

"Yeah, I'm staying here with the horses," Jake answered.

"You mean there are only horses here?" Clay asked. Tyler thought it was the wrong question but he didn't interrupt.

"No, there will be mammoths, sloths, bison and other mammals, but for the next forty or fifty years, there will only be horses," Carson explained.

"And what would we do if we wanted to stay here and join Jake?" Clay asked. Tyler started to say something but Clay shut him up.

"Nothing complicated, just stay here and wear gloves and masks for the next three days of the full moon. They are ancient totems that will make you one with the horses. A few days after this full moon a large herd of horses will pass through and you can join them. If you don't want to do that, we can stay here another month and wait for bison. The horses will die out in a few thousand years and the bison will live until man causes their near extinction in the late 1800's," Carson answered.

"And after that?" Tyler asked.

"After that, I'll return to 2006, set your affairs in order and find more customers. You three will be on your own with the horses or the bison for a couple, maybe three years. It depends on how busy I am in the future. Time doesn't mean much around here," he answered.

"Good, we'll do the horse thing," Clay announced. He didn't give Tyler a chance to say anything.

"Are you sure about that decision? You know he said the horses die out. Why don't you wait for the Bison? It might be your likeness on a buffalo nickel," Jake interjected. Tyler understood and started to say so, but Clay didn't want anything to do with bison and shut him down. They both agreed to do what was necessary to join the herd that would pass by in a few days. Carson looked up at the sky; the Buck moon was at its zenith. He went to the trunk and opened it. In the dim light, he removed three sets of masks and gloves and brought them back to the three men. Both Clay and Tyler fiddled and examined the mask and gloves. Jake walked around the other side of the fire and pulled the mask over his head and the gloves onto his hands with no hesitation.

"Is there an alternative time closer to 2006?" Tyler asked.

"Yes, but it has disadvantages. You could become an Indian pony. They ate horsemeat to survive a harsh winter. That's one risk. The other risk is if the Spanish catch you, they'll brand you, geld you and saddle you for a beast of burden. I don't recommend that fate, either." Carson answered.

"In other words, stay away from humanity at all costs. I guess that you're not joining us?" Clay teased.

"No, not today. I will someday," Carson said.

Tyler took a good, long look at the mask in the bright moonlight. It reminded him of a horse's head. Clay pulled the gloves onto his hands. They looked like gauntlets and went halfway up to his elbows. The fingers and thumb were short and stubby on his hands. Clay held the mask up in his gloved hands helpless to pull it on his head. Tyler gave a big sigh. He pulled the front of the mask onto Clay's face and fit the back around his hair. The back of the mask laced up and left Clay's hair hanging out the back like a mane. He does resemble a horse, thought Tyler as he tightened the lacing. Clay stood up bounded away, happy to be doing whatever he thought he was doing. Taylor pulled the mask over the front of his face. As he tied it around the back, he felt it pull at his features. It's not that it didn't fit his face but it felt like his human nose and mouth were too small. He wished they were longer. The earflaps pulled upwards at his ears and his neck seemed too short for the material. The soft leathery material seemed to stretch his neck.

"Is this tied properly," Tyler said to Carson. His voice surprised him. It sounded deeper, throatier. Carson examined the back of the mask and pulled the laces tighter. The mask pulled Tyler's head in odd ways. Carson picked up Tyler's gloves and held them out for Tyler to push them onto his hands. The fingers on the glove not only looked short and stubby, they kept his fingers from bending. Carson called for Jake and Clay and made them lay down to sleep. Tyler slept fitfully.

The warm sun woke the four men. They lay in a jumble next to the burnt out fire. Tyler got up and walked to the water. In the daylight, the world looked different through the mask. He leaned down to drink from the cold, clear water. His gloved hands were useless and he couldn't pull the gloves off his hands. Rather than wake the others, he leaned his face into the water. He could feel the water against his face. The material of the mask transmitted temperature and feeling to his face. He stood up and felt the usual morning pressure on his bladder. His cock stood upright against his stomach and poked out the top of the flap of buckskin that usually held it captive. He walked away from the pond and into the trees and rubbed his chest and stomach. His balls felt larger and seemed to hand lower than before. When he found his favorite tree, his cock felt thicker and the flap wouldn't fall as far. Finally, he found a comfortable position bent over and leaning against the tree to drain his bladder.

Tyler woke the other three men and watched as both Jake and Clay fumbled around with unfamiliar bodies just like his. They all still looked as human as Carson did, but deep inside his mind, Tyler didn't feel that way. They ate their usual breakfast. The gloves weren't so awkward that they couldn't drink hot coffee, however, the bacon and eggs were tasteless. Carson suggested that they ride during the morning. The horses were friendly and obedient.

Tyler felt the heat of the horse's body against his legs and buttocks as they road. Before the sun hit its zenith, they raced back to the camp. Tyler leaned forward against the horse's neck and withers, his face close to the horse's head. The wind felt as good as his hair waved on his back. Men and horses were sweaty, frothy and breathing hard when they stopped. Without even thinking, Tyler led his horse to the pond to drink. He stood on his hands and knees to drink with it. As he did, he straightened his legs and stood on his toes. It felt odd to lower his head between his shoulders when he drank. When he stood upright, he found Clay and Jake staring at him.

"What did you expect me to do?" Taylor asked. His voice sounded chestier and rougher than that morning. Jake and Clay fumbled around trying to drink from the water. They shied away from their horses. Tyler took his horse into the shade and lay down with it. He patted the horse's flat cheek and forelock. Clay, Jake and Carson took a siesta at the campsite.

Tyler's horse nuzzled him awake in the late afternoon. She nipped at his shoulder and arm. He went to stand up and found that his feet were thinner and pointed. He had to walk on his toes. His hips rolled outward and he walked bowlegged. He went to drink and found his arms had grown longer. He leaned down to drink and found his fingers completely fused together. It didn't feel odd to lean on them when he drank. His mouth and nose seemed longer and easier to get into the water. He drank, lapping the water up through his longer mouth and over a thicker tongue. He felt something against his back and he flicked a hairy tale to drive it away. He stood and reached around his tail swished to meet his changed hand. IT was a rich, chestnut brown color. Tyler examined his body closer and found patches of brown hair fading to beige on his stomach grew from his body. The mare brushed against his shoulder again and he leaned against her withers. He reached around her neck and pulled himself onto her back. The mare took him to the other men and horses.

"The sleeper wakes," Jake yelled. His voice was high and horse-like. Fresh, fragrant grass grew in the field. It made Tyler hungry. Tyler slid off his horse and walked gingerly to Carson. He was the only human who stood unchanged. Jake's head appeared more horse-like with a pulled out nose and mouth and his ears were higher on his head. He was well on his way to being horse-like. Clay was the big surprise. His face was almost completely equine. His neck was thick and long and his shoulders broader to hold it upright. A coal-black mane ran from the back of his head down his spine to his rump. Both Jake's and Clay's bodies were still very human. Interested in food, the four horses walked about and grazed on the thick, sweet-scented grass.

"Wow, you guys look different," said Tyler. He felt his voice reverberate through his chest. He took a deep breath and expanded his chest. It felt bigger than before. Clay didn't speak but neighed like a horse and shook his head up and down on its long neck. Tyler watched in fascination as Clay's lips opened wide and he ripped off a mouthful of grass.

"Staying with the horses meant becoming a horse, didn't it?" Tyler said. His stomach grumbled and urged him to eat the grass.

"You should have asked more questions. You should enjoy the experience of transforming. I know I did when I first found my buckskin," Carson said. Jake half neighed and half talked his agreement. Tyler leaned over and tried to pull out a handful of grass. His fingers had grown too much like hooves. He bent over and pulled the grass with his teeth expecting the worst. Pleasantly he discovered that his teeth were flatter and not pointed. The grass broke easily and tasted delicious. He also discovered that his longer arms and extended feet let him stand more like a horse. As he ate, he could feel his hips shifting and changing. He wondered when he'd ever stand upright again. He could feel his face and eyes spreading farther apart. He seemed to look down his nose at the ground. He looked back underneath his chest and stomach and saw a thicker cock hanging from fleshy sheath in the middle of his belly. His hips spread wide and his legs spread out to his sides. Between them, a pair of testicles the size of apples, one hung lower than the other. The buckskin no longer looked like buckskin on his body. Its new texture was smooth and sleek. Tyler thought his body was a little thin compared to the mares that they rode on for the past month. The grass drew his attention back to food.

The three half-human, half-equine creatures, Carson and the real horses spent the afternoon and early evening grazing in the field. As the sun touched the horizon, Carson gathered the mares and led them all back to camp. On the way, Tyler lagged and let his new cock slither out of its fleshy sheath to empty his bladder. His backside also twitched. He pulled his tail up high and opened his intestines. He relieved himself and felt satisfied. He hurried on his four legs to catch up to the group. He felt his new body learning to trot and run.

Carson had a fire going quickly. The three half-men gathered near it and examined the various stages of their transformations. Tyler stood on all fours of his limbs but his body was thin and his head half human. Jake's hands and feet were hooves and his body was barreling into an equine. His body was a jumbled of both species. Luxurious cream-colored horsehair grew on his body. Clay was changing from his head to his back and his arms were almost completely equine but his legs were still human. His new hair was coal-black and shiny in the firelight. Carson lay on the ground near the fire. Tyler walked over to him careful about where he placed his hooves in the dark.

"Go to sleep, young man, tomorrow morning you'll be a horse and there's nothing you can do about it tonight," Carson grumbled. Tyler shook his head from side to side. He realized that his neck was longer and bent in different ways. He went back to Clay and Jake but he still felt odd. He went and stood next to the mare that he always rode. He fell asleep while the moon was still high in the sky.

The next morning Tyler woke up next to the mare he used to ride. He realized what he was when he saw his reflection in the pond as they drank. He guessed that he was a year old colt. This is going to be fun, he thought. He could see his front hooves and parts of his body. He swished his tail and ran around the clearing. His new body felt sleek and powerful. Holding his head up and bringing his legs up high for particular gaits, felt natural. He went over and nuzzled Carson awake. Startled, Carson sat up and looked at the colt. He patted its check and nose. Tyler neighed a good morning. This mouth couldn't speak.

"You are a pest, you know that," Carson said. He stood up and let the colt sniff at his body. Tyler discovered that Carson was not quite as human as he thought. He was more than half-horse by his smell.

"You should look at your partner Clay and my big, blond, policeman, Jake," Carson said. He pushed the colt's nose toward the other side of the camp. Tyler looked over and saw Clay and Jake on either side of the burnt out fire. His eyesight wasn't what he was used to seeing. His eyes were wide apart and not altogether stereoscopic. Jake and Clay lay half-transformed into full-grown horses. Clay still had human legs but from the hips up, he was all horse. Jake was a muddle of mixed parts.

"I have to mind them today; full size stallions take longer than colts, boy. Now you go run around the fields like a good horse and don't bother me again until night." Carson smacked Tyler's rump and the colt ran off. The mare trotted off after him. Tyler spent the day galloped down rabbits and chasing the wind. He felt young and playful. The mare stayed close but let him run and cavort. He discovered five or six different flavors of grass and a couple tasty branches. Before Tyler realized it, the day was gone and the sun was touching the horizon. He walked next to the mare as they returned to the camp. He could see the nearly complete transformed bodies of Clay and Jake.
The two stallions stood tied to the fallen tree. They both took brazen notice as the mare approached. Carson got a rope around Tyler's head and tied him to the cart. He chased the mare away from the camp.

"Did you enjoy your first day as a horse?" Carson asked. Tyler shook his head and stamped his hoof. Carson stood taller than the colt and petted him. He held a piece of apple at Tyler's mouth and let him eat it.

"Do you remember when Jake asked both of you if you were sure about becoming horses? Do you recall that he reminded both of you that eventually, horses in America go extinct? And that the Spanish Conquistadors repopulate America with horses?" Carson asked. Tyler again shook his head affirmatively and stamped his hoof. Carson opened the trunk and took out a metal box. He assembled an emasculator.

"Well, consider yourself lucky. You're only a month or two old in horse years. You won't be a true stallion for another year or so. The Buck Moon favored you with youth. Jake and Clay can't remain stallions without affecting the timeline. We can't have that, can we? We can't change history. Consequently, I have to adjust them. Jake knew that this might happen. As for your buddy, Clay, well he'll be calmer," Carson said. He fit the rubber tubing through a crimping clamp and stretched it around his hand. He went to Jake's rump and tugged at the stallion's testicles. He gently fit the rubber tubing around Jake's horse-like scrotum. He tightened the loop and adjusted it so it sat just above the horse's large testicles. Then he used the ratchet on the device to tighten the rubber loop until it cut off the blood supply. He flipped a lever on the device and cut the rubber tubing. He repeated the operation on Clay.

"In a couple weeks, their testicles will fall off completely. They won't miss their balls when the horses arrive. By the time they return to human form, it will be too late to do anything. I'll have replacement testicles if they want them," Carson put the device back in the trunk. "Like I said, you're lucky. I have to wait until your testicles drop in a year maybe eighteen months. That means that your body can grow big and strong just like any other stallion but I'll be back before you can create offspring and I'll geld you too," Carson explained. He petted and hugged the colt. Tyler was small enough that Carson could lift him off the ground. Tyler wondered if Carson thought he couldn't understand his words. The mare snorted angrily at Carson and he let Tyler be. Clay and Jake bucked and shuffled a little because the cunning emasculation clamps constricted the blood supply to their once-glorious manhood. Tyler understood the insidiousness of the device, a slow demise. They couldn't see the small rubber ring. Tonight, they would sleep while the ring did its work. Tomorrow, when they discovered they were stallions set about playing in the fields, the ring would prevent their new hearts from pumping fresh, life-giving blood to their testicles. It's not that they could even see what was happening. After all, out of site, out of mind, and once the rubber ring did its job cutting off the blood supply to their testicles, it would be too late to do anything about it. Jake might have known it was a possibility when he agreed to the transformation, but Clay didn't. Until they returned to human form and confronted the evidence of their gelding, they wouldn't miss it.

"You are a cute, little fellow, first time I ever got a colt. I'd love to stay and raise you, but I can't risk the timeline anymore than I have. My next visit will be my last trip back to the past. Whoever comes back with me next year will be taking a one-way trip. I'll geld my customers and myself and close the lunar gateway. I'm tired of the world,"

The full moon was high in the sky when the recently-men and horses fell asleep.

The next morning, three only just horses and one barely half-man woke to warm rain. It rained all day and even the bases of the largest trees became soaked with water. Tyler felt sturdier than the previous day. He remembered the feeling from his childhood. Each time he grew, either wider or taller, he felt sturdier. The new stallions, Jake and Clay, romped through the mud and water chasing the other mares, fighting at each other, and enjoying their first day as stallions. Tyler merely stayed close to his mare. The rain stopped just after sunset and the sky cleared to reveal the fourth and last night of the full moon. Carson couldn't start a fire. He merely sat against his crate next to the rickety cart and fell asleep. The next morning, Carson hitched the cart to his horse, loaded the crate and rode off. He left the three man-horses and the mares alone.

Tyler played and grazed with the other horses. They gave no sign of once having been human. The new moon arrived and so did a large herd of horses. They all joined the herd easily. He found other colts his age and they played like young boys in a schoolyard, running, jumping, hiding, fighting, and racing. Clay and Jake stayed with the herd. They were nonentities, neither stallions nor mares. The mares that they rode into the past with came into heat and all three got pregnant. That pleased the entire herd. Tyler measured time not in days but in seasons. The weather went from hot to cool and then to cold. Tyler grew faster than any other colt in the herd. By the time the days lengthened and the cold abated, Tyler stood as tall as the stallions. He was faster and stronger than most of them. He mounted his first mare when the fresh green buds broke out of their winter sleep. His endowment felt huge inside a mare and a string of mares followed. The sun grew high and hot. The herd got lazy and slow. Vast plains of grass fattened them up.

One day, a nervous rippled moved through the herd. Tyler moved to the side and saw a man dressed in brown with six other men riding in a buckboard. Carson was back. Tyler suppressed his urge to run to greet Carson. Instead, he searched for a chestnut brown colt he knew was born just after he joined the herd. It would be just the right age to fool Carson. He led the herd to their campsite and let Carson discover the yearling colt. The men adopted the animal. That night, when the moon rose high in the sky, Tyler watched from a distance as Carson gave the men masks and gloves. Their transformations were already a fait accompli. Tyler watched as Carson gelded the yearling and then he returned to the herd.

The next day, six half-men, half-horse woke and stumbled around the campsite. Their unfamiliar and awkward bodies kept changing during the day. By the evening, the physical transformations were nearly complete. Tyler watched as Carson emasculated the newly created stallions. By morning, the six would be geldings. Tyler felt sorry for them but since he was a stallion, he didn't need their competition. They would fill out his herd. His attention came back to Carson. He didn't put the emasculator back into its box. Instead, he tugged the rubber around his own, human testicles and tightened the clamp slowly and carefully. Even from this distance, he could see the look on Carson's face as the clamp grew smaller and smaller. Tyler watched, fascinated by the man's single-minded stubbornness. Tyler watched as Carson sealed the clamp and packed the device into the trunk. After that, Carson pulled a horse mask onto his head and tied it closed and slid his hands into gloves. Then he lay down to sleep.

Tyler lived many years as a horse and sired many fine stallions and mares. Neither he, nor Clay, nor Jake nor any of the other men that Carson brought back into the past ever returned to the modern world.

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