Carl and Sheila's Encounter

Carl was a rather successful entrepreneur and philanthropist. One year he decided he would operate a camp for special needs children to relieve their parents for a few weeks over the year. Outsiders chided Carl for using public budgetary funds to help sustain his own philanthropic ventures, though numerous others shrugged off the use of funds for private gain. He brushed off the comments and thought to himself "I'm doing something good, and good doesn't come free."

The vision he had seen placed multiple children together, both with and without special needs, to create a necessary socialization and ultimately help shift the surrounding culture. He envisioned the beach, the coast line, baseball, soccer and other activities in which the camp participants could experience other special needs lives, but also socialize with their "normal" peers. He believed the socialization structure would not only help children with disabilities, but also improve the outlook and mitigate the teasing from their peers. The philanthropist thought "if you could place two people with vastly different experiences together, they would begin to understand one another."

Funding was sought for the project, but largely failed as there was no true "business opportunities" therein. No advertising, no selling products directly to parents, no hooking kids on utilities. The camp was not envisioned to indoctrinate the youths, rather to provide true experiences with one another. The failed business methodology melted the funding opportunities faster than climate change and icebergs in the Arctic.

The expectations of Carl were rather unseemly such that he met with parents for weeks to learn all of the "ins and outs" of the children for which he would ultimately be held responsible. He learned that Sam had a peanut allergy while Arlyn constantly rocked because of over stimulation. Melinda, which her parents called "Mel" in short, was non-verbal but able-bodied in just about every other way. Kenneth had epilepsy and couldn't watch movies with rapidly changing contrasts, though each had medication to mitigate concerns.

Jean was a teen who had spent her life in various types of wheelchairs, of which some resembled straight jackets to Carl. Her motor control lacked and required appropriate restraints at all times, which included the night. She also had trouble speaking, though practiced individuals could understand her. Jean, Carl thought, would be a very difficult camper as she required twenty-four hour care to ensure she didn't hurt herself or others.

The first week's participants had been lined up and cleared with parents. Volunteer counselors with ages roughly the same as the campers had been contacted and secured. The appropriate insurance forms had been signed and dated and the camp was ready to operate. The final step was to ensure the cook, nurse, and other staff help would be available as they had promised.

Carl had met some of the camp's staff through his friend which had been a participant in a similar camp in years prior. The staff were no stranger to the setup and operation of such volunteer-based peer counseling for each of the campers. The cook and nurse, however, had not been interviewed yet.

Carl had heard of some amazing camps operated which had volunteered their time and taking in just enough money to ensure the children (and volunteers) were all fed, housed, and nursed for insurance reasons throughout the duration. He contacted one which had previously gone "belly up" because of state budget reductions and asked if he could have the number of their previous cook and nurse. While he did not get the number, the owners of the camp took his number and promised to give the cook and nurse a call and relay Carl's number if each was interested. Carl assured them everything was on the "up and up" and anxiously awaited for calls.

A few days later the cook called Carl in response to his inquiry with her previous camp. She said she was interested and wondered how the camp operated. He informed her it was a peer-based operation using volunteer high school students as counselors such that the high schoolers would both get credit for volunteerism for a noble cause and be exposed to individuals with disabilities about their own age. The campers received socialization by peers at about their same age. It was initially designed to provide both with an experience of socialization, and in some ways provided a "role reversal."

The cook mentioned her interest and asked about the number of people required to serve and the duration of the camp. Carl informed her it would be roughly six weeks and she would be paid for her services. The woman on the other side offered her services on a volunteer basis for the duration of the summer, provided she was satisfied with the camp's operation in person. In the event she was unsatisfied, the camp would be forced to pay.

After a week without receiving a call from the previous nurse, Carl discovered the camp he had contacted never notified their nurse of his call. Initially, Carl was perturbed, but he later found out the nurse had not been optimal for the previous camp, and for legal reasons they declined to state the nurse's short comings. (However, they chose to not contact the nurse because they feared liability if the new camp hired a "known dumbass.") Carl searched for a new nurse while just two weeks remained before the first camper arrived.

Carl placed an advertisement in the local circulation for local registered nurses which would have been willing to take a couple weeks off for a camp for children with disabilities, which included pay. Three nurses responded, which was coincidental given the close timeline. Each noted they had two weeks vacation coming up and sought to work during that time. He lined up each nurse with a two week allotment after discovery of any time constraints due to events within the nurses' personal lives.

The volunteers and staffers all met the Sunday prior to the initiation, as the rules and codes of conduct were explained for campers and counselors. Carl and the cook met at the meeting and immediately had things to talk about. He had been the least senior or "new guy" volunteer chaperon the year before. Though Sheila was technically given a "meal preparation" title, she also attended the volunteer meeting and understood, interacted, helped the kids, and vice versa. The kids helped with dishes and simple tasks during meal preparation. She was the de-facto "new guy."

Sheila used the first week to get acquainted with everyone at the camp and learned a bit about their respective personalities. The second week was spent on the nuances of each's role within the camp, like the serious owner, the sexually charged nurse, the often crass senior volunteer and soft-spoken Carl. The third week Sheila developed a repertoire as the only female in a rather brutish camp run almost exclusively by males.

Carl and Sheila talked about more personal issues as time progressed, including relationships, family life, work and even flirted with one another. Throughout their time together, she made off-handed remarks about a massage Carl had offered on a couple of occasions. Then, it happened; she overtly suggested to Carl, in front of a group of staff that Carl meet her in the shower for a rendezvous. Carl blew it off as she had previously joked and flirted, but he thought in-depth about capitalizing on her comment. He went to bed that night and thought about her suggested meet up and devised a plan to figure out, with a conclusive answer, whether she intended to put her money where her mouth was.

Carl awoke the next morning and completed his morning chores and decided a test of Sheila's resolve was appropriate. Sheila had finished her own breakfast duties and she ran into Carl around the cabins where the had talked regularly. He asked if she had time to talk in private for a few minutes, she agreed though had become visibly concerned as he lead her into his cabin. They walked into a cabin outfitted with a single bunk bed set and a regular single bed. He motioned for her to sit on the single bed and sat himself on the lower bunk of the set. He begun to put his plan into motion.

"Do you trust me," as he started the conversation.

"Yes, of course" as she scoffed at his question, which suggested her pal at camp had asked a silly question.

"No, I mean do you really trust me?" He asked her in a tone that suggested she could seriously consider her answer.

The question gave her pause as she knew the question implicitly suggested something more than just words, also actions. She became uneasy as she was unsure of how to answer.

"I ... I think so." She crafted her response to give her some leniency as she had not yet understood the reasoning behind the question.

"We've talked about a massage and after last night's comment it became real. I wasn't sure if the talk of a massage was just flirtatious, or something to be acted upon. I would like to provide a fantastic experience, but to do so, I need you to trust me completely. I don't mean trust as in 'I trust you to give me a massage,' I mean a deeper trust with your mind, body and soul. For this to work, I need to know you are prepared to trust me on a deep and profound level in ways you may not have before." He stared at her in an attempt to gauge her response. He thought to himself, "I may as well go for it."

Carl stood up from his position on the lower bunk bed and told her to stand up. She reluctantly stood and stared at him in wonder. Carl remained still and said "come here." She slowly walked over to him and stood a couple of feet away. Still motionless, he said "closer." She stood against him unsure of his intent. He removed her glasses and placed them on the top bunk. He once again stated "closer." She began to move her face closer to his, but stopped as they could feel one another's breath. "Closer," he repeated a final time. Their lips touched as they looked into each other's eyes, but they did not kiss.

Carl spoke as his lips rubbed back and forth over hers. "When I said 'trust', I meant it. It is important you are able to avail yourself completely without reservation nor hesitation. It is imperative, because an absent mind will not allow the body to reach its full potential. I need you to utilize everything in the toolbox for this experience to be pleasurable."

She got a rather hesitant look in her eyes as she was unsure of his intent, what he would ask, say or do. "Now," he continued, "this is an exercise in anticipation." Their lips kept rubbing together as he spoke. "We both know what should occur considering our relative proximity to one another. However, before we move forward, I need to know an unequivocal trust and you want to move forward without pressure from me. You will be asked to do things which may leave you feeling uncomfortable, vulnerable or exposed. This is the trust I was talking about. You need to know, from me, that I would never hurt you for the sake of doing so, however you will need to do what I say."

She begun to tremble as she inhaled sharply and eyes grew wide. She continued to listen rather than move away. Carl knew he had piqued her interest.

"I don't want you to feel coxed, uncomfortable, or pressured in any way. Those feelings, in of themselves, will not allow you to leave your inhibitions at the door and experience everything in full. I know I've said a lot and wanted to give you a preview as to what you can expect, because you will have a decision to make and shouldn't do so without an idea of what you're getting into. Put your hands over your head and interlace your fingers."

He pulled his face away from hers and kissed her neck ever so softly. His method of bodily kissing involved a relatively dry lick followed by a soft kiss. It left her skin dry, with an unnoticeable moistness which provided no visible traces, but was remembered as soon as air passed over. He continued to kiss her neck, and slowly moved over to her shoulder, then down to her upper chest. Carl stopped before he reached her breast, but continued to kiss following her cleavage. She begun to moan but attempted to withdraw her utterances as she did not wanted to convey her pleasure to Carl. She remembered a decision in her near future and did not want to provide any inclination as to her leanings.

As he reached the area between her breasts with his kisses, he used his finger to hook around her dress and bra strap and gently pulled downard. Carl looked up into her face as she strained to keep her eyes closed, though he had not pulled her clothing far enough to expose her breasts. He softly kissed the area between her breasts and slowly allowed the clothing return to its previous position. She breathed a sigh of relief, however still kept her eyes tightly shut. He continued to follow the curve of her left breast with kisses and then up to her shoulder and then made his way to her neck. He kissed her softly a few times across her upper chest after having followed the curve of her breasts. He moved to the opposite side of her neck and delicately kissed up its side before he gently nibbled on her ear lobe.

Carl returned his face in front of hers, as they had been previously positioned. Her eyes were still closed, however the strained closure had disappeared. Her mouth was agape and her fingers remained interlocked across the top of her head. She slowly closed her mouth and opened her eyes. Carl said, in a soft voice, "rest your left leg on the frame of the bunk bed. here's where hte trust exercises begin. Do not move your hands."

Carl started kissing down the front of Sheila's neck down the middle of her chest, and once again pulled her dress and bra to kiss between her breasts. The clothing was allowed to slowly constrict its way back into place as it had done prior. He then dropped to a single knee and softly kissed and licked the back of her calf while he made his way north. He stopped to lick the back of the knee joint, to which she giggled and said "that tickles!" He told, in a whisper, to relax and feel the sensations. He licked the back of her knee once again and she let out a soft moan. He slowly bunched up her dress above her leg as he kissed and licked her lower thigh. He continued his way up as he kissed her and bunched her dress until the top of her underwear was visible.

He paused for a moment, with a smile on his face, and whispered to himself "Beautiful -- Absolutely gorgeous." He kissed her at the top of her sensitive area through the fabric. Carl stood up and once again returned his lips to hers, but did not kiss her.

Sheila's face had lost color while her eyes once again strained to stay shut and her breathing became deeper. Her chest and shoulders had a slight crimson tint. "You can put your leg down now, and if you want to let your arms rest by your sides, that's okay as well." She relaxed her strained eyelids, but continued to take deep breaths in through her nose and out through her mouth. She slowly opened her eyes, and as she relaxed her breathing lessened. Carl talked once again.

"I know this experience had been a little overwhelming, but I don't want you to feel pressured whatsoever. So, go ahead and take a shower and relax a little bit. Think about what just happened and whether or not you would like to move forward. If you choose to move forward, this is just the beginning. I can promise it will get better, but only if you completely trust me." He continued, "the mind is the largest sexual organ and will either take you to new levels or make things as unpleasant as humanly possible. I want you to be comfortable and let yourself go, completely. However, if you feel your mind or body cannot do that, for any reason, this foray ends here and now."

He repeated himself, "So, go take a shower and it will give you time to think about everything and make a decision. If your decision is to stop things, the shower will serve to remove any remnants of our activities and 'clean the slate' both mentally and physically. If your decision is to continue, then the shower will allow us to move forward. If you decide to stop things, it will be a clean break. I will not speak of this to anyone, including you, and things between us will go as if this never occurred. I will also go take a shower and return to this room. Whether or not you choose to come back here after your shower, an answer will be provided to me. If you decide to return, more instructions will follow."

Sheila slowly nodded without taking her eyes off Carl's. The close proximity allowed Sheila to purse her lips and she grabbed a quick kiss before she turned and left the room. Carl gathered some clean clothes, his bag of toiletries and headed off to the showers.

***

Carl returned to his room after the shower and decided to read for the next hour while he waited for Sheila. He had brought a spy novel with him so he would have something to do during the down times of camp. It provided alone time and relaxation after both long and boring days. Carl was reading the inevitable part where the spy confronts the man who attempted kill him when his room door slowly opened following a light knock. The camp owner came down to see if Carl was feeling okay, because Carl was usually out and about with campers. Carl responded that everything was fine and he just wanted to catch up on some reading while there was down time among the campers. The owner asked what he was reading and Carl started to explain the fictional spy novel when a counselor yelled for the owner's help. The owner said "Well, I'm glad everything's going okay and it's nothing out of the sort! Apparently Michael's having trouble with his medication, so I'll leave you be." The owner exited and closed the door behind him while Carl got back to reading.

Hours later, which seemed like only a few minutes to Carl, Sheila knocked on his door. She seemed a little distraught and he asked what was wrong. "I thought about it and wanted to come back down after the shower, but got caught up in preparation for lunch and couldn't. When I didn't see you at lunch, I knew something was wrong." Carl asked what time it was and learned he had become enveloped in his book and read for more than three hours. He calmly told her that everything was fine and he did not realize how much time had passed. He was unaware of lunch and simply didn't partake because of his reading. She let out a sigh of relief and took a seat at the foot of the bed.

Carl could tell she wanted to say something, but couldn't find the words. He waited as she mumbled incoherently to herself trying to develop her thoughts into a tangible sentence. Eventually she said "I'm just going to come right out and say it. I have had some bad experiences in the past with partners and trust. It has not always been easy for me to trust new men who might have ulterior motives in mind after a long-term relationship left me rather estranged. That said, I want you to know the passion and restraint you showed earlier has led me to believe you're different. Much different. You moved very quickly, which I thought I might have to stop, but then you stopped. It was something I've never experienced before. The way you explained how this was more about me and my feelings toward activities, and without that, there was no point in continuing. That gave me a sense of control about if and how this would continue. You also gave me the opportunity for a graceful and peaceful exit without feeling like I was in any danger, sexually or otherwise. I really admired that."

"So, what are you telling me?" he asked, half knowing the answer.

"Well, I'm not sure I can give myself to you completely in the way that you suggested. For me, trust takes time. However, I think I can do this but be gentle," she said.

"Of course. If I were interested in my own satisfaction, I would have taken it earlier. This really is about you and your ability to temporarily set your inhibitions aside. If you can do that, this will be fun," he responded.