O’Melissokomos
The Bee Keeper

Rainfall 4

by Redkage

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I grinned broadly as I engraved those words in my mind. They were the words my editor John used after he had read the manuscript of the story I wrote with Ray. Three weeks have gone by since I took Ray in to live with me. Our living arrangements were simple enough. We took turns cooking our meals except on my days off from work when we go out. However, most importantly was our novel. During the night I would write as much as I could, pushing my imagination and abilities to the limit. During the daytime while I was at work was when the magic happened though. Ray would sit himself in front of my computer and read the additions I had made to the novel. After he got the gist of the things that had happened, he began to rewrite and alter it, adding detailed descriptions and events that I could never do. Every time I read what he had changed and added I was always surprised by what he had done to my original work. If it were up to me, someone like Ray should be treated with the utmost respect.

Yet he still insisted on sleeping on my couch.

I mimicked my large roommate and silently laughed. I really did try to give him a better lifestyle but he as just so stubborn about these things. When I offered to buy an inflatable bed for him, he flatly refused and ‘said’ that the couch and a blanket was all he needed.

“Bryce, this story is simply incredible!” John continued, bringing my mind back to his office. He was a portly man in his early thirties with a balding head, and wore a stripped dress shirt that was a bit tight around the gut. We were sitting around in his small fifth floor office in a building uptown. It was rather simple for an office; He had a desk, a computer and no hangings on the walls or decorations of any kind. The only thing that seemed out of place was the potted plant sitting in a lonely corner. I had only given him my manuscript the day before, so I didn’t expect him to finish for a whole week or so. However, just when I was about to make Ray and I dinner he suddenly called me in, saying it was urgent.

“You’ve truly done it this time, my friend. The moment I opened your manuscript, I was immediately hooked!” John held up my manuscript up to prove his point. “I know it’s late, but I couldn’t help but to call you the moment I finished reading it. This book is going to make it to the best seller list in no time!”

“I’m glad you liked it.” I said in a calm cool voice, though in reality I just wanted to jump up and down like a school kid and yell out in pure happiness.

“And who’s the guy you worked with?” He asked. “I noticed that you put down the name ‘Reynard Frost’ next to yours.”

“He’s a very good friend of mine.” I told him. “Ray’s a talented person author and may be able to write solo someday. He seems to lack some confidence, but I think that’ll pass soon.”

“Is that so…” John peered at me. I could hear the wheels in his head turned to the idea of a budding writer so close to him. “Perhaps you can bring him around next time Bryce. I would love to have a nice, long chat with this friend of yours.”

This time I laughed out loud. I could just imagine John talking his head off to my silent Ray, trying to force him into a conversation. “Sorry, you can try to talk to him, but I don’t think he’ll talk back.”

John’s forehead wrinkled as he frowned. “What do you mean?”

“Oh, it’s a long, complicated story.” I said evasively. “I’ll try to see if he wants to meet you, but I can’t make any guarantees.” If John found out that Ray was a complete mute then he would probably use it to his advantage to attract readers. I could just see the headlines saying Mute Teenager Writes Top Selling Novel! And that doesn’t even compare to what John would do if he found out Ray had been a homeless kid as well. Though the publicity could be good for the sales, I wouldn’t want all those facts to be brought up over and over all the time. I find that celebrity gossip pointless and immoral. If a guy was caught outside in his boxers then people would just shake it off. If a movie star did the same thing, however, people would talk about it for weeks and also treat it as something completely outrageous. So I decided long before that I would do anything to protect Ray’s feelings from being harmed, even if it meant keeping him hidden from the rest of the world.

After making false promises to bring Ray around, I got up, shook hands and then left. As usual I took the stairs down to the lobby. It was nicely furnished and comfortable with plush seats, a magazine rack and a TV hanging from above. Sitting against the wall was Ray, waiting patiently for my return. Although the chairs were made to be comfortable, Ray looked just slightly awkward. And it was no wonder, since his bulky body barely fit between the sides of his chair. Whenever someone passed by him, they would take a few steps before making quick glances back at him. They were obviously amazed by how big his muscles were or by how handsome his face was. I was about to call out to him when a teenage girl came up to him. I couldn’t help but watch as she flirted with him, though I was too far away to tell what she was saying. It looked like he was having a hard time responding to her without actually saying anything.

The girl then said something to Ray while batting her eyelashes. Ray broke out into a grin and brought up one arm and then flexed.

I stopped breathing completely. Though I have seen his arm up close and personal on several occasions, I had never seen him flex it like he did before, and now I knew what I had been missing all this time. His bicep swelled up to a perfect peak, looking huge and impressive. He was wearing a short sleeved shirt today so we were all able to enjoy the show fully. His bicep was roughly the size of a large orange and looked just as sweet to me. Excuse me if I sounded a bit crazy, but I’m attracted to men with large arms. And apparently the girl was too, since she reached out and felt his muscle while giggling like she was still in grade school. I felt a bit confused and conflicted at the same time. Because of how he had reacted whenever I saw him half naked, I thought he wasn’t at all like a cocky jock. But here he was, grinning like a fool while letting a girl feel him up! She said something else to him, making Ray grin even broader. Still laughing, the girl handed Ray something and then left looking very happy with herself.

After witnessing this event, I snapped myself out of my daze and forced my legs to start moving again. When I got close enough Ray noticed me approaching and stood up.

“What was that about?” I asked a bit louder then I intended.

Ray flinched back momentarily. He quickly wrote in his pad and showed it to me.

“And what did she give you?” I inquired about the slip of paper in his hand, though I already had a fairly good idea what it was already.

I felt something well up in me when I read that line. “Fine. If you like her that much, why don’t you go live with her? I’m sure she’d just love to have a big, strong man to feel up all the time.” I roughly shoved his pad into his hard chest. He looked at me, bewildered. “I hope you enjoy your new girlfriend.” I muttered and then tried to push past him. He had different plans however and it included stopping me from making my dynamic exit. Before I could get away from him he grabbed my arm, pulling me back.

“Let me go!” I yelled at him. We were starting to cause a little commotion as a few people stopped in their tracks to watch.

Ray shook his head. Awkwardly he wrote on his pad with one hand, using his raised knee to write on. He offered the pad to me, but I flatly refused. I tried to pull away from him, using all of my strength to break free. His grip didn’t loosen from my struggle; if anything it only got even tighter to the point where it actually started to hurt. Realizing that I had a choice between reading his stupid pad or getting my arm crushed I reluctantly accepted his stupid message and read it.

I looked up from the pad towards ray. He loosened his grip and let go of my arm before stepping back. During the three weeks Ray had lived with me, I gradually learned how to read his face and lips to a certain extent. I can only read his lips occasionally, but when it came down to pure intent and emotion I could read him like an open book. Right then his face was apologizing and there was a deep sense of pain in those blue eyes. I felt a wrench in my chest. God, what was I thinking hurting a guy like him?

“Ray…” I hung my head. “I’m the one who should apologize. I didn’t really mean anything I said, and you’ve done nothing wrong.”

Ray gently touched my chin with his finger and raised my head up so he could look at me directly. His face told me that it was completely alright and that I shouldn’t blame myself either.

I gave a weak smile. Ray really was a good kid, but I still felt pretty horrible by the way I treated him. What bothered me was the fact that I got all emotional just because a girl flirted with Ray. Could it have been jealousy that I had felt earlier? But that was completely ridiculous! Who he went out with was none of my business after all. And besides, there had been no reason for me to get upset because I wasn’t interested in Ray or anything. Sure he had a body of a Greek god, gorgeous looks and a very likable personality…but it just didn’t seem right with me. After all, he was eight years younger then I was and I wasn’t entirely sure if he was interested in men.

And he wasn’t Henry.

“How about I take you to that Thai restaurant you love so much?” I quickly diverted my mind away from Henry. “My treat.” I almost laughed a bit there because it was always my treat.

Ray bit his lip. I could practically see the struggle going on in his head as he tried to decide. On one hand the restaurant was a bit pricy so he didn’t want to be a burden on me. On the other hand, he really loved the food there. When I took him there a week before he was a bit reluctant trying something so different and expensive. That all changed after just one bite. If you want to know how much he loved it, take his reaction from when he ate my ham and cheese omelet. Then multiply that by ten. I swear that he almost regained his voice right then and there just so he could scream out how much he loved it. Fortunately for the both of us, he managed to restrain himself to a moderate level at the dinner table to not disturb the customers…until we got outside. Just thinking about our experience at the restaurant made Ray give in to his temptation and enthusiastically nod.

“Alright, Thai food it is!” I smacked his deltoid in a friendly manner and then I prevented myself from wincing from the pain of striking something almost as hard as stone. I kept on forgetting how hard he was! Before I remove my hand, I couldn’t resist squeezing just a little bit, feeling how firm his muscle was. Before Ray could notice I removed my hand and then lead the way out of the building with Ray following me like a stray puppy.

This time around Ray managed to be somewhat decent while eating his Thai food. At least he didn’t pound the table or jump up and down in his seat. It was kind of embarrassing to watch his expressions. The kind of faces he made were the kind you would see on someone during sex, which he was displaying openly in public.

As I watch Ray savor and react to his food, I began to think about him over again. His behavior early that day baffled me. Every time I walk in on him during the morning when he was clad only in his boxers, he would get all embarrassed and cover himself. Today, however, when that girl asked if she could feel his arms…that was something a cocky jock would do, isn’t it? The look on his face while he flexed for her told me that he actually really enjoyed it also. Could it be that Pierre was wrong about Ray being gay? Or could it be that Ray just enjoy showing off his muscles to other people? Or maybe it simply could be that he was shy to be seen in nothing but his boxers. Perhaps I was looking into it too much. And besides, every time I tried thinking about it my mind wanders back to that image of his flexed bicep, causing me to lose concentration.

Thinking about Ray reminded me about how little I really knew about him. Besides his name and age, I didn’t know anything else. Even though we had lived with each other for three weeks, I knew nothing about where he had lived before I found him, who his parents were or why he was homeless. His past was just one big mystery to me.

A shake of the table brought me back from La La Land. Ray had grabbed the table in another one of his over extravagant reactions. I did my best to stifle a laugh. He really was too cute. He looked a bit ridiculous, sitting in a tiny booth. It was designed for normal sized people, so he must’ve been cramped sitting in there. The table was also a bit low, so I knew for a fact that his long legs were pressing against the bottom of the table since there weren’t enough leg room for both mine and his tree trunks. Since he was so tall, he had to hunch over a bit over the table or else his head would hit the lamp dangling over our table. However, as long as he had his food, he didn’t appear to mind one bit. This was apparent by the bucket loads of drool he constantly had to wipe off of his mouth in between bites.

It took us quite a long time to finish, mainly because Ray took his sweet time eating each and every savory bite. After paying our bill, Ray and I exited the restaurant. I was amazed by his self control; he restrained himself for two whole minutes before he began jumping up and down and waving his arms all around in pure joy. His mouth moved wildly as he shouted how he felt as loud as he could. Fortunately for everyone’s ears, his biggest shout out was as loud as a puff of air.

“I’m glad you liked your meal.” I said amused.

Yes I really did! I read his lips. Ray was practically glowing. I never knew Thai food was so delicious! I can’t believe I- I lost him after that. My lip reading wasn’t perfect after all. I did catch the words ‘delicious’ and ‘good’ every now and again though.

As I said before, he’s just too cute.

We stopped at a crosswalk to wait for the light to turn green. As we stood there, side by side, I had time to reflect on these past few weeks. Though it was full of awkward moments and temptations, but for it was perfect just the way it was. Silently I wished that we could just stay that way forever, standing there side by side like that in that strange, yet wonderful place between strangers and friends.

However, like the red traffic light turning green, life continued to change like it has ever since time began.

Ray and I started to walk across the street. When we were about halfway over, a loud screech pierced my ears. Startled, I whirled around to look for the source. What I saw was a moving van suddenly swerving too fast and sharply. The momentum was too great and it began tipping over. I tried to run away like all of the other people but off all things to happen my foot stepped on an empty soda can, causing me to fall back. I snapped my eyes shut and felt my heart stop as I braced myself to die.

An eternity seemed to past before my heart thumped in my chest. Then it thumped again.

I should have been dead by now.

Slowly I forced my eyes to open. I wasn’t dead, and the reason for that was in front of my eyes. Standing above me was what I can only describe as my guardian angel, holding up the truck from falling onto me with his back.

“R…Ray…?”

Ray gave what looked like a silent grunt. He was bent forward over my fallen body with his legs bent and positioned wide so he could support himself better. Every muscle on his body bulged within the confines of his clothing which were beginning to become soaked with sweat. His face was twisted in pain and concentration as he tried to push the truck back up. His body gave a jerk and he bent down two more inches as his body began to reach it’s limit. His eyes looked at me desperately, those blue gems ordering me to get out of the way quickly. However, I was completely paralyzed. I tried to order my legs to move, but they just wouldn’t respond. All I could do was lay there helplessly as I watched my friend get crushed by the truck. People were yelling around and I could hear sirens far off.

Someone grabbed my arms to pull me away from danger, but then all of a sudden my body started struggling on it’s own before the reason registered in my mind to why.

“Let me go!” I yelled as I fought to break free. “I have to get to Ray!”

“Hold him down!”

“Jesus, that guy’s holding up the truck by himself!”

“Let me go!” I cried out again. I tried to kick myself free, but the two guys holding me were pretty strong. It was just my luck that now, of all times, out of the seventy five out of shape Americans I had to be held down by these two apes! “Dammit, let me go! He’s only a kid, I gotta help him!”

“Keep him down, the guy’s gone crazy!”

“Someone help him, he can’t hold that truck all by himself!”

“No stay back! It’s too dangerous!”

“Is he a teenager!?”

“Ray! Ray, get out of there!”

“Someone call the police!”

“They won’t make it in time!”

“He can’t hold it up much longer!”

“RAY!”

I watched in horror as Ray struggle as he bent lower and lower. The moving truck was very large and probably had a full load of furniture. That idiot driver had already jumped out awhile back, staring at the whole scene in disbelief and guilt. A large crowd had gathered, but no one dared to approach to help, fearful of their own lives. I felt so angry at all of them. They were watching a man die right before their very eyes! There was so much pain displayed on Ray’s face that I could barely look at him. But there was something else on it that glued my eyes on him. There was a look of determination on his face. Slowly, he began to push with all his might and to everyone’s amazement the truck began to rise again. Inch by inch it moved as the incredible force beneath it defied gravity. Ray’s teeth were grinding against each other as he pushed past his limits. His entire body was swollen and bulging, his clothes now stretched taunt against the pumped muscles.

Finally, with a silent cry of victory Ray pushed the truck upright again on all four wheels. He staggered away from the truck, his breathing heavy and fast. Everyone stood silent in awe of the impossible feat they had witnessed before their very eyes.

And then they exploded.

People yelled and cheered. Other clapped and some whipped out their cell phones to tell all of their friends what had happened. People began rushing toward him, but with a surge of strength I flew to Ray before any of them.

“Ray!” I reached up and grabbed hold of his mighty shoulders. I could feel the blood pulsing underneath my fingertips. Much worse, I could actually feel it trembling. I looked up at his face in alarm to se that he was still breathing rather quickly and deeply. “Ray, are you alright? Someone get a doctor over here!” I turned and called out to the people approaching. I was about to repeat it again when ray seized my arms and turned me around to face him.

Home Ray mouthed. His clothes were completely soaked with sweat, which caused them to cling to his body like a second skin. There were slight tremors Even his arms were shaking as they held me.

I stared at him. “Wh-what? You’re hurt aren’t you? You need to see a-”

Home Ray mouthed again, squeezing me harder. Now

I looked into his face and searched his eyes for the meaning behind it. His blue eyes seemed clouded over by fear and worry. “A-alright.” I said hesitantly, but there was no way I could refuse the man who had just saved my life.

Ray let go of one arm and then pushed his way though the crowd that had gathered around him, all while pulling me behind him. I’ve never seen him act so afraid before. He shoved people out of the way roughly as if he was possessed. For whatever reason he wanted to leave, he was right on time because at that moment the police cars arrived. They were probably expecting to find a wrecked car and a dead body, but I’ sure that they would be fairly surprised to find that it was prevented by a teenage superman.

Finally we broke free of the crowd and made a run for it. I had a bit of a hard time keeping up with him while he dragged me by one arm. Every now and again he would lurch to one side or wobble dangerously, making me worry even more. “Ray, tell me what’s wrong! You’re in no condition to be running!”

Ray gave another lurch to the side, this time tackling into the wall and stopped momentarily. I gasped and reached forward, but then he started up again, though much slower. As I went by the spot where Ray had hit, I saw that there was an indent in the wall as well as some very large cracks. It was then that it hit me that Ray was a lot stronger then he had let on. I should have seen it when he pushed the truck upright again, but I had been so afraid that Ray would die that I didn’t think about it until now.

“Ray, please, you have to let me help you!” I tried to call out to him one more time.

Ray must’ve heard me that time because he started to slow down and dropped my hand. Now that I was standing still, I could see his shoulders jerk up and down uncontrollably and his arms twitch occasionally. His legs seemed so weak now and his knees wobbled as he did his best to keep standing. He began to turn around to face me, but then he began to sway again. Crying in alarm I rushed forward and grabbed him, but he was just way too heavy for me to do anything helpful. Before I knew it, we staggered into an alleyway and out of sight from the public eye. There, Ray suddenly doubled over in pain and fell to his hands on knees.

“Ray!” I placed my hands on his back and shook him. “Ray, what’s wrong? Oh God, Ray!” His muscle bunched and flexed under my hands, growing impossibly hard. As I shook him, I felt something odd. It felt like his body was [i]moving] beneath my fingertips, as if they were spreading out as well as push against me. Ray’s shirt had already been tight against his pumped up muscles, but now it seemed as if they were getting tighter. They creaked and groaned as his massive globes of muscle writhed underneath, fighting to break free of the tight confines of his clothes. At first I ignored it so I could focus on helping Ray. However, soon I was drawn to it and was forced to take a good look at Ray.

He was getting…bigger.

I stared at him. I rubbed my eyes with one arm and stared again. It wasn’t my imagination, Ray really was growing!

To further confirm this, tears began to appear all over his clothes as he began to outgrow them. Before long, his shirt split right down the back as it widened out like the wings of an eagle. His arms virtually exploded out of his sleeves as they pumped bigger and bigger, his biceps growing into freakishly tall peaks and his triceps proportionately horseshoe shaped. Even his jeans were having a hard time staying on him as his bubble butt plumped up, filling his seat up completely before the stitching popped open, and his plaid boxers peeked out from the opening. Of course, the sides of his jeans were completely ruined by the growing redwoods called his quads, which were now pressing against each other fighting for space to expand. I stared at Ray’s backside as more rips and tears sounded, indicating the same was happening to his front as well. Lord I was tempted to run around him and see what was happening to his torso, but I was completely glued to where I was standing.

After awhile the growth began to slow down noticeably. Ray’s body also seemed to become more stable since his twitching and shaking were fading away. I listened as his breathing became more and more in control. Soon he seemed to be perfectly fine again…or should I say that he was even more perfect then before?

We stayed like that for some time. Finally, Ray pushed himself up, revealing that he had grown in height as well. I staggered back a bit in surprise by his sheer size and mass. Before today he was as big as a professional bodybuilder. Now, he was bigger then any Mr. Olympia I have even seen. At 7’8”, he must’ve weighed over 300 pounds of pure, ripped, rock hard solid muscle! I stood there in awe of his massive backside, calves and hamstrings, wishing that he would turn around so I could see his chest and abs. Henry’s old clothes were now hanging in shreds on his giant torso. Even his shoes had popped open to reveal his humongous feet. I noticed that although most of his jeans had completely torn up, there were still enough intact around his waist to create some modesty. I think my mouth was hanging open, but I wasn’t sure.

“R….Ray?”

He flinched at my voice.

“Ray….wha…what happened to you?” I stepped forward and reached out to him. Just before my hand touched his skin, he suddenly broke into a run. “Ray!” I yelled and started to run after him, but it wouldn’t have mattered. He flew down the alleyway like an Olympic track runner. He was so much faster then I was that in no time I lost sight of him.

“Ray! Please wait!” I cried out. Before long I burst out onto the streets again and looked wildly around for Ray.

Nothing.

I felt my heart clench. I couldn’t find Ray anywhere. The crowd was too thick to see clearly, but I should have been able to see his head above all of the normal sized people. Frantically I ran through the crowd, looking to find any clue to where Ray had went.

As I ran, I felt something cold strike the top of my head. Then another. Then another. I paused briefly to look upwards just as a droplet of water struck my nose. The skies suddenly opened up and rain poured down. Some people around me screamed in surprise by the sudden downpour and rushed to get under cover. Soon, people were opening their umbrellas and continued to head their way. Before I knew it, night had descended upon us accompanied by a sudden storm.

For the first time in many years, I did not welcome the rain.

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