Tessa sat on the big overstuffed couch in her grandmother’s living room. She had been there three days and was bored out of her mind. Her grandmother lived on a farm out in the country. There was nothing but national forest all around it. Woods, woods, and more woods. She had been raised in the city. Malls were her thing, not trees.
Her parents were getting a divorce and she had been exiled to her grandmother’s place. Why she couldn’t figure out. She was eighteen and knew about divorces. A lot of her friends had gone through them. It wasn’t a big deal or was it? Her mother and father hadn’t been getting along for several years.
Tessa sighed and leaned back, crossing her arms across her stomach. She had overheard some things about her dad cheating on her mom and there was also something about her mom doing the same thing. Maybe that’s why she was here, to keep the details away from her. She sighed again and sat up.
Her grandmother wouldn’t tell her anything. She just smiled and nodded when asked what was going on. The only thing she ever said was, “It lasted far longer than I ever thought it would.” And she wouldn’t expand on that, which made Tessa even more curious.
She had always thought her grandmother liked her dad. Maybe it was something to do with her mother. She had a lot of questions and not many answers. She hated not knowing things. Especially about her family. She was part of them after all.
Tessa heard her grandmother in the kitchen, stood up, and moved to the kitchen door. As she peeked into the kitchen, she saw her grandmother cleaning eggs. Tessa had learned the first day about cleaning, sorting, and boxing eggs. More than she really wanted to know but they were part of Grandmother’s income.
The second day, she had learned about fresh killed chickens and rabbits. That was an even bigger part of Granny’s income. People called her with orders. Seeing a chicken being killed had ran Tessa in the house where she had stayed. It also made her cautious about entering the kitchen. Granny cleaned the chickens and rabbits at the sink on a butcher’s board.
Lorie Davis looked up from the eggs and smiled at her granddaughter. “Want to help?”
Tessa shook her head. “I’d screw it up. I don’t know enough about it even after watching you do it.”
Lorie grinned. “The only way to learn is to do it.” She turned and went to a cupboard on the far wall and got out a board with holes in it. She spread out a doubled up dish towel and sat the board on it. Short legs held it up off the dishtowel. “Fitting the eggs to the holes gives you the size. The different sizes go in different boxes. Easy as pie.”
Tessa walked over to the table and looked at the board. Four holes marked small, medium, large, and extra large. She picked up one of the clean eggs and tried two holes before she found it was a large. An open egg box had an L written on the lid. She put the egg in the box.
“Always put the pointed end down,” her grandmother said as she picked up the next egg. Her grandmother was still cleaning eggs with a damp cloth and a brush.
They worked in silence until the last of the eggs were boxed. Her grandmother was far faster as she didn’t use the board. “Six full boxes and three partials. Not a bad day. I have them all sold. A couple of phone calls and the cookie jar will be fuller.”
“Cookie jar?” Tessa asked and her grandmother chuckled.
“Temporary storage until I make my trip to town on Friday.”
Being somewhat of a smartass, Tessa asked, “Where do you keep your cookies?”
Lorie chuckled. “I have more than one cookie jar.”
After a few moments of silence, Lorie asked her granddaughter, “So what do you think of sorting eggs?”
“Sorting eggs isn’t bad. Kind of fun in fact. It’s the killing of the chickens and rabbits I don’t like.”
Lorie nodded. “I understand that. You weren’t raised around it like me or your mom. It’s not pretty but it is a necessity. All meat comes from one animal or another.”
“Knowing that is one thing but seeing it is altogether another.”
Lorie smiled and nodded. “I’ll keep that in mind. Your help with the eggs is appreciated.”
“Why don’t you have a TV?” Tessa asked changing the subject.
Lorie shrugged. “I have a radio for news. The radio is free. TV would cost me money I can’t afford. Anyway, I have plenty to keep me busy. The eggs, the rabbits and chickens, feeding the stock and working in the garden. Then there are cakes and pies to bake. Not to mention cookies.”
“That’s all work. What do you do for fun?”
“I enjoy baking and working in the garden very much. I crochet and knit. I take walks in the woods. I read. It all fills my time until bedtime.”
Tessa chuckled. “An hour after dark is way too early for bed in most of the world.”
“Only in the cities,” Lorie replied with a wink. “Anyway, it saves on electric and lets me get up early.”
Tessa sighed and asked, “How long before I can go home?”
“Your mom said a couple of weeks at the very least. Maybe more.”
“I’ll be stone crazy by then,” Tessa whispered.
Lorie laughed and shook her head. “Not even close. You just need to find things to keep you busy. Time flies when you’re busy.”
“Time flies when you’re having fun,” Tessa said to correct her grandmother.
“That too,” her grandmother replied. “Now it’s time to check on the garden. Want to come along?”
Tessa shrugged. “I might as well but I don’t know a thing about gardening.”
“You stick a seed in the dirt, water it, and instant vegetables,” her grandmother said with a grin. “Go change into something you don’t mind getting dirty while I make some phone calls about the eggs.”
*****
Ten minutes later, Tessa was on the back porch in an old pair of shorts and an old t-shirt. She had tennis shoes on. Her grandmother came out of the kitchen wearing a bikini top and shorts. Her feet were bare. Tessa stared at her grandmother with her mouth open.
Lorie looked at her granddaughter with a funny expression. “What’s your problem?”
“I… uh… well…. I, uh, never thought of grandmothers in a bikini top.”
Lorie looked down at the bikini top and then up at her granddaughter. “I am a grandmother but I ain’t old. My body is fifty two but in my mind I feel no different than when I was thirty five or forty.”
Tessa had always considered her grandmother old. She frowned as she did some quick math. She would be nineteen very soon and her mother had been eighteen when she was born. That was thirty seven. Her grandmother had been fifteen when her mother was born?
Lorie grinned and then laughed. Tessa looked at her funny and her grandmother said, “You did the math and found out one of the family secrets. I had your mother when I was fifteen and yes I was married. That happened in the country back then. Your aunt Lucy was born when I was seventeen and Mildred was born when I was twenty. Your grandfather died in a car wreck when I was twenty five. Does that fill out your timeline?”
Tessa nodded slowly as she absorbed what her grandmother had said. Her eyes went to her grandmother and ran up and down her body. “You must have been one great looking hottie back then.”
Lorie laughed and shook her head. “I was a skinny little girl with no tits and a skinny ass. My only problem was keeping my clothes on. I ran around naked more often than not. Robert, your grandfather was a timber cruiser. That means he traveled the woods estimating timber values and marked mature trees to be cut.”
“And you ran into him running around in the woods,” Tessa ventured.
“Pretty much,” Lorie said. “He told my mother about seeing me and I got my ass lit up with a switch. I hated him for a few weeks and then ran into him again. This time I was dressed. I pretty much cussed him out nine ways to Sunday.”
Tessa chuckled. “I can see that.”
“He laughed at me and went back to checking trees. I expected several things but being ignored wasn’t one of them,” Lorie said and then sighed. “He was eight years older than me, which doesn’t sound like a lot but believe me it was a very large gap.”
Lorie sighed and took a deep breath. “To make a long story short, I followed him around anytime I could find him. We talked about everything under the sun. He came by one evening and talked to my father for several hours. After he left, I got an ass chewing about my running around naked. Two weeks later, my mother told me that Robert had asked my father for my hand in marriage.”
Tessa looked at her grandmother hard. “You never slept with him or anything?”
Lorie laughed. “I was naive and liked to run around naked but I was a good girl as we called it back then. As far as my mother and I could tell, I got pregnant on the honeymoon.”
Tessa chewed on her bottom lip for a few moments and then whispered, “I’m still a virgin as far as boys go but….”
Her grandmother smiled and nodded. “Accidents happen. I lost mine falling off this very porch. It scared the hell out of me until my mother explained a few things. The same for my first period.”
“Luckily mom had already had that talk with me before I had my first.”
“I got lucky and had the same talk with her before.”
Tessa’s eyes went to her grandmothers even tan. “Uh, do you… uh… still run around naked at times?”
Lorie grinned and nodded. “I’m just more careful now.”
Tessa looked around at the big barn, the pasture land past it, and the big garden to the left. Her eyes went to the woods past the garden and then ran her eyes around the edge of the woods until she was looking in the opposite direction. “It is private out here.”
“Now it is but there are egg buyers on the way so it won’t be later.”
“Oh yeah,” Tessa whispered and then looked at her grandmother with a crooked smile. “I’ve… uh… never been… uh… naked outside in my life.”
Lorie chuckled. “Be careful, it can be exciting to the point of being addictive.”
Tessa shivered as she pictured herself wandering around in the woods naked. “I… uh… yeah.”
Her grandmother chuckled again and looked down at the tennis shoes on her granddaughter’s feet. “I’m going to water some, so you might want to leave those shoes here. Feet wash easier than shoes.”
Tessa toed her tennis shoes off and wiggled her toes. She looked at her grandmother again and said, “I didn’t bring my bikini with me.”
Lorie was headed down the steps and paused to look back. “You forgot your bras also.”
Tessa chuckled as her hands came up to her small breasts. “I have a couple but seldom wear one. I got short changed in that department compared to you and mama.”
“I was small until I had your mother.”
“Then there is still hope,” Tessa whispered with a grin.
Lorie shook her head and went on down the steps. “I’d wait a while for that. I got lucky on my first try. I’m talking about your grandfather, not getting pregnant.”
“Is that why you never remarried?” Tessa asked as she followed her grandmother.
“Keeping a five, eight, and eleven year old fed and clean kept me too busy at first and by the time all three were big enough to take care of themselves…. I guess I was too set in my ways and independent to worry about it.”
“You, uh, never dated or anything?”
Lorie laughed and stopped by the garden gate. “I didn’t say that. I have a number of gentleman friends, some of which have fringe benefits, if you know what I mean. But there isn’t one of them that made me feel the same way as your grandfather did.”
Tessa stared at her grandmother with wide eyes. “You, uh, have friends with benefits?”
Lorie laughed and nodded her head as she opened the gate. “Does that shock you?”
Tessa said, “Yeah, kind of,” as she went through the gate.
“It shocked your mother and her sisters also,” Lorie said as she came through the gate and shut it.
“I can see that. Mom is such a prude.”
Lorie laughed as she opened the shed next to the gate. “If you only knew.”
As her grandmother got a hoe and a rake out of the shed, Tessa just stood there and watched her. Her mind was spinning at that last statement. What did it mean and what didn’t she know about her mother? As Lorie handed her the rake, Tessa asked, “What does that mean?”
“That you will have to discuss with your mother.”
“But….” Tessa protested.
Lorie grinned and closed the shed. “If she thinks you need to know, she will tell you. I ain’t getting in the middle of it. I said something before I thought.”
“Another family secret?” Tessa asked fishing for information.
“More like personal information,” Lorie said as she turned and walked down to the last row of plants. It was a row of tomato plants. She started loosening the soil and uprooting weeds. She paused and looked at her granddaughter who was still standing by the shed. “It’s nothing bad, just personal, so don’t worry about it.”
Tessa walked down to where her grandmother was and leaned on the rake. “Secrets make me curious.”
Lorie nodded. “They make all of us curious.”
Where Tessa didn’t say anything, Lorie looked at the rake and said, “That’s not for leaning on. Pick the green stuff off the row and drop it in the walkway and then rake the dirt up to the center neatly.”
Tessa looked at the freshly turned dirt and grinned. “So you’re going to try and teach me about gardening.”
“Nope, I’m letting you help me clean up this row of tomatoes. If you learn something, that’s all the better. Anyway, it’ll make my job easier and kill some time for you.”
Tessa chuckled as she squatted down and pulled the loose grass and weeds out of the dirt and dropped them in the walkway. Her grandmother was back to loosening the dirt.
As they made their way down the row and it got closer to noon, the warmer it got. By the time they reached the end and started up the next row, both women were sweating. Tessa paused and wiped her face on the bottom of her t-shirt. The light breeze was cool on her bare belly. She took a moment to roll her t-shirt up until it was at the bottom of her breasts.
Lorie grinned. “I have another bikini top or two but they would fall off you.” She looked thoughtful for a moment and then added, “I do have an old tube top somewhere in my dresser.”
“This is fine for now,” Tessa replied and then heard a horn in the driveway.
“Egg time,” Lorie said as she headed for the gate. “Take a break in the shade. I won’t be long.”
Tessa nodded but finished picking the weeds to the point her grandmother had stopped. Then she went to the end of the row where they had turned around and raked the grass into a pile where they had stopped. After that, she looked around for shade. There was a tree at the corner of the fence with a water trough on the outside of the fence. She walked over and stood in the shade.
Her eyes went up and down the row they had weeded and a smile came to her face as she realized she was enjoying the work. If it had been cooler, it would have been fun. It was cooler in the shade. That thought made her look towards the woods and the shade there. Naked in the woods would be even cooler. She grinned as she leaned on the rake. “Maybe one day. That is if I can get my courage up.”
*****
Tessa had just about given up on her grandmother coming back, when she came out on the back porch and headed toward the garden. She had a bottle of water in each hand and something under her right arm. Tessa leaned the rake against the fence and went to open the gate.
As Lorie came through the gate, she said, “That tube top I was talking about is under my arm. It’ll be cooler than that t-shirt.”
Tessa took a hold on the band of elastic cloth and her grandmother raised her elbow. Tessa held it up and grinned as she started out the gate.
“Where are you going?”
Tessa stopped and looked at her grandmother. “Uh, in the house to change.”
“Why? There ain’t no one here but us.”
Tessa looked around and stepped back inside the garden and shut the gate. “I’ve, uh, never….”
Lorie chuckled. “Then it’s about time.”
Tessa looked around again and then whimpered softly as she whipped her t-shirt off over her head and hung it on the top of the shed door. She glanced at her grandmother as she untwisted the tube top. She was watching her. Tessa groaned softly and started to turn around. Then she took a deep breath and put the tube top on over her head. When she had her breasts covered, she shivered and looked at her grandmother out of the corner of her eye.
Lorie shook her head and chuckled as she handed her granddaughter a bottle of water and turned to get the hoe. “So how was it to be topless in the garden?”
Tessa took a sip of the water. “Uh, interesting would be a good word. Exciting would be another. Kind of embarrassing with you watching”
“Interesting and exciting I understand but why would you be embarrassed? You have nothing to be embarrassed about that I could see,” Lorie said as she opened her bottle of water.
“It was, uh, more the looking at me part. Other than gym class back in high school I’ve never undressed in front of anyone. Uh, there was this one doctor but she didn’t really count.”
“If she didn’t count, why should I?”
Tessa looked confused for a second and then took a deep breath as she shook her head. “I’m not sure. Maybe because you’re related to me.”
“How about your mother?”
“Mother hasn’t seen me naked since I was real little. When she used to give me baths.”
Lorie chuckled. “Maybe your mother has turned into a prude.”
Tessa did a double take and then asked, “Mother liked to run around the woods naked also?”
Lorie sat her water bottle on top of a fence post and headed for the row of tomatoes as she said, “More places than the woods.”
Tessa stood there with her mouth open until her grandmother turned between the last rows of tomatoes. “More places?” She whispered as she sat her water bottle on a post top. “What kind of more places?” She asked herself as she went to get the rake. The dark blue elastic material of the tube top hugged her body and cupped the tops and bottoms of her breast. It felt sexy.
As she walked toward the far end of the row, she grinned as a vision of this same top on her grandmother flashed across her mind. “It would be a whole lot fuller,” she said to herself as she turned into the row where her grandmother was. Her grandmother was three plants ahead, so she hurried to catch up.
*****
They had finished that row of tomatoes and were sipping their water when another horn blew out in front of the house. Lorie grinned and opened the gate. “This will be the last of the egg people today. We’ll get wet when I come back.”
Tessa wondered what she meant by that and then remembered her grandmother saying something about watering the garden. She grinned as she remembered playing in the water hose when she was a kid. It had been cooling on a hot summer day, not to mention fun. She took her time putting the hoe and rake in the shed and shutting it up.
She looked at the pile of grass and weeds at the head of the second row. She wondered where they went. Was there a place to burn them or a trashcan they went in? She was still wondering about it when her grandmother came out onto the back porch.
Her grandmother had what looked like towels in her hand. She waved for Tessa to come to her. Tessa grabbed her t-shirt, went out the gate, and headed for the porch. “Come put your shoes on. We’re going for a short hike.”
“What about the watering you were going to do?”
“It’s too early and too hot to water plants yet. We finished up a lot quicker than I expected too.”
Tessa came up on the porch and tossed her t-shirt on a chair. Her grandmother had sandals on. She sat down on an old straight back chair and put her tennis shoes on. “Where are we hiking too?”
“It’s a surprise. One of my favorite places in the woods.”
Tessa stood up and asked, “Why do we need towels?” and then her eyes grew wide. “Swimming. We’re going swimming? I don’t have a bathing suit with me.”
Lorie chuckled. “This is a very private place. You don’t need a bathing suit.”
Tessa looked at her hard. “I’ve, uh, never….”
“Been skinny dipping,” her grandmother supplied as she started down the step.
Following her grandmother, she said, “Skinny dipping? Skinny dipping. I’ve heard about it but….” She shivered and added, “I never thought I’d ever get a chance to do it.”
Lorie smiled as she headed around the side of the barn. At the back corner, she stopped and opened a metal gate. “Always remember, if you open a gate, shut it. I don’t need cows in the yard or especially in the garden.”
Toni nodded as she went through the gate. “I noticed the chickens, ducks, and geese in the garden and wondered.”
“Chickens and ducks eat insects, worms, and bugs. Geese eat weeds and tender grass shoots. None of them mess with the vegetables,” her grandmother said as she shut the gate and led the way across the pasture. “Watch your step. Cow patties are very messy.”
Tessa looked around and saw a dark brown pile of cow shit. She shivered as she thought about stepping in one. “Uh yeah,” she said.
They reached the back gate and Lorie climbed up on top of it. This gate was made out of rusty pipe and rods where the other one was galvanized metal. “This gate hasn’t been opened in twenty years. Everything past here is National Forest but your grandfather used to run cows back here in the summer.”
Tessa climbed up on the gate as Lorie climbed down the other side. Tessa turned and climbed down. She turned around and froze. Her grandmother had her bikini top off and was caressing her breasts. She saw her granddaughter’s wide eyed expression and grinned.
She folded the bikini top and stuffed it in a pocket in her shorts. She undid the snap on the front of the shorts and sighed as she turned and followed a trail. “Naked in the woods can and does start here.”
Tessa groaned softly and followed her grandmother as her mind warred over taking the tube top off or not. A dozen steps later, she groaned again as she reached up and pulled the top down around her waist. Her hands kept coming up to cover her bare breasts but she kept forcing them down to her sides.
The farther they walked into the woods, the more Tessa relaxed. The trail was narrow and wandered between the big tall trees. There was tall grass and brush, which made her feel secure. Then they came to the edge of the brush and the woods opened out. The trees here were as big around as the ones they had been in but these weren’t as tall and had more lower limbs.
Lorie stopped and looked around. She stood there for several minutes as Tessa fidgeted behind her. “Are we, uh, lost?” Tessa finally asked.
Her grandmother shook her head as she looked around. “Nope, I’m just looking and listening to see if anyone is around.”
Tessa’s hands came up to cover her breasts. “Is there?”
Lorie chuckled, unzipped her shorts, and wiggled out of them. “We’re pretty much alone.”
Tessa stared at her grandmother with her mouth hanging open. “Uh, what does pretty much mean?” She asked as she eyed her naked grandmother.
“It means that there is little possibility of anyone seeing us but you never know who might be wandering around.”
Tessa groaned softly and shivered. “I… uh… I….”
Lorie chuckled as she folded her shorts up. “It’s all up to you,” she said as she started to walk again. “I usually leave all my clothes back at the old gate.”
Tessa watched her grandmother as she walked away. She looked so natural. So sure of herself. Tessa looked around quickly and took a couple of steps forward. If the brush had still been thick there wouldn’t be nearly as much of a quandary in her mind. She shivered and hurried after her grandmother.
Lorie followed a trail to the left that circled back to the right. Tessa caught up but couldn’t quit looking around. As they passed a very large tree, she hooked her toe on a root and stumbled forward to grab her grandmother’s arm to keep from falling. Lorie grabbed her and held her up.
“You worry too much. Relax. Someone seeing you won’t hurt a bit. Just the opposite in fact since it’ll be your first time.”
“What?” Tessa asked quickly.
Lorie chuckled. “You’ll be embarrassed for a little bit and then the excitement will kick in.”
Tessa groaned at the thought of being seen. The words excitement and embarrassing chased each other through her mind. She shifted her hips. Excitement was winning out. She groaned again as she found her hand on the snap at the front of her shorts. It sounded loud as she popped it. She looked around quickly.
Her grandmother sighed. “Are you going to swim in those shorts?”
“Uh, no. At least I don’t think I am but being in the water is different than being out here in the open.”
“Out in my front yard is being out in the open,” Lorie said with a grin.
Tessa’s eyes went wide and then she laughed as she realized her grandmother was only making a comparison or a least she hoped so. “Yeah, this is a little more private than that.”
Lorie shrugged and started down the trail.
“Wait a minute,” Tessa said quickly. As her grandmother stopped and looked around, Tessa ran the zipper down and then wiggled out of the shorts and the tube top. She groaned softly, her eyes closed, her lower lip trapped between her teeth.
Lorie ran her eyes up and down her granddaughter’s body. “You have a much better figure than I did, way back when.
Tessa’s eyes snapped open as she realized her grandmother was looking at her. She groaned again as she held the shorts in front of her sex. “I… I… I….” She stammered and then groaned even louder as her grandmother continued to look at her.
Lorie grinned and turned on the trail. “Feels good, doesn’t it?” She asked as she started walking again
Tessa found herself nodding as she followed along. She kept glancing around as she went. By the time they reached the other side of the open area, she had the shorts and tube top in one hand by her side. She was still nervous but the longer she was naked, the more excited she got. She could feel slipperiness between her thighs as she walked.
The trail split and her grandmother took the left again. She pointed to the right and said, “If you follow that trail and keep taking rights, you’ll end up at the gate on the far side of the barn. It’s fairly thick all the way except for what we just crossed.”
Tessa stopped and looked along the trail. “What makes these trails?”
“Deer mostly, along with occasional hikers and ATV riders.”
“Hikers? As in people type hikers?” Tessa said sharply as she looked all around quickly.
“This is a National Forest after all and not private property.”
“But….” Tessa said with a whimpering sound.
Lorie chuckled. “You have a cute butt.”
Tessa groaned softy as she turned and followed her grandmother. At least the brush was thicker along this trial but there were more openings than on the first trail. The second opening they came to, something jumped and ran off into the woods. Tessa froze. All she had seen was a flash of white and some brown.
Lorie had stopped also. She looked at her granddaughter. “We spooked a deer. If you walk slowly and quietly, you can walk up on them without spooking them. They are quite beautiful. Good eating too.”
“You… you eat deer?”
“Your daddy and grandfather used to hunt here. This is where your father met your mother.”
“I… uh… thought they worked together somewhere.”
“They did later but they first met here on this farm. Your father helped your grandfather a couple of days a week with the cattle and the hay. And more than that when he cut the hay and baled it over on the river bottom.”
“Why do I think there is something about mom running around naked in there somewhere?”
Lorie laughed and started on down the trail. “That you’ll have to ask your Mom about.”
Tessa sighed and mumbled, “Ask her, ask her, ask her. All kind of family secrets and no one wants to tell me about them.”
Lorie chuckled and kept walking. “Curiosity is good for the mind. It keeps it nimble.”
Tessa followed along, her mind on the assortment of questions she had. As they rounded a sharp turn in the trail, she asked, “Here’s my biggest question. Why am I here? I know about divorces. I have friends who have been through them and they didn’t get exiled.”
Lorie shrugged and kept walking. “Hell, if I know.”
“Is it something they don’t want me to know about? Were they having affairs? What the hell. I’m not a kid anymore. I know about these things.”
“You’ve heard about those things but you don’t really know anything about them. There is a lot more to it than tab A goes into slot B.”
“What?” Tessa said and stopped walking.
Lorie looked around at her Granddaughter and grinned. “Sex is not what all affairs are about.”
Tessa thought about that as she started to walk again. She was deep in thought and nearly ran into her Grandmother. Lorie had stopped on the edge of a clearing and was looking around. There was only high grass in front of them. “Where are we?” Tessa whispered.
“We’re lost in the jungles of Africa and have found the great savanna where the animals feed.”
“What?” Tessa asked in confusion.
“Now we’re going to creep down to the great waterhole where the lions, tigers, and bears go to feed and swim.”
Tessa stared at her Grandmother as if the older woman was totally crazy. Her Grandmother chuckled and stepped out into the open. The grass came up to her waist as she started down a narrow trail. With a quick look around, she followed her grandmother.
She was still muttering about crazy people when her Grandmother stopped quickly and then squatted down even quicker. Tessa was confused for a second and then squatted down as quickly as she could. “Is there someone around?”
Lorie grinned at her and shook her head. In a whisper she said, “Nope, I was just testing your alertness and how quick you could figure out a problem and react.”
“What!” Tessa said sharply.
Lorie chuckled as she stood up and started along the trail again. “I can almost hear your heart racing.”
With a deep breath Tessa stood up and looked around. She shook her head and started after her grandmother. “Crazy, bat shit crazy,” she whispered but her grandmother was right, her heart was racing. Whether it was fear or excitement was a whole other question.
The trail curved to the right and then back to the left. The tall grass was thinning out as they went. A line of tall green bushes was to the left as they topped a short rise. In front of them was a large blue green pond of water surrounded by tall dark green cattails.
Her grandmother angled down the steeper hill and ended up at two tall oaks near the water. The hill had been covered with short grass, as was the area under the trees. Tessa felt more exposed here than anywhere else they had been. She kept looking around and suddenly realized she was making a soft whimpering sound. Her grandmother paused to hang her shorts and the towels on a low limb, stepped out of her sandals, and turned to grin at her granddaughter.
“Nowhere to hide,” she said and then laughed as she took off running in the direction of the pond. She made about two steps into the water and then launched into a long flat dive.
Tessa stood where she was, her mouth hanging open. A few seconds later, her body gave a jerk as she looked around quickly. There was no one in sight. She shook her head as she moved over to the low limb where her grandmother’s cloths were and hung up hers. “Bat shit crazy,” she said as she turned toward the pond.
With her clothes hanging next to her grandmother’s, Tessa waded out about knee deep and looked the pond over. It was a fairly large oval shape with cattails all around. This seemed to be the only opening. It took her a moment to find her grandmother. The older woman was floating on her back out toward the middle.
Tessa grinned at the way her grandmother’s breasts jutted out of the water like perfectly round islands. She sighed and waded out until the water came up to her waist. It was cooler feeling on her sex than anywhere else. The bottom was sandy and firm, which surprised her. She had always though the bottoms of ponds were muddy.
She took another couple of steps forward and her breasts were under water. She brought her hands up and caressed her breasts. They felt slippery from the sweat earlier. Her belly did also. She moved her hands lower. One caressed the short hair on her mound and the other rubbed along her inner thigh.
Her inner thighs felt even more slippery than her breasts had. Her other hand dropped lower as she spread her legs and explored the slippery areas. She groaned softly as one hand and then the other brushed her outer lips.
“Cleaning up is one thing, masturbating is another,” Tessa heard her grandmother say.
Her head snapped around in the direction she had last seen the older woman. She wasn’t there. She backed up a few steps and scanned the surface of the pond. A few seconds later, her grandmother’s head slowly came to the surface a few feet away.
Lorie shook her head to clear the water from her face and off her short hair. “Although there is nothing wrong with masturbating. Everyone does it whether they admit it or not.”
Tessa’s eyes grew wide as her grandmother spoke. “I, uh, I,” she stammered as she felt the heat of a blush.
“And we have a winner,” Lorie said with a grin.
Tessa groaned softly and sunk under the water. Fingers in her hair pulled her back up. Her grandmother grinned and winked. “It’s your body, play it anyway you like. Orgasms keep you young and alive.”
Tessa blush again. “Sometimes they put me to sleep.”
“Those are the best kinds,” Lorie said with another wink. “So how is skinny dipping so far?”
“Lots of different sensations,” Tessa whispered. “This whole going naked thing is exciting and terrifying at the same time.”
“Ain’t it wonderful,” Lorie said as she lay back and spread her arms. She made a stroke with both arms while lazily fluttering her feet. She moved off across the water slowly on her back.
Tessa shivered and then sighed. She turned around and did like her grandmother with the same result. The water caressed her body. It made her shiver again. So much different without a swimsuit on. Especially between her upper thighs.
*****
Swimming naked was exhilarating. The backstroke exposed her breasts and sometimes her mound. On her side doing a slow crawl, exposed her hip. Doing a normal overhand stroke exposed her ass and the flutter of her legs forced cool water over her hot sex.
Slightly out of breath, she sat on the bottom with the water up to her neck. She had a smile on her face as she watched her grandmother doing a slow backstroke across the pond. She wasn’t doing an overhand stroke, just fluttering her feet slowly and moving her arms close to her sides.
Suddenly she flipped over and swam toward her granddaughter with sure overhand strokes. She stopped a few yards from Tessa and let her feet settle to the bottom. She took a deep breath and wiped water from her hair and face. “Okay, enough of this lollygagging. I have things to do.”
Lorie started wading toward shore. “Are you coming or are you staying?”
Tessa stood up quickly. “I’d get lost if I tried to retrace our steps.”
Lorie grinned and shook her head. “You should have paid closer attention.”
Tessa followed her grandmother ashore as she said, “I was, uh, distracted by being naked for the first time.”
“The first time will always live in your memory for everything fun and exciting,” her grandmother said as she grabbed her towel.
Tessa walked up next to her grandmother and picked up her towel. “I guess that is pretty much true.”
Lorie laughed as she dried her hair, face, and neck. “There is no pretty much to it. I’m talking from experience.”
Tessa sighed. “My experience is very limited, shall we say.”
“You’re young. Experience comes with time. That and a backbone.”
Tessa dried her hair and looked at her grandmother as she finished. “Too many people expect so much out of me,” she whispered softly.
Lorie chuckled. “What they don’t know,” she started to say and then took a deep breath and let it out slowly. She looked at her granddaughter and frowned. “You have to live your life, your way. What other people expect and think are unimportant in the long run. What you expect and think are all that really counts.”
“I wish it was that easy,” Tessa said as she lowered the towel. She saw that her grandmother wasn’t drying her body. “Aren’t you going to dry off?”
Lorie grinned. “I’ll dry naturally as we head back home.”
“Okay,” Tessa said as she watched her grandmother gathering up her clothes.
She hurried to grab hers as her grandmother started up the hill.
*****
The walk back was almost as exciting as the walk out but Tessa found herself looking at the trails and where she was more than looking to see if anyone was around.
When they reached the open area in the creek bottom, her grandmother stopped and turned to face her granddaughter. She held out her hand. “Give me that towel and those clothes.”
“What?” Tessa asked in confusion. “Why?”
Her grandmother grinned. “Because I’m going back the way we came and you’re going a different way.”
“What!” Tessa said sharply and then whimpered softly. “I’ll, uh, get lost.”
Lorie chuckled. “Remember what I said about the other trails around here?” When Tessa shook her head, Lorie added, “If you are on the trails in that direction,” she paused to point to her right, “turning right will take you back to my house.”
She pointed to the left and said, “Going that way, the trails to the left will take you back to my place.”
“I, uh,” Tessa said and shivered.
“Yeah, you,” Lorie said with a grin. “Now hand me that stuff.”
“I, uh, I,” Tessa stammered but she held out her clothes and the towel toward her grandmother.
Lorie took the clothing and towel and asked, “Now, which way are you going?”
Tessa shifted her weight from one foot to the other and back several times, as her mind had a war over what she was going to do. Being naked here in the woods with her grandmother was one thing but alone….
Her grandmother’s eyes on her, drew her back to the here and now. “Uh, what is the difference?”
“The one to my right goes through a series of open areas like this one as it follows the creek. The one to the left is much the same but there is a small open area that is perfect for sunbathing. Years ago there was an old fire tower there. The footings and a small concrete slab are all that remain.”
Tessa took a deep breath. “Which, uh, one is less likely to have people around?”
Lorie grinned as she replied, “That you will have to find out for yourself.”
Tessa groaned softly and shivered hard. “I, I, I don’t think I can do either one.”
With a sigh and a frown, Lorie turned and started across the opening the way they had first came in. “That’s up to you.”
“But, but, but,” Tessa sputtered and then shivered. “Where are these trails you are talking about?” She asked quickly.
“Follow the sandy part of the creek either way and you will find the connecting trails,” her grandmother said without looking back.
“But, but, but,” Tessa stammered again and then groaned as she followed her grandmother. When she reached the sandy part of the creek bed, she stopped and looked both ways. “Which is shorter?” She asked and looked toward the direction her grandmother had been. She wasn’t in sight.
Tessa’s heart raced as she took a couple of quick steps forward. She could see the opening where her grandmother hand gone but…. She shivered hard as she looked left and right again. Was this some sort of test? She had no idea.
Her feet seemed to move on their own as she walked over to the entrance to the trail her grandmother had used. At that point, she turned suddenly and looked all around. A feeling of being all alone washed over her suddenly. She turned back toward the trail entrance and then turned right.
“Six of one and half a dozen of the other,” she whispered aloud as she turned completely around. “The old fire tower,” she whispered as she moved in that direction and angled over to the soft sand of the creek channel.
She moved slowly, nervously along the soft sand. She realized she wasn’t making a sounds as she went. The soft sigh of the wind in the tree tops was the loudest sound around. That and the chirp, buzz, and whir of insects. Her eyes picked out the darting birds and even a squirrel running across a limb of a tall tree.
The open area of the bottom narrowed and she was moving along in a narrow passage between two walls of thick greenery. In several places, she had to duck under low limbs and another where she had to step over a small log. “This isn’t so bad,” she whispered to herself. She grinned at that and relaxed some.
*****
The narrow section started to open out. Tessa slowed and moved cautiously. She tried to stay close to cover that blocked her from the open area ahead. She came to the last of the cover and stopped behind it. Her eyes roamed over the open area slowly. Her ears were hearing about the same things as before. Something rustling the leaves drew her eyes in that direction. A moment later, she saw a squirrel on the ground. He was much closer to her than anything she had seen before. She realized she was smiling as she watched him rummaging in the leaves.
Suddenly, the squirrel sat up on his hind legs and looked around. A moment later, he leaned over and then sat up with a large nut in his paws. He gnawed at the nut and then paused to look around. His ears twitched, as did his nose.
Tessa realized, he had all of his senses working. The word survival crossed her mind. All she had to worry about was someone seeing her naked. He had to worry about his life. Perspective, popped into her mind and she grinned. Maybe this was a test or something of a training session. It sounded like something her grandmother would think of.
The squirrel was back to gnawing on the nut. Tessa looked around the open area. The creek went down the middle of this opening with a dozen large oaks on each side of it. It was far wider, more round than the last one. She wondered if she should follow the sandy creek or go along the left hand edge looking for a trail.
Her eyes went to the leaves and then to the soft sand. Noisy or quiet, her mind said as she took a step out into the open. The squirrel rattled the leaves loudly as he darted over to a tree and went up it. Tessa could hear the rattle of his claws on the bark as he went. As he reached the first limb, he went around the tree.
Tessa remained still and was reward a moment later by the sight of the squirrels head poking out from behind the tree, right above the base of the limb. She leaned her head slightly forward and looked at her white arm. With a grin, she whispered, “So much for blending in like he does.”
She raised her head and took a deep breath as she looked all around. “A good tan will help that,” she said aloud as she started forward with slow easy steps.
As she followed the sand creek bed, she found that she was relaxed even out here in the open. She also noted a couple of places that looked like entrances to trails in the green wall to her left and to her right. She also saw tracks in the sand. Small animal tracks that had to be rabbit or squirrel and several pointy looking hoof tracks that should be deer.
She saw no human tracks she realized as she reached the other side of the open area and followed the sand between the bushes. This section was short, only a dozen yards or so and then it opened out into a field like area with the creek wandering off along the left edge.
Four large tapered concrete blocks sat in the center of the opening framing a small concrete pad. “The old fire tower,” Tessa muttered to herself as she walked out into the bright sunlight and left the sand creek bed.
The sun was hot and sweat popped out on her body as she walked toward the concrete pad. The ground was sandy and rocky with clumps of knee high grass and small areas of green crabgrass. She realized she was walking up a slight grade.
Stepping up on the pad, she looked all around. The open area was a circle. Her eyes went to the creek and then she turned around slowly to her left. She saw where the creek came out of the woods. Passed that was brush. She noted several trails leading off into the underbrush. One of which was six feet wide or so. “ATV?” She asked herself.
She hadn’t heard any kind of engine noise but she shivered hard anyway. She was a long ways from any kind of cover, she realized suddenly. She groaned as she quickly let her eyes wander on around the circle. She groaned even louder when she saw what was definitely a road close to where the creek went back into the woods.
The words car, truck, and people, ran rampant through her mind as she turned and ran down the slope toward the creek. By the time she reached the creek, she was sweating profusely. She stopped at the edge of the brush, her eyes on the road. She was breathing hard and heavy but not all of it was from running.
Was the road still used now that the fire tower was gone? Where did it lead? “The road past Grandmother’s place,” Tessa whispered to herself as she remembered an old road with a red and white pipe across it, she had seen on her way to her grandmother’s house.
She grinned as she remembered what her grandmother had said about being out in the open. She looked around and whispered, “This is open but not the front yard type open.”
Turning toward the hill and the slab she had a smile on her face. She took her time climbing the slight hill. Once on the slab she turned in a circle as she looked around. She bent over and touched the concrete. It was hot. “I should have kept the towel.”
She straightened up and turned toward the woods past the creek. Halfway there, she turned right and walked over to the old road. With a soft whimper, she started down the road. As the road reached the edge of the woods, she paused and took a deep breath.
Her fists were balled up she suddenly realized. Why, she wondered and took a deep breath. She realized she was steeling herself to do what she wanted and not what her mind told her she should do. It was a freeing thought.
There was a smile on her lips as she followed the road into the woods. The shade was cool after the hot sun out in the clearing. The woods were thick and the road was just two narrow tracks. She was relaxed as she continued.
She rounded a turn in the road and froze. A red and white pipe was across the road about fifty feet in front of her. The road was open and clear all the way to it. She was debating what to do when a pickup truck flashed across the opening.
‘Highway’ flashed across her mind and she jumped sideways to hide behind a large pine tree trunk. Shivers chased each other up and down her spine as she peered around the side of the tree. She shifted her weight from one foot to the other.
“Whose scared of a highway,” she whispered as she stepped out from behind the tree. A car flashed past the end of the road followed by two more. She jumped back behind the tree. With a deep groan, she whispered. “I am, it seems.”
She made a whimpering sound as she squatted down close beside the tree. She groaned loudly as she suddenly had to pee in the worse way. She spread her knees wide apart and peed a strong stream out into the pine needles.
When the stream stopped, she shivered and closed her knees slightly. With a whimpering sound, she wondered what she would dry herself with. A moment later, she giggled as the thought of drip drying crossed her mind. It now had a completely different meaning.
She spread her knees back out wide and sighed as she watched the direction of the highway. Ever so often, a car and sometimes two blew past. “Going that fast, they can’t see me,” she whispered.
Wiggling her hips from side to side, she stood up. She stepped around the spot where she had peed and moved forward to the next tree. Tree by tree, she worked her way closer to the highway. The cars and trucks grew larger but didn’t seem to be going as fast.
“Optical illusion,” she whispered as she moved away from the road and closer to some thick brush. She moved forward until that brush ended. She could now see the roadway itself. A large truck flew by. She shivered and turned around.
“Close enough,” she whispered as she retreated away from the highway.
When she was back at the bend in the road, she moved over to the tracks of the dirt road. A little ways farther, a narrow faint trail went off to her right. She turned into it and followed it until she reached the sandy creek bed.
It had been farther than she thought it would be until she drew a map in her head with the road and the creek. The creek had run straight and the road had angled to the right. “Mental maps,” Tessa whispered. A new concept for her.
She turned left in the creek and headed back toward the clearing where the old lookout towel had been. She passed several trails and then came across one very much like the one at the back gate of the pasture. She turned right and followed it.
The trail was wider than most she had seen and was bare dirt in places. Short thick little pines lined the sides with widely spaced larger pines. Suddenly the short pines ended and scattered large oaks replaced the taller pines. The trail was fainter, covered with oak leaves.
Tessa stopped and looked around. It wasn’t as open as the flats she had crossed in the creek. It looked different. She looked up and decided it was because the oaks more interlaced and blocked more sunlight. She walked straight ahead until she was halfway across the open area.
She stopped and looked around again. She could see where several small trees had been sawn off close to the ground. There were limbs that looked like they had been chopped or clipped off other small trees and bushes. “Why would someone do that?” She asked herself aloud.
“So they can see better,” a male voice said softly from above and behind her.
Tessa jumped and spun around. Her eyes were scanning the area but see didn’t see anyone. “I, I, I,” she stammered.
“Up here,” the voice said.
Her eyes jumped upward and she groaned loudly. There was what looked like a small tree house a dozen feet up in the tree directly in front of her. She gasped as she realized there was a naked guy standing in the doorway to it. She wasn’t sure what to do so she just stood there with her mouth hanging open.
“Are you lost?” The guy asked.
Tessa shook her head and groaned as she realized, like her grandmother, she had been caught running around naked. “I, I, I,” she stammered and then groaned as she added, “My grandmother lives near by.”
“Would that be Mrs. Davis?” The guy asked.
Tessa turned to her left and started to run. Her eyes were scanning the woods ahead for a trail, any trail. She wasn’t seeing any. From behind her, she heard, “The trail is to the left more.”
The young woman skidded to a halt and ducked behind a large tree trunk. She hurriedly scanned the edge of the woods more to her left but didn’t see a trail. “Where,” she said louder than she meant too.
She heard the guy groan softly and say, “I knew I should have kept my big fat mouth shut.”
Turning around to face the tree, she moved slowly to the side until she could see the tree house. The guy was sitting in the doorway with his feet on the ladder leading up to it. “Who are you?” Tessa asked.
“Carl,” came the reply. “I live across the road from your grandmother.
“Why are you over here?” Tessa asked in confusion.
“Hiding,” Carl said quickly.
“From who?” Tessa asked even more confused.
“Everyone and everything,” Carl replied.
“Why do you hide over here? Why don’t you hide on your side of the road?”
“My dad farms. The only woods around our place is a thin strip along the road,” Carl replied.
“Why are you naked if you are so scared of everything?” Tessa asked.
“I could ask you the same thing and you would probably have the same answer.”
“And?” Tessa prompted.
“Excitement for one and adventure for another,” Carl replied.
Tessa groaned softly. “This is my first time,” she admitted.
“I figured as much since you don’t have a tan.”
Her eyes roamed over the young man and shivered. “You have a tan to rival my grandmother.”
Carl chuckled. “She has a good one for sure.”
Tessa’s eyes grew wide from the implications of his statement. “You’ve spied on my grandmother?”
“I’ve, uh, been over close to the fence when she’s worked in the garden,” he said.
“Were you over there earlier today?” Tessa asked quickly and then groaned softly. If he had been, it didn’t matter now. He had had an excellent view of all of her.
“Uh, no,” I just got here a few minutes ago.”
“How do you get across the road naked?” Tessa asked.
“I don’t, I undress in this old deer stand,” he replied.
“Ah,” Tessa said and then asked, “You don’t seem to mind me looking at you?”
Carl shrugged. “I figured since I saw you then you should see me.”
Tessa took a deep breath and took a small step to the side. “Like I said, this is my first time and you’re the first person who has seen me besides my grandmother.”
Carl nodded, grinned, and said, “Was it exciting for you? I got busted one time out at the old fire tower by a guy and a girl on a four wheeler. They waved so I know they saw me. I waved back. My heart was beating a mile a minute.”
Tessa groaned. “I, uh, know that feeling,” she said as she took another small step to the side. Her heart was racing now and had been for a while.
“You’re beautiful, you know,” he said.
“I, uh, I,” Tessa said and groaned as she took a bigger step to the side. She was pretty much out from behind the tree.
“Do you want me to show you where the trail to your grandmother’s place is?” He asked.
“I can probably find it,” she replied and then took a step forward.
“Have you ever been up in a deer stand?” he asked and she shook her head. “It’s small but the view is great,” he said as he stood up.
Tessa shivered hard as her eyes took in his hard dick standing up against his lower belly. “I, uh, I,” she said and then added, “Maybe another time. I should probably get home before grandmother starts to worry.”
Carl nodded and said, “Follow the edge of the wood until you reach the end of this opening. There is a trail there. Follow it a little ways and another narrow trail leads off to the right. That’ll take you to the fence line.”
“Thanks,” Tessa said as she started to turn around. Stopping, she asked, “How often do you come over here?”
“As often as possible when my chores are done,” he replied.
As she started to turn away, he said, “When you get to the fence, follow the edge of the woods around to the old iron gate. That way you can’t be seen from the road.”
“Thanks,” Tessa said again as she started for the far end of the open flat.
*****
She found the fence and walked around to the old iron gate. She could see her grandmother sitting on the back porch doing something with a bowl between her legs. She was as naked as she had been earlier. Tessa had a grin on her face as she climbed the gate.
Her grandmother was smiling at her as she walked toward the back of the barn and the gate there. As she neared the porch, her grandmother asked, “Did you have fun?”
Tessa took a deep breath and nodded. “I think I had an excellent time.”
“I’ll have to see if I can find that old bottle of tanning oil I have. You got a little pink.”
Tessa smiled and asked, “Do you have an old brown or green towel I can borrow when I go hiking tomorrow?”
Lorie chuckled. “I told you walking the woods naked was habit forming.”
“It also builds character and nerve,” Tessa said with a shiver. “Anyway, there is a lot yet unexplored.”
“Just be careful of too much sun at first,” Lorie said.
Tessa sat down on the steps and leaned back on her hands. Her shoulders were pulled back and her breasts were thrust outward and upward.
Her grandmother was grinning at her way of sitting. A shy young girl earlier was now a more confident young woman this afternoon. If nothing else came of the mess her daughter and son in law had started, her granddaughter was finding herself.