As the old saying goes, familiarity breeds contempt. If there was a person on the planet who knew the true meaning of this adage, it was Terence. Six months before he made the biggest mistake of his life. In an Isaac Hayes version of a Bill Withers song, ‘Ain’t No Sunshine,’ there is an improvised line, ‘I lost the best thing I ever had.’ Terence had done that… and Byron was his name. Byron was the most giving and affecti...

Part One: I was always the odd boy in my family. In fact; let’s make that our entire neighbourhood. I grew up in a mining town, and the suburb we lived in was like planet butch. Dad, Ben 2nd was a mineworker just like his dad Ben 1st, before him. My older brother…you guessed it, was Ben 3rd. I was named Joseph after my father’s best friend, who was also my godfather. Everyone, however, referred to me as Joey. My godfather...

Six months after I began working at an engineering company, I was informed by my boss that I would be spending one week per month overseeing work on a contract that our company was busy with. The plant being constructed was outside a small town, one hundred and fifty miles away from the city I lived in. I would drive to the town early on a Monday morning and stay in a motel, before returning home after work on Fridays. My...

I met Rogan attending a friend’s birthday party. It was one of those ‘you, me, and fifty other people’ functions that I had always hated. There is no intimacy at these gatherings, and everyone walks around chatting superficially. Rogan, however, made an impression on me for two reasons; firstly, his unusual name, and secondly because of his size. He was a very big guy and had a huge head and a very thick neck. His arms an...

Back in the nineteen thirties when the Great Depression hit hard, like so many young men I found myself on the bones of my arse. One afternoon as I passed by a farm I was starving. I simply couldn’t resist and soon found myself knocking at the front door. All I had eaten over the previous few days was half a loaf of stale bread. It felt like my gut was attacking my mouth in a constant state of tumult, as I constantly sali...

After moving to a large coastal city from the very small town I had grown up in, my gay life blossomed. I loved the bars and clubs and frequented them with increasing enthusiasm. With the shackles of my former life well and truly lifted, I was embracing my new emancipation wholeheartedly. There was, nevertheless, still one final hurdle I had to scale, and that was visiting a gay sauna. I made my mind up that on an upcomin...

If you ever met a shit magnet where tyres were concerned, well that would be me! I spent my life at my local tyre shop, replacing or fixing tyres. Truthfully, I mostly had myself to blame because I was rather careless when it came to driving. I constantly hit potholes or strangely placed curbs. I practically had shares in my local tyre fitment centre and everyone began laughing when I entered the premises. The guy that in...

Several years ago I paid my first visit to a sauna at the mature age of forty. The business I was in held a yearly exhibition in Switzerland in early spring, and the city that the trade show was held in was rather small and boring. In prior years I had always stayed in that city but finally decided to rather stay in Zurich, commuting to and fro from the small city on a daily basis for the duration of my visit. On the day...

As I made my way home from high school for the last time, I felt a tinge of sadness. After five happy years, I had just written my final exam and was looking forward to six glorious weeks of summer vacation. The next chapter in my life would be attending college and several weeks later, another milestone would begin attained when I finally turned eighteen. The thought of finally entering early adulthood was an exhilaratin...

Foreword: I wish to tell you about an observation I have made throughout my life. I have never met a chef with beautiful hands. All the chefs I have ever encountered have the most unattractive hands, in fact, most have really ugly hands. My story: When I was a student I procured a part-time job at a hotel that was renowned for functions. Being in a beautiful location with ample parking, the venue was particularly popular...

When I met Magnus I thought he had less charm than a speed bump. For the first month, after he was contracted on a freelance basis to take care of our computer needs, I believed he was a total prick. His only redeeming quality was that he was unbelievably good at what he did and our computer problems were sorted out in no time. When you are good at what you do, eccentricities will always be overlooked. Magnus was not the...

Shortly after starting high school, I fell in love (Platonically speaking) with Barry. The incident that sparked my affection happened in one of the hallways at school. Corbin, a real piece of shit had taken a huge dislike to me, and on every occasion that he could, would corner and bully me. This was not surprising because I was the smallest guy in class. On one such occasion, with the side of my face pressed up against...

Lavon was one of the most beautiful men I had ever met. He had the bearing of an exquisite proud dark warrior and glided rather than walked. Upon meeting him, he joined the group I was engaged with at the bar and introduced himself. Lavon was well over six-feet tall and had the most incredible deep rumbling voice. He had just been to the gym, and was wearing a tracksuit. As often happens at these gatherings, people pair o...

I was sitting at the bar one Saturday evening drinking my beer and hoping to get lucky. Even though my looks are said to be pleasing to the eye, finding an interesting fuck can sometimes be tedious. At around eleven p.m. as I was getting a sinking feeling, a lanky guy sat on the bar stool next to me. He wasn’t drop-dead gorgeous, but not too bad. He was one of those, ‘one a.m.’ people. Confused? Okay…let me explain: A fri...

If you were ever looking for the perfect example of a wimp, that would be me. I am the guy who cannot say boo to a mouse. Standing five-foot-seven inches, I weigh around one hundred and thirty pounds. I am not butt-ugly, but rather wispy looking. I live on a small-holding on my own, and yes, I am an accountant. At twenty-three years old, I have never had a relationship with anyone. My right hand, a modest collection of er...