From Here To Eternity Or Thereabouts Friday Flash Fics 9th Anniversary Story
by Jeff Baker
Geoff found Scott, his teen-age son looking through an old box of photographs in the back room.
“I didn’t know anybody still had these!” Scott said, holding up a black-and-white snapshot.
“Oh yeah,” Geoff said. Some of those are pretty old, too.” He walked over and examined the photo. “My gosh, that’s my Grandparents and my Mom when she was little!”
Geoff took the picture and stared with a wistful grin. “You would have liked my Grandparents.”
“I bet I would have!” Scott said. “You know, I thought you’d have these digitized by now.”
“Most of them we have,” Geoff said. “But we keep the originals and the negatives.”
“What’s ‘negatives?’” Scott asked innocently.
“Um, that’s when you…” Geoff started to say.
“I know what negatives are!” Scott laughed.
“Good.” Geoff said. “Glad someone’s keeping the ancient knowledge alive.”
Geoff smiled to himself. He and Jer had the picture of them standing side by side grinning from their wedding framed and hanging next to a picture of the three of them with Scott after they’d adopted him. The wedding had been, what? Ten years ago? And they’d had Scott for six years. And in another year he’d be off to college.
“Hey, what’s this?” Scott pulled out a brown mailing envelope as big as a sheet of typing paper.
“Not sure,” Geoff said. “Open it up and see. Maybe…” His voice trailed off.
Scott pulled out three large black and white photographs of what looked like two twenty-somethings in swimming trunks lounging on the beach.
“Hey,” Scott said string at the pictures. “That’s you, isn’t it?”
“Yeah, it is.” Geoff said. “Right after college.”
“I didn’t know you were a model.” Scott said, looking at his dad in the black trunks, dark hair, built like a guy who played college baseball but wasn’t brawny.
“Just that once,” Geoff said. “Someone I went to school with told me about it. It was for an ad the local clothing store wanted for the newspaper, and I thought it would be fun.” He laughed and shook his head. “It wasn’t that fun!”
“What happened?”
“We took a bunch of pictures over on a sandbar in the river, and I guess they did the angle right so it looked like a beach on the ocean, not someplace in Kansas.” Geoff said.
“Who was the other guy?” Scott asked.
“Gary,” Geoff said, shaking his head. “Never gonna forget him. Conceited jerk. Talked about himself. About how he was going to have a modeling career. About how good he was in bed. Geez!”
“Sounds like a real putz!” Scott said.
“Yeah, he was.” Geoff said. “Anyhow, the guy directing the shoot wanted us to get over in the water like in ‘From Here To Eternity’ and Gary starts complaining because the water was cold!”
Geoff and Scott laughed.
“They didn’t use the water pictures anyway, but they did use, I think, that one.” Geoff pointed at the first picture. “Anyway, they cut us a couple of checks right there on the, uh, beach and Gary took his and left and that’s when the photographer said…”
“…said ‘What a jerk!’ And then said that not all the models are like that.”
Scott and Geoff turned. Geoff’s husband, Scott’s other Dad, Jer, was leaning against the door frame.
“And then you said, ‘I am really sorry about that guy. Maybe I could make it up to you with coffee someplace?’” Geoff said.
“And you said, ‘Yeah, sure. Just let me change.’ And I said ‘I actually like you like that,’ and I felt so embarrassed!” Jer said.
The three of them laughed.
“Coffee and exchanged numbers…” Geoff said.
“Yeah…” Jer said.
“What? Fifteen years now?” Geoff said.
“Pretty much!” Jer said. “Want some coffee?”
“Yeah.” Geoff said.
They walked towards the kitchen, hand in hand and Geoff called back at Scott.
“Enjoy the pictures!”
Scott smiled and rummaged through the photographs and the memories.
—end—
So Nine Years! Wow! I’ve been doing these near-weekly stories since about May 25th, 2016. I wrote an essay for QueerSciFi that says more about all that! Here it is: https://www.queerscifi.com/400-i-cant-believe-it-either-jeff-baker-boogieman-in-lavender-may-12-2025/
authorjeffbaker 