Silvercloud sat silently for a moment, thinking about how he was going to tell his story. Taking a deep breath, he began.
"We all are using this lovely pool here. It's a lovely time we're having, right? We are all loving the warmth, the healthy plants surrounding us, and the wonderful feeling of security, of know we're safe inside the Vale. Right?" Silvercloud stopped and waited, expectantly.
"Yes, we are, Silvercloud," agreed Winddancer, though she sounded a bit confused. "Do you have a point somewhere in your effusive praise for this pool?"
"Oh, don't embarrass the lad," said Winterflower, lazily. "If you stop him now, he won't get started again. You know how shy young men can be." She gave Silvercloud a wicked look, and winked at him.
"Be quiet, Winterflower!" laughed Silvercloud. "I know you know this story, but it was my most embarrassing day, so I am going to tell it!"
"Yes, yes, I'll be quiet," agreed Winterflower.
Amberfeather looked between the two of them and smiled. It was obvious (at least to him!) that they were good friends, with the type of easy relationship that easily withstands the sort of mild teasing they were participating in currently.
"Well, anyway, since Winterflower has so graciously agreed to let me continue," he stopped to give Winterflower a mock bow, which she accepted with a stately nod of her head, "let me remind you that I was detailing the wonders of our Vale and the pools."
He paused a second to make sure everyone was with him, then went on.
"Now, as wonderful a time as we're having here, relaxing, there are other uses to our pools, right? In the cold pools, you can jump in to invigorate yourself, or wake yourself up. In the hot pools, you can instantly relax tense muscles." He glanced around, and saw everyone nodding, listening intently.
"You can also use the pools to further your… conquests, shall we say?" He grinned at the gathered crowd as they smiled when they realized where his story must be headed.
"I was only a young lad," he paused here for a glare at Winterflower to stop her from protesting he was still only a young lad, "and was shy around the opposite sex. However, I wanted to join the ranks of men, and be able to say (to myself only of course, because I am a gentleman who would never bandy about the names of my partners) that I have enjoyed all the pleasures the pool has to offer."
"So I find a young lady to share an evening with. I planned it carefully, being a truly romantic soul, to overwhelm the lady with the sheer romance of the night. So that she would accept anything, including my invitation to share a romantic interlude in a moonlit pool." Silvercloud sighed dramatically, putting his hand over his heart.
"Everything went perfectly," he continued, emphasizing perfectly with a wicked grin and raised eyebrows.
"Until…" he stopped there, and waited.
He didn't have long to wait.
"Silvercloud!" chorused Winddancer and Rainbird. "You can't stop there!" continued Winddancer.
"The girls are right, Silvercloud," agreed Starsong. "It's terribly cruel of you to stop your story in such a critical place."
Winterflower just smiled, and waited patiently for him to continue, knowing the outcome and enjoying his skilled storytelling.
"Okay, okay!" laughed Silvercloud, as they all started threatening to splash him.
"Well, you know how the pools work. There are those charming little markers that you can use, that let anyone interested in using the pool you are currently using that they should find another place to go. Of course, there is also a marking for 'Come and join us, we need more participants, all welcome,' which, as a callow, shy youth, I was very careful to NOT put out."
"My friends, however, did not have such caution as they switched my marker indicating 'Privacy Needed,' to 'Come Join the Fun!'" Silvercloud covered his face in mock-embarrassment.
The people listening to the story hooted with laughter. They knew just the type of people who would likely respond to that sign, and as they thought back to their own first encounters in the pools, they remembered how they were embarrassed enough with just themselves and their partners. To add in others… and others that were highly… energetic? Terrible!
"There I was, attempting to create a calm, sweetly romantic atmosphere for our lovely time, and there comes a large group of people." He sighed, sadly. "Let me tell you… my lovely lady was just as youthful and embarrassed as I, so she quickly fled the scene, after a terse and, I feel, overly harsh comment on my mental prowess. Apparently, she felt that if I could not even read the sign I was putting out in front of a pool, I was obviously a half-wit or worse."
"Oh, Silvercloud. You were so funny that day!" laughed Winterflower, her eyes dancing with glee. "I saw, him, you see, as he was running away from the scene. He didn't stop to dress himself, as he was determined to talk to his lady friend before she escaped completely. He didn't catch her… but he did catch his friends, who were falling all over themselves laughing."
Amberfeather laughed delightedly. "They didn't!"
"They did," Silvercloud said, good-naturedly. "I wasn't friends with them for awhile, but then I cooled off. It was helped by my finally being able to use a pool in the way I had been attempting."
He thought a second, then continued, "Of course, it wasn't with my original lady-friend. She still hasn't spoken to me. Even though my friends and I have all tried to explain, she just says she cannot share anything with people who are so careless as to make friends with 'the type of people who would joke about a thing like that!'"
They all laughed, and then sat quietly, reflecting on the bad days that had been shared so far.
"Okay, enough about me!" said Silvercloud. "It's time for someone else to share their embarrassment."
"Winddancer and Starsong, you two are still owing a story," said Rainbird, smiling happily at both of them. "Which of you would rather go next?"
The two remaining storytellers glanced at each other questioningly. They both shrugged, and said they didn't care who was next.
"Okay," said Amberfeather. "I will pick which goes next… let me think…"'
Thank you SO much for reading this far! For those of you who have been reading this story as I have been writing it, I'm terribly sorry it has taken so long to get it updated. Moving, a new computer, illness, and just general malaise has caused me to have difficulty getting it updated… for those of you lovely readers who reside in Florida, ever heard of a lovely thing called FCAT? As a teacher, that kept me just a trifle busy recently… :o) I will try to get you the next installment ASAP.
Review to encourage me to keep going!