Micky wasn’t reading anymore. In spite of his seemingly boundless energy, he’d finally succumbed to the soothing vibration of the plane and the quiet dusk-like darkness that surrounded him. He was sound asleep with his open book lying precariously in his lap.

Mike turned off the light with a tired sigh and closed the book, thoughtfully slipping a paper napkin inside to mark the page. Tales of Medieval England. A soft smile teased at the corners of his mouth as he paused to watch Micky sleep, imagining what dreams of knights and castles and magic were running through that pretty head. With a quick glance around to be sure no one was watching, he lifted the edge of the small blanket and pulled it up over Micky’s arms, brushing his fingers ever so lightly against Micky’s soft skin and being careful not to wake him.

Davy opened his eyes just in time to see Mike’s surreptitious little action and he almost snorted out loud. He couldn’t be certain when it had started, but it seemed like Mike couldn’t keep his hands off Micky these days. There was nothing overtly sexual about it, but it gave Davy the willies just the same. He turned the other way so he wouldn’t have to witness anything like that again.

Peter woke to the sound of Davy rustling in his seat.

“Hey, man, are you awake?”

“I am now,” Davy responded. “Why are you still up?”

“Too excited, I guess. I haven’t been to England since I was a little kid.”

Davy smiled sleepily. “I haven’t been back there in two years. It’ll be good to see my dad and sisters again.”

Davy’s face took on a soft, pensive look as he thought of home.

“Thanks, Pete,” he said quietly.

“For what? We all worked for this trip.”

“Yeah, I know. But, you worked harder than any of us did. You never let us give up hope.”

Peter shrugged.

“You’re welcome, Davy.”

He settled into his seat and sighed contentedly. Of all of them, Peter had been the most eager to make the trip. When the letter had come, informing Davy of his family reunion, it was Peter who had suggested they all go together. Only Mike had balked at the idea, having never traveled that far from home before; but eventually, he too had given in. Peter was proud of his part in making this happen. It gave him a warm, contented feeling to know that he’d helped to give his friends an experience they’d never forget.

“Why don’t you put some clothes on,” Mike grumbled irritably. “I’m sick and tired of seein’ your ass.”

Davy frowned in response and continued his naked survey of the room.

“I don’t hear you complaining when Micky walks around naked,” he challenged.

Mike bristled at the implication. “What the hell does that mean?”

Before Davy could answer, Micky laughed. “That’s cause my ass looks better than yours,” he joked.

They’d been cooped up in the same hotel room for nights on end, and the closeness was wearing on their nerves. The four of them had spent all their days together too, and it was starting to strain their tempers – especially Mike’s. Micky knew the constant closeness was more than Mike could stand. He could only take Davy for several hours at a time and Peter for even less. It wasn’t the first time Micky had seen Mike grow surly from too much togetherness. Micky closed his book and looked over at him.

“You wanna go for a walk or somethin’?”

Mike looked back at him in surprise. Sometimes it felt like he and Micky were connected somehow, almost as if they could read each other’s minds.

“Yeah, okay.”

Davy watched the two of them leave the room and turned to Peter with a wary expression on his face.

“You ever wonder about those two?”

“No.” Peter didn’t sound the least bit interested and his eyes never left the television set in front of him.

“Come on, Peter. Don’t you ever get the feeling there’s something weird between them?”

“Like what?”

“Like maybe they’re a little TOO close?”

Peter thought about it for a moment.

“Nope.”

Well, that was that. Davy didn’t feel like arguing about it. He looked over at the bed that Mike and Micky were sharing and pursed his lips in disgust. Walking over to it, he lifted the pair of pants he’d been looking for – severely wrinkled from spending the last twenty minutes under Micky.

Mike and Micky strolled leisurely along the narrow streets in silence, not really needing to speak. Certain that Micky was too busy with his own thoughts to notice, Mike watched him. The dim glow of the street lamps glistened on the edges of Micky’s curls and outlined the curves of his features. Mike stared with an awe that was tinged with sadness. He’d spent his whole life feeling ugly, too skinny and awkward for anyone to take notice of him. But it wasn’t like that for Micky. Micky had been beautiful from the day he was born; yet he seemed so mindless of it, as if good looks were as common and ordinary as dirt. Wouldn’t he be surprised to know how each gesture of his hand or smile from his lips made Mike’s body respond with pleasure!

Micky felt Mike’s eyes on him, and he shoved his hands deep into the pockets of his jacket to keep himself from fidgeting self-consciously. Mike was always so cool and composed, and Micky wished he could be like that too. What was Mike thinking when he stared at him that way? He wondered if Mike was put-off by his hyperactive nature, and he tried extra hard to control himself. His thoughts were interrupted by the quiet sound of Mike’s voice.

“Hey, Mick?”

“Yeah.”

“What d’ya think about skippin’ the reunion tomorrow?”

Micky looked puzzled.

“Why would Davy skip the…”

“No,” Mike interrupted with a small shake of his head. “Not Davy. Just you and me.”

Micky turned to look up at him. Something in the expression on Mike’s face made his heart skip a beat.

“We could just hang out – you know, like back home.”

They should have known it was too good to be true. Davy had responded to the idea with anger and Peter had been disappointed to the point of tears. So, Micky and Mike had ended up at the family reunion just to keep peace. By nightfall, even Davy was bored.

“Hey, fellas, what you say we get out of here and find something else to do?”

The four eagerly climbed into the small rental car, almost looking forward to the hour-long ride back to Manchester. Mike was nearly asleep in the back seat when Micky’s voice startled him.

“Stop!”

Davy slammed the brakes, sending his three passengers lurching forward.

“Micky, are you insane? You almost gave me a heart attack!”

“That sign said Arbor Low Circle!”

“Yeah, so what,” Davy asked irritably.

“I read about that! I wanna go see it.”

“Micky,” Davy said impatiently, “It’s nothing but a bunch of big rocks. There’s nothing to see.”

“No, man, it’s thousands of years old. The Celts and Druids used it for ceremonies and stuff. It’s history!”

Reluctant admiration and an odd feeling of protectiveness surged through Mike as he watched Micky’s face. Unlike Mike, Micky had never been hurt by the world, and he lacked Mike’s ever-present cautiousness. Micky was as fearless and enthusiastic as a little boy; and Mike was fully prepared to give that little boy anything he wanted.

“Pull over, Davy,” Mike commanded. “It won’t hurt to take a look around.”

As they neared the megalithic structure, they could see several small groups of people gathered on the western side.

“Why are all these people here,” Peter asked.

Davy shrugged. “Beats me.”

“The solstice,” Micky replied.

“What?”

“It’s June twenty-first, the summer solstice. They’re waiting for the sun to rise.”

The other three didn’t know or care what Micky was talking about. They just wanted him to get his look at the stupid rocks so they could leave this place and find something more amusing to occupy their time.

The stones were set in a huge circle, between forty and fifty of them, lying on their sides and pointing outward from the center. Micky walked slowly around the perimeter, letting his hand trail lightly across their surfaces. Peter followed him closely and listened carefully as Micky explained the significance of this place and told him tales of myth and magic. Davy followed too, staying several steps behind them and constantly watching his surroundings, impatient for any diversion. Mike watched only Micky.

“C’mon, fellas,” Davy whined. “This is nothing but a big field. Nothing ever happens here.”

“Well,” Peter said, gesturing toward the other groups of people. “They all think something’s gonna happen.”

Davy shot him a disgusted look. “They’re all crazy, Peter. I’m tellin’ ya’, nothing’s going to happen.”

“Maybe,” Micky suggested, “we can wait ‘til the sunrise and see for ourselves.”

The other three turned in unison to stare at him.

Davy was outraged. “Oh, come on, Micky! You can’t be serious! You really expect us to sit out in this damp field all night and wait for the sun to come up?”

Micky looked to Mike and Peter hopefully.

“Afraid I gotta go with Davy on this one, Mick,” Mike said. “I don’t feel like sittin’ out here either.”

“Well,” Peter offered, “we could always go home and come back later.”

This time, Micky didn’t look to anyone but Mike. He gazed up at him with those wide, dark eyes and slightly parted lips. “Please, Mike?”

That did it. There was no way Mike could refuse, and the four of them started back home to refuel their bodies and return in time for the sunrise.

If Mike, Davy, or Peter had harbored any hopes that Micky would forget the whole thing, they were sorely disappointed. Even the combination of a full stomach and warm, cozy bed wasn’t enough to deter him. He woke as planned and nudged the sleeping figure next to him.

“Mike,” he whispered. “Mike, c’mon, man. Wake up.”

Mike peeked through one partially opened eye to see Micky leaning over him. Without thinking about what he was doing, he pulled Micky close and wrapped his arms tightly around him.

“Go back to sleep, babe,” he purred drowsily.

“No,” Micky insisted with a distinct note of alarm in his voice. He squirmed to free himself from Mike’s grip. “Let go, Mike.”

When Mike realized what he was doing, he promptly released Micky and hurriedly stood up to wake the others. Much later, as they all sat waiting for dawn, Mike could still feel his face redden each time he remembered what he’d done.

Peter kept yawning and he knew that if he didn’t stand up and do something, he was going to fall asleep right there in the wet grass. All of Micky’s stories returned to act upon his mind, and he looked at Davy with a playfully serious expression on his face.

“Lowly slave,” he said in a deep voice, “for your disobedience, you will be sacrificed to the gods at sunrise.”

Normally, Davy would have told him to go away, but he was feeling a bit mischievous himself just then.

“Oh, Mr. Executioner,” he pleaded as he rose to his feet. “You’ll have to catch me first!”

He took off running as fast as his little legs would carry him, and Peter followed in rapid pursuit.

They weren’t paying attention. Lost in conversation about music and their future, Mike and Micky never noticed that Davy and Peter had slipped away. As the sun began to rise slowly over the eastern edge of the circle, Micky looked up to follow its progress. A beam of light stretched across the ground, reaching closer and closer to the center stone – which was now occupied by two individuals. Micky blinked and took a closer look. Davy lay on the center altar-like rock with his hands folded over his chest, and Peter stood over him with a stick held like a sword above him. What the fuck were they doing!

As the beam of light crept nearer to the stone, Micky was seized by a sudden panic. There was no real logic to his thought, but he instinctively sensed that there was danger in that first ray of light reaching the occupied altar. He feared for Davy’s life.

“NO!” He screamed as he stood and ran toward Peter and Davy.

Mike jumped to his feet and followed close behind, knowing only that something was terribly wrong. Their long legs cleared the small ditch that surrounded the center stone just as the sunlight touched it. It felt like a small bolt of electricity passed through them, as the atmosphere seemed to explode in a sudden burst of light. They stood like statues for one brief instant and then everything was normal again.

“Everyone okay,” Mike asked, though from all appearances, nothing seemed to have happened.

They looked at themselves and at each other as they answered.

“That was weird!”

“Man, what was that?”

“Uh … guys,” Peter said, tapping Mike and Micky lightly on the shoulders with his fingers.

“What is it, Pete?”

Peter nodded his head toward the west.

As the others followed Peter’s direction, their eyes grew wide in amazement. The enormous rocks that had once been on their sides were now standing straight and tall. The people who had once sat at the edges of the circle were on their feet now, wearing strange clothing and moving toward the center with fearful, puzzled expressions on their faces.

Micky looked out over the strange new world before him and observed softly, to no one in particular, “Toto, I don’t think we’re in Kansas any more.”