David was vaguely aware of the terrible noise, the pain, the darkness, then even more aware of the fact that he was choking, drowning, panicking. He was underwater, shiny bubbles rising around him, bubbles that were his own breath bursting from his mouth. He desperately followed them upwards and broke into the air at the surface. He had no idea where he was, nor how he had gotten there.

He sensed he was in a river. He trod water and looked toward one shore. It was misty and dark, forbidding. He swung himself round in the water and looked toward the other shore, equidistant to the first. The second shore was bright and green with foliage, welcoming. He swum with an easy crawl toward it, soon touching bottom, then stood and waded up onto the shore.

As he stood upon the sandy and pebbly river shore, he realized for the first time that he was naked. David vaguely wondered what had become of his clothes. He was sure he had not left home naked. He stared along the shoreline, realizing that it was nothing like the shorelines he was familiar with. But it did not look threatening, and he saw the tops of several buildings hidden amongst the trees and other foliage.

David tried to remember his past, but nothing was clear. In his mind he saw people and places, but none of them seemed to be connected to any memories. They were all just enigmas, strange people and strange places.

A tree leaned out over the river, and David saw that he could easily climb it to view his surroundings; in fact, he could almost walk up the slope of its canting trunk. He did so, and soon found himself high above the river bank.

The other side of the river was still all darkness and gloom, but this side was green and lush. But there was no sign of people. He decided to explore the lush forest and descended the tree trunk. It was as he reached the bottom that he noticed a figure against a tree trunk. It seemed to have suddenly appeared. He was sure it hadn't been there seconds before. But now he saw what appeared to be a youth.

The youth was golden, glowing, unreal. He had curly golden-blonde hair on top, and a large, uncut penis below. He stood perfectly still as David walked warily, slowly, toward him. David had never seen anyone so beautiful, nor so eerily unreal. He tried to focus on the youth, but the young man seemed to shimmer, not wanting to be clearly seen.

"Hello," David ventured. "Who are you?"

"I am Hyacinth," the youth replied. "This is my garden – the Garden of Lethe. You are welcome here."

"How did I get here?" David asked. "I really don't think I am meant to be here," he protested.

"You really don't need to know how you got here," Hyacinth assured him. "It might be too fearsome for you. But understand that for now this is where you are meant to be."

"What country are we in?" David asked, for he knew it was no country he had ever been in before.

"No country" Hyacinth told him. "Just the Garden. Apollo created it for me as a place to wait for him. He did not want me to cross the river, so I wait here for him, and keep company with young men like you, young men who have suddenly been separated from their own lover, like I was separated from mine. We wait here for our lovers to call us home, or to join us here."

A sudden realization came to David.

"Am I dead?" he asked, fearful of the answer.

"No, not dead," the beautiful youth told him. "The true dead dwell on the other side of the river. But not living, either. We are beyond mortal things here. When the time is right, you can choose to stay forever or return. It will be up to you. If your lover loves you strongly enough, he will either join you here, or he will call you home, and you can choose to answer his call."

For all he tried, David could not remember any lover, any more than he could remember anything of his previous life. But he vaguely knew that there had been someone, a special man.

"Go now," Hyacinth instructed him. "My garden is perfectly safe. You will find many others like yourself to keep you company." And then he was gone. It was as if the youth had just melted into the tree against which he had stood. For the first time, David noticed a plant with purple flowers at the base of the tree right were the golden youth had stood. He wondered that he hadn't noticed it earlier.

David pondered about the golden youth who had visited him. Was he really Hyacinth of the Greek myths? Then it struck David that this was a memory from the life he had forgotten, a small glimpse of his past, where he had learned of Greeks and myths – and Greek pottery! Memory of a Greek plate he had seen somewhere leapt to his mind. It had depicted two young Greek men having anal sex – butt-fucking – and obviously enjoying it and each other.

Did Apollo and Hyacinth enjoy each other like that? David knew that he himself had at some time enjoyed man-to-man sex like that … but with whom? Why did that detail escape him? He could not remember. It was not fair. Hyacinth could remember Apollo; why could David not remember his lover?

Giving up on wondering "Why?", David set out to explore "Where?" He headed back to the river bank to search for other people and maybe answers to the riddle which surrounded him.

As he picked his way down to the water's edge, David heard hollow voices. He tried to discern where the voices were coming from, but couldn't. They seemed to be inside his head, all around him, echoing slightly, loud and ringing, like voices sound when yours ears have popped while driving up a mountain.

"Speak to him." The voice sounded like an older man's.

"Can he hear us?" The second voice sounded familiar, but try as he may, he couldn't put a face to it.

"I don't know, but it may help." And the voices were gone. He heard new noises now, but these were obviously coming from the stream. Pushing through a stand of shrubs David was once more on the shore of the lazy stream.

Three boys were standing in the water, up to their thighs. Like himself and Hyacinth, they were stark naked. They were younger than himself, not much past puberty, David guessed, maybe fourteen or fifteen. They appeared to be enjoying themselves by exploring each other's youthful bodies. One of the two young blondes had his arms around the waists of the other two, another blonde and a darker boy, who seemed most intrigued with the blonde's erect nipples.

"Hi," called David from the bank. "What's happening?"

The three answered him with big smiles. "Hi. Hello. How are you?"

"What are you guys doing?" David asked.

"We're just keeping Peter company," replied one of the blondes. "Until his lover comes to join him or calls him back home."

"How long will that be?" David asked, aware that Peter and he were in the same predicament – waiting for someone they didn't remember who may or may not come, who may or may not call them home.

"What about you two?" David asked. "Are you waiting for your lovers too?"

"No," replied the other blonde, drawing the first in close to him. "We came here together. We didn't leave our lovers behind. We were lovers then, and we are lovers now."

"Lovers always," agreed the first.

"How long have you been here?" David asked.

"Always, it seems," was the reply.

"How did you get here?" David asked, hoping their answers would also be his answers.

"We don't know," one blonde told him. "No one in the garden remembers how he got here. Maybe it's better that way."

David by now had waded into the water almost up to his thighs also. He was standing very close to the handsome trio.

"Why would it be better?" he asked, not really wanting to hear the answer he already suspected.

"Because we think we died and came here," supplied one blonde.

"And it's probably better we don't remember that!"

The dark boy, Peter, had left off playing with the blonde's nipple during their conversation. Now he seemed more intrigued with David's cock which was larger than that of any of the three, even though he was only semi-hard, like both the blondes, who had semi-erections, probably because David was older and taller than any of them.

Peter reached out and fondled David's cock, and almost instantly it was flaccid no longer. The boy seemed fascinated.

"He seems to have a fascination with cocks," one of the blondes informed David. "He jerked us both off a couple of minutes ago."

"And swallowed our cum," the other added.

"He doesn't say much," David observed.

"He doesn't speak much English yet," he was informed. "We think he's Italian. His name's Pietro. We just call him Peter. He'll suck you off if you want."

Pietro by now had brought David to full erection. Normally, he knew, he loved to be sucked off, but for now he wanted to get on and explore this place more. The dark boy was now slipping David's foreskin back and forth rapidly. David knew if the lad kept that up he would soon cum. He took the boy's wrist firmly and removed the lad's hand from his cock. He summoned up what little Italian he knew:

"Basta," he said. "Enough!"

The boy looked abashed, embarrassed, crest-fallen, and muttered, "Scusa."

David's Italian went no further. He gave the boy a big smile to show him he wasn't angry. Reassured, the boy's face lit up.

"I've got to go," he told the blonde lovers.

"We're sure we'll meet again," said one.

"Unless your lover calls you home," added the other. "Anyway, I'm Sam," the youth told him.

"And I'm Eric," added the other.

"And I'm David," he informed them.

"See you later, eh?" He left the three younger boys still standing in the river, arms around each other, and wandered off along the river, heading toward some buildings he had seen through the trees.

Again he heard that ringing in his ears, and the hollow, echoing voices.

"There's some activity there, but I'm have no idea whether he knows we're here at all."

"When will he come out of it?" The somehow familiar voice again.

"Maybe today; maybe next week; maybe never. I have no idea."

Were they talking about him? David, too, had no idea.He put the question aside for now, because ahead, on the river bank, he saw another blonde youth. What was he doing? Was he masturbating? Yes, he was!

"Hi," called the blonde boy as David approached. "You must be new here. I'm Trevor."

"You guessed right," David confirmed. "I just got here a while ago. I'm David. How long have you been here?"

"Forever, it seems," Trevor told him. "For a long, long time, anyway. I'm still waiting for my lover to join me or call me home, but I think whoever he is may have forgotten me or found another."

"What happens if that's the case?" asked David.

"Hyacinth told me that's why we don't remember our past or our lover. The memory might stop us from ever falling in love again. This way, if our lover never comes to join us or never calls us home, we are free to fall in love with someone like ourselves right here in the garden. We can be happy forever here with a new love."

"That might not be so bad," observed David. "It seems very nice here."

"It's perfect here," agreed Trevor, fondling his stiff penis. "It's always the right temperature; it only rains once in a while, and even then it's a clean, warm rain that refreshes everything. If you're hungry, there's alway fruit and berries on the trees and bushes, or if you want a regular meal, there's always food on the tables in the dining rooms of the houses."

"Who puts it there?" asked David, intrigued.

"Hyacinth or Apollo, I suppose," suggested Trevor, "or some demigod assistants. Anyway, it's just there for the taking.

"Another thing," Trevor added. "All the guys here are always horny. Just like you and me." Trevor reached out and grasped David's cock. Until that moment, David hadn't realized that like Trevor, he was rock hard.

"You want to play a little?" asked Trevor, rolling back David's foreskin. "I'll suck you off if you like."

"Thanks for the offer," replied David, but I think I better keep moving on."

"No problem," replied the young man. "If you stay here, we'll meet again. We can play then. Maybe we'll even end up as lovers. Who knows? I think it's time for me to find a new lover. Would you like to be my lover?

David considered. "Maybe some day," he told Trevor kindly. "I haven't been here long enough yet. Maybe my lover is looking for me."

The boy looked a little crestfallen at David's answer, but when David left him, Trevor was busy slowly masturbating once more, seeming quite content.

As he picked his way through the forest toward the distant buildings, David heard the older voice speak once more.

"You should go home and get some sleep," it said.

"I can sleep right here in the chair if I need to," the younger voice replied. "but till then I'll just stay here and be with him."

David had given up wondering about the voices by now, and quickly put them out of his head. He had come across another youth in the garden, another who was masturbating furiously, lost in oblivion, eyes closed as he neared orgasm.

As David watched, the youth came. It was an explosive eruption of youthful cum. It squirted everywhere, one massive spurt narrowly missing David. Not that he would have minded much. He was naked anyhow, and he had always liked the feel of another's warm cum on his body.

Spent, the boy opened his eyes. He saw David for the first time.

"Oh, hi," he said, with all the candour and innocence David had found in the others he had met here. "I'm Joe. Maybe I should spell that J-O," he added. "It seems I'm always jacking off these days."

"You and everyone else here," David smiled, "and I don't wonder. I can't seem to get rid of this perpetual hard-on I've had since I got here."

"That's true of just about everyone here," Joe told him. "Only the youngest boys lose their stiffies once in a while, but even then they are still horny, and still semi-hard." David thought back to the threesome he had come across earlier.

"I'm David," he informed Joe. "I only arrived here a little while ago. I'm still finding out about this place."

"I've been here about a year," Joe surmised. "It's hard to tell, because there isn't any day or night or any seasons. It's always pleasantly warm like this, and when we get tired we just lay down where we are and go to sleep.

"Doesn't it get boring?" David asked.

"Not really," Joe replied. "All the guys here are always very horny and ready to suck or fuck or whatever you feel like. And if you are alone, there's always your own cock to entertain you. And the guys whose lovers have joined them have that benefit as well. They are blissfully happy."

" So are the guys who have found a new lover here … and I'm about ready for that," Joe added. "Would you be interested?"

David chuckled. A second proposal in just a few minutes! "Not yet," he told Joe, "but I just met someone who might be. His name's Trevor. He told me he's looking."

"He is?" Joe exclaimed. "I know Trevor. He's cute. I've always had the hots for him. We've had sex a few times and it was always great. Do you think he'd like me?"

"I'm sure he'd love you," David assured him. "Why don't you go and talk with him? He's just back there a ways, sitting on the river bank." David nodded in the direction he had come.

"I'll go talk with him," Joe said. "Even if he doesn't want me for his lover, I'm sure we can still have a good fuck." he trotted off, leaving David alone once more.

The younger, familiar, voice once more: "Where are you, David? I miss you so much."

By now David realized that it was a memory of the voice of his lover he heard, maybe nothing more than imagination, but maybe, just maybe, he was speaking to David across whatever void separated them.

"I"m here," David said aloud. "In the garden." But he knew it was futile. The detached voice could not hear him.

By now David was in the grounds of one of the buildings he had seen from afar. He looked around him.

Sprawled in a hammock between two trees quite close to him was a young dark-skinned boy, maybe eighteen or nineteen years old. Like most guys he had come across in these gardens, the boy was sporting an impressive woody.

This time David took the initiative.

"What you doing?" he asked.

"Just waiting," the boy replied, in a resigned tone of voice.

"For what?" David asked, but he already knew the answer.

"For my lover, of course," the boy replied, confirming David's guess. "But I think he must have forgotten me. I don't hear the voices any more."

"What voices?" David asked. But again, he already guessed at the answer.

"The voices from my other life," the boy informed him. "We all hear them. But they say that when they fade away and you hear them no more, that's a sign they have forgotten you, a sign that it's time to find a new lover here in the garden. Don't you hear the voices?"

"Yes, I think I do," David replied. "I thought I was imagining things."

"You're lucky," the boy told him. "I hope he finds you, or calls you back."

"Thanks," David replied, and continued toward the house. Bur he hadn't gone far before he came across another little nook of the garden. Occupying a garden bench in the nook were two naked youths. Both had raging erections. One boy was sprawled back on the bench while the other was seated on the stonework on the ground before him, busy sucking his partner's mighty cock.

"Hey there," the cocksucker called. "I've never seen you here before."

"Are you new here?" the recipient of his administrations added.

"Yes," David told them. "I just arrived this morning – or at least I think it was this morning." For the first time David realized that time didn't seem to matter much here.

"So you're still hoping for your lover?" the sucker asked.

"We've both given up waiting," the boy on the bench told him. "We found each other here in the garden. We are lovers now."

"But we're not exclusive of others. We both like to play," the sucker added. "You can join us if you like."

"Thanks, but not right now," David replied. "I've still got lots of exploring to do. Maybe another time?"

"Sure," the boy on the bench told him. "You'll find us round here somewhere and horny almost any time."

David took his departure and continued once more toward the building.

The voices came again:

At the bottom of a set of iron stairs leading up to a verandah of the house was another young man – like the others, sporting a raging hard-on. He was swinging on the iron stair-railing, and his waving cock looked just as hard as the railing he swung from. For a moment David considered taking time out from his search to enjoy that magnificent cock - in his mouth, in his ass, it didn't matter.

"Hey!" the young man said, excitedly. "Did you know there's a visitor?"

"What's that mean?" David asked. "What's special about a visitor?"

"You must be new!" the other exclaimed. "There's followers and visitors. A follower is a lover who belongs here too, a lover who has come to find and be with his partner who has come here before him. He is here to stay. A visitor is a lover who doesn't belong here, someone who has come to bring his lover home. He stays just long enough to find his lover. I hoped this visitor was here for me, but I didn't recognize him and he didn't recognize me. So he was not my lover. Maybe he is yours?"

"I wouldn't know," David considered. "I can't remember my lover."

"None of us can," agreed his newest acquaintance. "but they say if a visitor recognizes you, and you recognize him, then you can both go back. The visitors are only allowed here for a short time, and then they must go. He only gets one chance to bring his lover home."

"Where is this visitor" David asked, breathlessly.

"He's up on the verandah," his new friend replied. "Go see for yourself – and good luck!"

With trepidation and anticipation, David mounted the stairs to the verandah above.

There was a man perched on the railings of the verandah, leaning against one of the support posts.

A man David didn't recognize! David's heart sank.

The man was a few years older than himself, handsome, bearded – and naked, like everybody else here. And like Hyacinth earlier in the day, the man was slightly out of focus, lacking sharpness, glowing perhaps, an unreal quality, as if he wasn't really there.

And although David didn't recognize the man, there was something about him which was vaguely familiar, a sort of sense of déjà vu.

The young man spoke, and David's heart leapt, for it was the voice he had been hearing all morning.

"Can you hear me, David?" the man asked, and his voice was hollow and echoing, like the voices he had heard all morning.

"Yes," David replied. But he knew that the man did not hear him, for he spoke again:

"Can't you hear me? Can't you recognize me?" the man asked, almost pleading.

"I don't know who you are," David said, crestfallen. "I guess you're not here for me. I guess you are not my lover." He turned away, in misery. He headed back down the stairs into the garden below.

David sensed, rather than saw, that the man was following him. He glanced back, and sure enough, the man was still there, still unfamiliar – but was there something different about him now? Yes! The aura seemed to have disappeared. He looked more solid. He was definitely harder. He had a terrific erection. But he was still a stranger – and yet – that sense of familiarity.

"Who are you? David asked, but it was clear that the man didn't hear him. David turned away. Tears welled up in his eyes, and leaning on a stone wall fencing off part of the garden, he sobbed silently.

David sensed the man moving in behind him as he stood there sobbing. He" felt the man's hands come to rest gently on his shoulders, touching, consoling. He also felt the stranger's stiff penis brush against his buttocks. A sudden urge overcame him, and his own erect penis became harder than he had ever known it.

The voices from afar:

"Doctor, he's stirring. And look! He has an erection."

"Well, well, that's certainly a good sign – a sign he's responding to your touch."

And a voice right at his ear, no longer echoing, but real, right here, right now. The lips of the stranger right by his ear: "David, it's me – Mark!"

He suddenly knew who the stranger was. He suddenly recognized the voice. He suddenly remembered this gentle touch. He suddenly remembered all the times he had felt this same hard penis pressing at his hole. It was Mark, his own Mark, his lover, the man he was planning to marry!

David closed his eyes and pushed back against the hard rod of his man, and involuntarily his own cock erupted, shooting streams of cum.

"Doctor! He's just … well, he just blew his load." No longer was the voice echoing. It was right beside him. He had a feeling he was no longer in the garden.

The older voice, which he now realized must be the doctor's, responded. "Well, that's a very good sign!"

David opened his eyes. He was in a room, a hospital room, an oxygen mask covering much of his face, but he could still see his beloved Mark standing beside him, concerned, worried, but relieved. Yes, it was Mark, who had been in the passenger seat alongside him when the car flipped over at high speed, and who still wore a bandage on his head and a sling on his arm. And even though it hurt to speak, his throat dry from the oxygen mask, David muttered, "I love you, Mark."

Mark held his David's hand with his free hand and squeezed it gently. Tears of joy were running down his smiling face.

"And I love you, David. Welcome back!"

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