By Willie B.
williebflorida@gmail.com
Copyright 2025 by Willie B., all rights reserved
[1,467 words]
* * * * *The Skylar Kids
A Stripped for Florida Story
By Willie B Florida
williebflorida@gmail.com
2.
The Skylar family drove south along the Suwannee River valley and
turned east toward the Santa Fe River. Amanda was nervous about
meeting her cousin. Tyrone was anxious about driving on the Interstate
and the Florida Turnpike. The kids were excited to be going on a trip,
but, sensing their parents anxieties, Colin, Rachel and Sherry kept
quiet in the back seat. The trip to Orlando could have been easily
traversed in a single day, but they’d decided to camp for a night and
do the rest of the drive to Orlando on a second day.
A brown
sign announced the state park and Tyron pulled off the county road. It
was impossible to drive more than ten miles an hour down the washboard
rutted sand road that wound for a considerable distance before getting
to the park entrance. A park ranger took their cash and handed them a
map with a plot circled. "The trails connect through here to the
restrooms and bath house, concession stand and this is the spring and
swim area," she explained. “There are several smaller springs, but
those are strictly off limits to swimming or wading.” Tyrone thanked
her and pulled the car forward. They drove slowly along the winding
road, which was even more rutted and uneven than the entrance road, and
pulled into their numbered spot. The kids were excited to put up a
tent, build a fire circle, swim in the spring and see the Santa Fe
River. In short, they were excited about everything. They were
surprised to see that the camping area was nearly full.
"Who are all these people who camp in the middle of the week?" asked Colin.
"I don't know," replied his dad, "retirees, people who work weekends,
lowlifes who let their kids skip school . . . " Colin grinned back at
his dad's joke.
A little boy walked down the middle of the
sandy road, poking a stick into the ground with each step. He was as
naked as a jay bird.
"I guess some kids are naked," observed
Sherry. The boy moved aside and let them pass. He could not have
been more than 5 or 6 years old. "He might not even be in first
grade, yet, so maybe he isn't skipping school like us."
After
putting up the tent Amanda and Tyrone told the kids they could go down
to the spring and swim. The kids grabbed their suits and ran down
the trail, past the bathhouse and picnic area. The spring opened up
before them like a liquid turquoise bowl in the earth. It was
beautiful.
"Wow! Let's change so we can swim!"
“We just passed the restrooms,” observed Rachel. "We'll meet up again right here and jump in together!"
Walking toward the concession stand they saw a nude teenage girl
hanging out at the railing looking out over the spring run. Colin
tried not to stare too hard. The girl was absolutely beautiful he
thought, or maybe just naked? She had small perky breasts, a
golden-hued complexion, no tan lines at all, blond hair and a
lacy-looking metallic design that looked like butterfly wings on her
upper back. She looked up at them as they passed.
"Hi, are you all staying here?"
"Um, yeah, we just got here," replied Rachel.
"Cool," responded the girl. "There's hardly anyone my age around here. Wanna go swimming?"
"We're just changing," Rachel replied.
"Okay, I'll wait. It'll be fun to have someone to swim with."
Colin hadn't dared to say a word, worried at how his voice might come
out. In the restroom he tried to relax his breathing so that his
hardon would go down. He would be mortified if the girl could see
his erection through his bathing suit. When he finally came out the
girls were standing about six yards away.
"Come on Colin," shouted his younger sister, "what took you so long!"
They played in the water, diving down into the crystal blueness,
chasing fish, swimming against the strong current and floating down the
spring run. The girl's name was Wendy and she wasn't at all shy.
"You're Colin, right? Want to go see the river? There's manatees
down there."
"Yeah, cool, sure!" stammered Colin, still uncomfortably aroused to be around a naked girl his age.
“There used to be a boardwalk,” Wendy told them, “but it fell over in a hurricane.”
“Oh,” Colin blurted out. “Then how do we get to the river.”
“There’s a secret path through the forest. I’ll show you.”
The trail to the river snaked between cypress knees and rivulets of
water. Sometimes the path was more mud than solid ground, but Wendy
stepped lightly on bare feet, her tanned body glistening wet from
swimming. Colin felt clumsy by contrast, his baggy wet swimsuit
slapping against his legs as he walked. Rachel wore a modest bikini
and Sherry had on a little girl's ruffled one piece. At the end of
the boardwalk the tannin stained river flowed silently, sunlight
sparkling in the gap between more shaded areas. Turtles sunned
themselves on logs and a heron stalked silently amidst the water
plants. Tall trees lined the banks, birds hovering over the top
branches.
"Vultures," Wendy said dismissively, "Look,
manatees!" The Skylar children strained their eyes trying to see the
mysterious endangered creatures.
"Right there, see how . . .
oh, a fin just came up!" Wendy helped them spot two adults and a
baby. A third adult showed briefly but went below the surface.
The manatees were hard to see, a glistening bit of skin just barely
discernible amidst the sparkling waves. For such large creatures
they made almost no ripple on the water. "They move too slowly,"
explained Wendy.
"Want to see our camp?" asked Sherry. She was getting hungry, but was enjoying having a new friend.
"Sure," said Wendy, "Are you in an RV or a tent?”
The four walked down the trail and found Tyrone and Amanda enjoying a
cup of coffee at the campsite picnic table. They introduced Wendy
and Amanda got busy pulling food out of the cooler and setting it out
for the kids. All four ate with gusto, not least Wendy. As it
began to get dark Tyrone started up a fire and enlisted the help of the
kids in roasting potatoes, putting veggies on skewers, and putting out
bread, salad and fruit.
"Don't you eat meat?" asked Wendy.
"We didn't bring any on the the trip," explained Amanda, "I'm always
afraid it's going to spoil in the cooler and then our vacation would be
ruined."
"Oh, that's too bad. I like meat. So, are you staying here for a week or something?"
"No, we're heading down to Orlando. We're just here overnight."
"Oh, man! I was hoping you were staying. It gets so boring here sometimes."
"Are you here for a while then?” asked Tyrone.
"You could say that!"
As darkness fell a white park service pick up drove slowly through the
campground, the ranger stopping to ask campers if they needed any
assistance. When he pulled up to the Skylar's campsite the ranger
opened the door and walked over. "Howdy folks, I'm Rick. I see my
daughter has imposed upon you."
"Daddy!"
"Wendy, I've told you not to act like a starved waif every time you see someone with a good spread."
"Oh, she hasn't been a problem at all. We invited her to eat,"
insisted Amanda, thinking the girl had done a good job of presenting
herself as exactly that, a starved waif.
"Nice to meet you, Rick. I'm Tyrone. Our kids have enjoyed having someone to play with," added Tyrone.
"Well, feel free to tell her to run along when she outstays her
welcome. We aim to deliver a quality experience here at Manatee Springs
State Park."
"I see your daughter is stripped. How has that worked out?" asked Amanda.
"Oh, with her in and out of the water, running down trails, and
generally living outdoors, keeping her naked has really been the only
option. I highly recommend it. Amanda, don't stay out all night,
and you folks have yourselves a great evening. If there's anything I
can do for you, just call in on your cell phone to the front office.
Good-night!"
Wendy stayed for roasted marshmallows and
chocolate. Seeing that no more food was being offered she eventually
called it a night and said good-bye.
"She was pretty cool," remarked Rachel.
"I liked her," offered Sherry.
Colin nodded. He'd gotten more used to her nakedness as the evening
wore on, but still didn't want to say anything too obvious about liking
the girl.
Amanda just smiled.
• • •
— to be continued in part 3 —