By Jonathan Peters Copyright ©2026 Part One Chapter One What possible reason can I use to say hello? We’d been stuck on the tarmac in Peru for over an hour. Our only interaction was the quick glance we gave one another after I confronted the kid kicking the back of my chair. It was one of amusement. And something else. Something still hidden from me. I was preoccupied with thoughts of him when the plane landed in Cusco. It was eleven at night, and I was exhausted from a full

By Jonathan Peters Copyright ©2026 My eyes. Purple-blue like a sad, dark ocean. Your eyes. Grey like the sky before a rain after a long drought. That first meeting. Must have been an age ago. Interior cabin lights were on when we met. All lights faded when we departed. Things end. Even stars. Time doesn’t mind itself. A twelve-hour flight to Peru, interrupted by a child kicking the back of my seat. Turning, irritated. “Hey!” I shouted. He stopped quick. Then I heard a snort.

by Jonathan Peters Copyright ©2026 It was midnight by the time I arrived at the park, and I was sweating, not from the heat, although it was quite hot and humid that Saturday night, but from nerves. I’d come to the park to cruise, my first time to do so, ever. I’d learned of this park from a hookup app that displayed all the cruise spots in my city. This was one of the more popular destinations because of the tall Cottonwood trees that kept the park in perpetual shadow. It wa