Note from JetBoy: A sweet little story from the files of our dear departed Karin Halle. She is missed, but her work lives on. Immense thanks to BlueJean for editing.
by Karin Halle
A photograph often tells more about its subject than what is captured by the lens alone.
Something about the photograph had attracted my attention, but it was necessary for me to study the image closely in order to isolate and identify that nebulous something.
The photograph was old, that much was clear from the sepia tone of the print and the style of clothing worn by the people contained within. Nothing else about the picture really stood out, not at first anyway. Just a group of folks at a picnic.
A handwritten sign held aloft by one of them displayed the words Happy Bank Holiday. There were seventeen people in the frame, both men and women, although fewer men. Most looked to be in their teens or early twenties. The faces of those in the foreground were clear enough to make out, but those towards the back were somewhat out of focus, undoubtedly the product of old and unsophisticated photographic equipment.
The picnickers were all sitting on the ground in comfortable sprawls. No food was visible, although one man had a cup in his hand and was holding it up in salute. Everyone was smiling, with two exceptions – one woman who looked rather maudlin, and a man who peered off to one side, as if his attention had been captured by something off camera. They’d probably missed the photographer calling, “Everybody smile!”
The scene was captured from a slight elevation, as if the revellers were in a hollow, or more likely the photographer was standing on something when the shutter was pressed.
Then something else caught my eye. I had been scrutinising the photograph so closely I’d missed the obvious, but it absolutely sprang out when I wasn’t actually searching.
Two girls were lying together, not alongside each other but coming together at an angle. They seemed to be among the younger holidaymakers. One was lying on her back, while the second was a little to the side, with her head resting on the shoulder of the other. Both were smiling, and it seemed to me that they might emerge from the paper into the real world at any moment.
It was an unusual pose – not exactly improper, but I had the sense that it was a little too intimate to be socially correct, especially in those early years of the twentieth century. And yet, that was what had drawn me to it.
***
“Why in the world did you rest your head on me that way?” Lilith asked Jemima after the picture had been taken and the photographer had dismissed everyone. She’d taken care to draw her friend away from the rest of the group of bank employees, so they were out of earshot.
“It just looked so comfortable,” Jemima said with the merest hint of a smile. “I couldn’t help myself.”
“People will see that when the picture is developed, Jemima. What will they think then?”
“That we were enjoying the celebrations?” Jemima replied effortlessly. “But it really was lovely. So soft, though firm at the same time.” She reached out, and to Lilith’s utter horror, cupped her left breast.
“Jemima!” Lilith spluttered as she slapped at the offending hand. “Don’t! Someone might see!”
Jemima moved her hand away, but said quietly, “Is that the only reason you want me to stop? If that’s your only concern, I know somewhere we can go. A place where nobody will be able to see us.”
Lilith’s eyes darted nervously around as Jemima took her friend by the hand and led her away from the other picnickers. They followed a worn path that led them through a strand of trees and towards some railway tracks.
Both girls were trepidatious, for reasons that differed only a little. Lilith, because she wasn’t sure what her older friend had in mind. Jemima, because she wondered how Lilith might react to her planned advances.
The path ended at a siding on which four semi-retired passenger coaches sat. Too old and dilapidated for regular use, they were dragged out of storage only when needed to meet the demands of a high traffic day. Hauling picnickers to a public holiday celebration placed that kind of demand on the railroad, and was the sole reason that the old coaches hadn’t yet been scrapped. Currently, the coaches were sitting abandoned, and the locomotive that had towed them there was away doing other work. It would not return until long after sunset.
Jemima marshalled Lilith aboard the nearest carriage and into one of the compartments. She pulled the shade on the door and latched it, then squeezed past her friend to pull the shades on the windows. The blinds screened them from parting eyes without completely darkening the interior.
Jemima smiled at a nervous-looking Lilith, then unceremoniously returned a hand to her friend’s breast. “Now nobody will be able to see, will they?”
This time Lilith didn’t slap the hand away – in fact, she didn’t protest at all. She’d been anxious concerning Jemima’s intentions, but had been secretly hoping that whatever they were, it would be something thrilling. This most certainly qualified.
With a tilt of her head, she was able to brush her lips across Jemima’s. Delighted at this development, Jemima turned the exchange into a real kiss, her mouth pressing back firmly against Lilith’s.
Startled at first by the passion her friend was displaying, Lilith rapidly relaxed into the kiss. Just when she was beginning to grow bold enough to match Jemima’s enthusiasm, she felt herself being gently pushed back, her thighs coming into contact with the edge of the seat until she was sitting. Jemima took a place next to her, and the two of them resumed their kiss.
At fifteen, Lilith wasn’t a complete novice at kissing, but her previous experiences had been hurried; experimental. This was different, and it was with another female too!
When she felt Jemima’s tongue run over her lips, her mouth opened without even a command to do so. Real kissing was, she considered, instinctive.
Jemima was in her mouth, teasing and tasting her. Lilith longed to know how it felt to taste someone like that. She pushed the tip of her tongue to meet Jemima’s, and her friend yielded, allowing her to advance. Exploring Jemima’s mouth was incredible!
She felt the touch of her friend’s hand on her breast again. Intriguingly, she found it aroused her. Her breasts had always been sensitive, and Lilith realised she wanted more – she wanted Jemima’s hand on her bare flesh.
Lilith broke their kiss and pushed Jemima’s hand away, then fumbled at her clothes, eager to free her breasts.
“You’re all fingers and thumbs,” Jemima purred. “Let me do it.”
Lilith dropped her hands to allow Jemima to unhook the buttons on her blouse.
“Oh, they’re so lovely,” Jemima cooed when her friend was bare to the waist. She brushed a single fingertip over one breast, then the other. Then, to Lilith’s unparalleled wonder, Jemima put her fingers to her nipples and gently squeezed. Lilith hummed in pleasure, her tender cones responding in their own way.
Jemima slid off the seat to kneel upon the floor. Lilith watched in amazement as her friend leaned forward and kissed a breast. When Jemima sucked the entire tip into her mouth, Lilith thought she might simply melt into a puddle. She felt Jemima’s teeth graze her nipple and tensed, but the soft bite caused more pleasure than pain.
Then Lilith felt Jemima’s hands pushing her back onto the seat. She was lying prone now, and Jemima was pulling up her skirts! Hands touched the naked flesh of her thighs.
“Oh, my goodness…” she whispered as the hand moved towards her sex.
Taking her time, Jemima teased – alternately tickling Lilith’s inner thigh and touching the cotton covering her privates.
Lilith surrendered unconditionally, putting one foot to the floor while leaving the other resting on the seat, raised at the knee.
Pleased by this gesture of acceptance, a purring Jemima slipped her hand into Lilith’s bloomers and up towards the rise of her mound. Lilith gave a soft moan of pleasure.
Feeling the abundant wetness of Lilith’s missy, Jemima whispered, “Ooh, so ready!’ as she moved a finger between her friend’s engorged labia, liberally spreading the slickness.
Lilith pushed back against Jemima’s finger, and hearing the contented sounds her friend was making, Jemima knew the time had come. With the greatest of care, she slipped a finger into Lilith’s vagina. Lilith sighed breathlessly, squirming on the seat as Jemima’s finger moved back and forth.
Her friend’s movements increased in tempo, and Lilith began moving her hips in rhythm. A second finger moved to her entrance. There was slight resistance as Jemima joined it to the first, and the younger girl took a sudden gasp of breath. Then Jemima was fucking her friend again, this time with two fingers.
Hips and fingers worked in tandem, but Jemima had another surprise for her younger friend.
Seeking out the little bump near the top of Lilith’s missy, Jemima pressed down on it with a thumb, just a little.
The touch set Lilith on a course that would take only moments to reach its conclusion. Jemima could have taken both her hands off Lilith at that moment, the girl’s orgasm was already unstoppable, but she didn’t relinquish control. She did ease off a little, though, slowing the rate at which her fingers fucked Lilith, and was amused to hear the younger girl whimper in protest.
At the instant she was sure Lilith had reached her peak, Jemima plunged especially deep.
Lilith wailed in ecstasy. It was a long time before she was able to speak again, and even then she could only manage one word at a time. Finally, she was able to form an entire sentence. “Lord Almighty! What did you do to me, Jemima?’
“I gave you something that you aren’t likely to get from a man. And you were so beautiful, Lilith! You’re still positively glowing!”
“Oh, that’s just perspiration, silly,” Lilith giggled.
“It is awfully hot, isn’t it?” Jemima said in a low voice. “Perhaps we should remove our clothes to cool off.”
Unable to hide her surprise, Lilith gasped, “All our clothes?”
“Yes. I want to see the rest of you. And I want you to see me.”
“And do you… want me to do those things to you, too?”
“I do, but only if you want to.”
Despite casting an anxious look at the compartment door, Lilith decided she did want that, very much so. And in such an isolated spot, hidden inside the train carriage, the risk of being caught was slight enough that it could safely be ignored.
“Oh, darling Jemima! I do want to, really I do!”
Both girls shed their clothes with considerable haste. Soon enough, they were both entirely naked. They drank in the sight of each other’s youthful bodies.
Lilith, younger by more than half a year, looked less womanly than her friend. Her breasts were smaller, her hips narrower, and there was only a sparse smattering of hair adorning her mons. She was astonished at how much more mature her friend looked.
Uncomfortable under Lilith’s scrutiny, Jemima lost a little of her confidence. “Do I meet with your approval?” she asked, her voice wavering slightly.
To her relief, her worries were unfounded. Lilith was so lavish with her compliments that Jemima found herself blushing.
“Does that mean you’ll make love to me, then?” Jemima asked timidly.
“Just try to stop me!” Lilith said. Having little experience of such intimate matters, she was obliged to rely on what she had just learned from Jemima.
Kissing her friend’s inviting mouth was an easy thing to do, as was putting her hand to Jemima’s breast. Fondling the soft globes took slightly more courage and determination, but Lilith quickly found that playing with another girl’s breast was even more enjoyable than playing with her own. She gave the nipple a gentle pinch and, encouraged by Jemima’s sigh, covered it with her mouth and began to suck.
After a short while, and at the urging of Jemima, she switched to the other breast and gave it the same attention. She was rewarded by a gasp from her friend.
“Please, dear Lilith,” Jemima said. “I need more.”
Though lacking Jemima’s confidence, Lilith decided she would be brave and put her hand to the older girl’s privates. Cautious about doing something so intimate, she let her hand run down Jemima’s bare body, over her waist and her navel, and across her abdomen. When her hand encountered the soft thatch of curls above Jemima’s private place, Lilith hesitated momentarily. Jemima had more hair, she observed, but it was just as fine as her own.
Jemima had misunderstood Lilith’s shilly-shallying, presuming her younger lover was taking that extra time to tease and tantalise. “I shall burst, my sweet!” she cried. “Please! Hurry!”
Jemima’s need was clear, and Lilith was roused to action. She set about trying to get her fingers into just the right place, fumbling awkwardly.
Jemima voiced her exasperation once more. “Oh, don’t tease, Lilith. Put them inside me.”
Acutely aware of the desperation in Jemima’s voice, Lilith slipped a couple of fingers into her friend’s vagina, then sought out the special place just above with her other hand, brushing a finger back and forth over the stiff little node.
Judging from Jemima’s moan of pleasure, Lilith was sure she had found all the necessary places. Uncertain whether she was applying enough pressure, she began to move two fingers in and out of Jemima’s hole while gently stimulating the bump with another.
When Jemima cried out, “Oh, Heaven! You’re an enchantress!” and began to tremble and shake, Lilith was confident that what she was doing was having the desired effect.
To her amazement, Lilith felt Jemima’s vagina clamp around her fingers, and she watched as her friend’s belly moved up and down in rippling waves. She continued to plunge her fingers into the depths of Jemima’s sex, her finger still firmly pressed upon that magic button.
Finally, spent at last, Jemima panted, “No more, my love, no more! You’ve worn me out.”
For a moment the two girls simply gazed at one another. And then Lilith was pressing herself against Jemima’s supine body. They kissed once more, taking their time. Lilith began to rub Jemima’s bare breasts, and Jemima responded by rolling them both over so that she was lying on top of her naked friend.
“That was the best feeling I have ever had in my life,” Jemima murmured. “And now I’m going to make you feel good.”
Jemima got to her feet, then grasped Lilith by the ankles.
With no idea of what her friend was up to, a curious Lilith watched and waited. She was no more enlightened when Jemima pushed her feet wide apart, but she was vaguely aware that she should be mortified at being exposed in such a way. Jemima was able to see everything. Everything!
When Jemima leaned forward and put her face between Lilith’s legs, it was almost too much for the fifteen year old to bear. But what Jemima did next was even more shocking.
She put her lips to Lilith’s privates and kissed her there.
Lilith gave a gasp of surprise, then another when she felt Jemima’s tongue spear her womanhood, moving back and forth inside her. Lilith knew she must be dripping with wetness by now, but Jemima seemed not to care. Indeed, her friend lapped at the warm fluids, as if thirsty for that special essence.
When Jemima found Lilith’s magic little button, brushing a thumb over it while continuing to taste her, Lilith began trembling uncontrollably. She could think of nothing other than the sensations building inside her. When the orgasm finally struck, she cried out in ecstasy.
Jemima regarded her friend with amazement, and also some degree of pride at having induced such a reaction. She dipped her head and gave Lilith’s spent vagina several more swipes of the tongue, then shifted position so the two of them were face to face. The two girls kissed, and Lilith could taste herself on Jemima’s mouth.
“I’d like to try that on you,” a breathless Lilith remarked. “The licking thing, I mean.”
“I can’t wait,” Jemima told her. “But not today. We should get dressed and head back before the others begin to wonder where we are.” She pressed her naked body to Lilith’s and whispered, “Next time, my love.”
“What?” Lilith gasped in mock horror. “Next Bank Holiday? I couldn’t possibly wait that long!”
“No, silly. Next Sunday. I know a place where we can go.”
***
I put the photograph back in the cardboard box with the many others that were for sale in the Trash and Treasure store. Another thought came to me. I took the photo out again and studied it for a moment before turning it over.
On the back, in faded handwriting, were the words: At the Sidings – Bank Holiday, August 1, 1910.
I wished I knew the story behind that photograph, and what the relationship between the two girls had been. Of course, it may have been nothing but an innocent pose, most likely was. After all, if there had been a special kind of intimacy between them, they would hardly have dared display it quite so blatantly, especially so in those days of rigid convention. And yet, somehow that old sepia print was telling me a different story.
My mind set, I took the photograph up to the counter and claimed it for my own.
The End
Fascinating
I really really like this story.