Queer Writing for a Queer World
Author: David Heulfryn
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Dad calls the family for a discussion about the name of Ollie’s business; he feels ‘Odd Job Ollie’ doesn’t sound right if he joins. Ollie bristles at the thought and fears that his father is taking over already, but he agrees to think about it. In the afternoon, he joins Conor and helps him fix up some flat-pack furniture that he is struggling with.
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Ollie thinks that it is time to decide if he and his father can work together, or more specifically, if his Dad can work for him. But there is one obstacle to agreeing on a formal partnership: his Dad’s reluctance to be naked. Ollie takes his father to the Cockaigne Hotel, where they borrow a conference room, and he makes his father prove his commitment to the business.
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Louis and Ollie have an open and honest conversation about what happened that morning. Louis isn’t happy with what happened and feels guilty for not having better self-control. Ollie opens up to Louis about the time he lost his virginity.
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Authors Note: This story comes from my youth. In 1977, I was seventeen, an isolated gay boy in a straight man’s world, and painfully lonely. My only human connections came from older men I met at a popular cruising site in a nearby park; men who wanted something, just never anything personal.
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Ollie is called to the Cremaster Freedom Resort. He promised Louis that he could help him again, but Louis found himself distracted by the young twins who dragged him to the lake to play. Ollie watches as his brother enjoys himself. As the youngsters come to shore to rest, Ollie is surprised that his brother doesn’t reject the twins’ advances.
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Rob is let go from his bartending job when he turns 60. Feeling that there is no future ahead of him, he calls his friend and discovers life does not end at sixty and he has more talents that mixing cocktails.
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The court case nears. Ollie is not sleeping. One night, Louis wakes him up; Ollie is screaming in his sleep and sweating profusely. On the night before the trial, Ollie can’t settle and watches Louis as he sleeps. During the trial, Ollie finally sees the two men who tried to kill him.
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After working at ‘Vos de Vos’, Ollie meets up with Ewan. A passionate reunion ensues, and as they lie in bed together, Ollie opens up about his fears in giving evidence at the trial of the men who tried to murder him.
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Ollie is back on the job. He has a new van, and Louis is still helping out before he goes to college in the autumn. The brothers are called to the Cremaster Freedom Resort for an emergency repair. Arthur arrives just as they’ve completed the repair and sees the ‘Odd Job Brothers’. Louis is made to check the repair, while Arthur needs Ollie for something else.
//I’m between stories at the moment. Giving my mind a rest, well, my fingers more like, my mind keeps whirring with new story ideas. In the brief period between stories, I have spent the time updating my explorecockaigne.uk website. This is the place where all the Cockaigne stories will appear and where you can read a little more about the town.
I’ve updated the pictures and replaced them with AI-generated images (I don’t want any copyright issues). I have also added to the pages showing new places that have appeared in stories, such as the burger joint and Fanny’s Tea Room. I hope you can all find time to visit Fanny; her afternoon teas are legendary in Cockaigne.
I’ve also improved the map of Cockaigne. I hope you all like it. I have created it all myself using free software, and it is more of what I had in mind all those years ago. The template image was also an AI-generated picture that I created.
There are a few more items I want to update, such as the portraits of the students and residents. But that will come later.
