It was the sixties in America. So many were facing social issues that changed the way people viewed life forever. America was in a rut and a few brave people were determined to step up and make a difference. Of course, that also included the use of drugs that were banned as well as the use of some that were never heard of. All of this created a climate for the youth of America to reach out for a more idyllic lifestyle. It was dubbed the Hippie generation.

I was born in 1952, just eleven years after the US involvement in World War Two. For most of my life I grew up in the Long Beach California area near Los Angeles. As 1969 rolled around I had by this time left home and was living in a small bungalow near Mission Hills in San Diego California. I was immersed in the new Hippie lifestyle and loved it. My hair grew long to about the middle of my back and I truly looked the part.

On one particular summers day I was washing some dishes. The kitchen had a door to the outside and it was open. The stereo was playing some rock music and I was well into the spirit of it when I heard a voice coming from over the back fence, of which I was only a few feet away from. Mind you I was this long haired kid of 17 years of age. I put my hands on the top of the fence and lifted myself up to look into the neighboring yard. There stood a girl. She asked if I would turn the music up! I looked at her speechless. She was a beautiful, youthful girl with dark hair, well tanned with no swimsuit lines. She had been sweeping the back porch of the house and obviously doing some sunbathing. The sound of her voice was pure innocence, but what was most arresting was that she was standing there holding the broom totally naked, and she was captivatingly beautiful. In the truest sense she was unashamed and presented herself as naturally as anyone could imagine.

My heart raced but I calmly said "ok". I went to the stereo and indeed did turn it up, but I had been smitten by something beautiful and I could think of little else, but what was I to do now? I must admit that sexual thoughts did enter my mind but I was more curious as to who this person was than anything else. I had to know. I really didn't know the neighbors before this but I introduced myself quickly. They were interesting people that had a high interest in sexuality and its expression in the new morality. My interest of course was this ravishing girl. So, they introduced me. Her name was Domineeq. I thought, "How cool could that be?" As things would have it, we became close friends quickly.

We started to spend a great deal of time together. I found myself being drawn into her like a moth to a flame. For the first time in my life I felt like I was really in love with someone. She was wild and adventurous, yet innocent and shy. I could tell that she was willing to do what ever I would lead her into but I was hesitant to move into a sexual relationship. Not that I did not want to, it was that I somehow saw her as something above that. Even though she gave me every indication that she would be receptive to any advance that I would like to make, I held back. To this day I can not fully explain it, other than I was captivated by her beauty.

Eventually the relationship ran its course. I never did have sex with her, which was interesting to me in that I was heavily involved with many women in sexual contact by this time and had little reason not to. It all just felt like the natural course of things. Perhaps she became iconoclastic to me and I put her in a place that was higher than something physical. To this day I could not identify those feelings. But in many ways I have to say that I am glad that the relationship never entered into that dimension. What I have carried over the years is a pure memory of someone who brought a great deal of joy into my life. As I write this story down for the first time at age 53, I look back and can clearly see that time in my life as if it were yesterday.

Dale H.