The Frustrated Teenager and the Embarrassing Parent
On a Greek holiday, a mother and daughter discover that growing up sometimes means growing comfortable in your own skin
Editor’s note: Alan R. Paine, author of A Suggestion in Space, turns from the stars to the sand in this gentle story of family, love, and body acceptance.
For more of his writing, visit his Substack Science Fiction and Such Like.
It sounded like a good idea at the time. Martin taking off like that with what’s-her-name almost young enough to be his daughter had left Maggie and Alice stunned and hurt. But now they were here, Maggie wondered if bringing an 18-year-old to a sleepy little town in Greece was really fair on her. Alice was disheartened when they arrived at the dusty place where reinforcing rods emerged from unfinished buildings, competing with overhead wires and television aerials to untidy the sky.
She’d planned to go to the flesh pots of Malia with Jasmine and Thea, but had declined their invitation to the post-high-school wild ride to be with her mother in her time of trouble.
After breakfast in the café attached to their hotel, Maggie led Alice down to the long sandy beach where she paid €10 for two sun loungers and a parasol. “You paid for all day,” moaned Alice, “what are we going to do?”
“You’ve got your book; you can swim; take a walk or just relax.”
Alice fiddled under her tee shirt to swap her bra for a bikini top and then looked back at her mother. “Mum, what the hell are you doing?”
“Sunbathing, what does it look like?”
“I don’t think this is a topless beach.”
“Well, it is now. I’ve heard that you can take it all off if you just go past those rocks over there.”
Parents can be so embarrassing. Alice didn’t even feel comfortable in a bikini. It seemed to her that her breasts were too small; her hips and legs were ridiculously big and her mid brown hair although neat and easy to control hung lifelessly at her shoulders.
At dinner that evening Maggie got talking with Jan, a tall suntanned Dutchman on the next table. “I’m an artist,” he said in perfect English, “I live here year round in a little house on the hill above the village.”
Maggie and Jan were so engrossed in their conversation that Alice felt more and more like a useless appendage. “I’m tired Mum,” she said, “can I have the key to our room?”
“OK,” said Maggie, “see you later.”
It didn’t come as a surprise to Alice to wake up the next morning and see that her mother’s bed was empty and she tried not to think about the reasons why. She saw a text on her phone “Sorry to abandon you. Hope all is OK. See you later. Love Mum.” She couldn’t be bothered to reply. Alice prized herself out of bed and went to breakfast. She was surprised to be joined by her mum just as she was finishing. Maggie sat down opposite her and ordered a coffee.
“How did you get on?” Alice asked with an edge of sarcasm in her voice.
“Very well, but not in the way you’re thinking. We just spent half the night talking and then I fell asleep on his sofa and woke up in the morning lying there with a sheet over me. I felt a bit stupid really. He was really nice about it.” She paused and studied Alice’s quizzical expression. “Don’t look at me like that. We didn’t have sex if that’s what you’re thinking. But you never know what might happen. It’s all rather exciting, almost like doing it for the first time,” said Maggie looking conspiratorial and touching her on the arm. “Do you have any advice for a middle aged woman who’s forgotten what to do?” she joked.
“I wouldn’t know Mum,”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean I’m a virgin.”
“But what about you and Leo? You went away on that weekend together.”
Alice struggled to speak in the face of gut wrenching embarrassment and sadness. “We tried but I messed up so badly that I just can’t face him any more.”
“Do you really think that you were the only people ever to find it a bit difficult the first time? You didn’t split up with him over that did you?” said Maggie.
“Well, I don’t know really,” said Alice. “I just feel so embarrassed every time I meet him.”
“But he’s far too nice to give up on that easily. Don’t you think that he feels bad about what happened and thinks that he was the one who messed up?”
“Oh my God,” said Alice, “you don’t think that he blames himself, do you?”
“Probably, but no one should be blaming anyone. The first few times your Dad and I tried were a complete disaster. When it comes to things that can go wrong while having sex we wrote the book.
“Tell you what,” said Maggie. “If you send Leo a text and he replies within five minutes you have to buy me a piece of that chocolate cake over there and if it takes longer than that then I’ll buy you the cake.
“I don’t think he will,” said Alice, “and I shouldn’t be eating cake it’ll only go straight to my hips.”
“Of course you can eat cake,” said Maggie, “you’re on holiday. Anyway, you’re going to lose the bet.”
Alice tapped out a message and nervously pressed send. When the reply came, in less than half the time predicted by Maggie, Alice bubbled with excitement.
“Mum, could I fly home tomorrow.”
“It’d cost a fortune to buy a last minute ticket to fly back now, you can stay here and keep me company.”
“What about your new ‘friend?’ Aren’t you going to be spending more time with him?”
“No,” said Maggie, “he was a really interesting guy to talk to and we had a great time. It’s fun to think about what else might happen but frankly, I just didn’t feel there was any chemistry there. So, we’ll just have to remain here together in our celibate state for the rest of the holiday.”
Alice listened to the soothing sound of the sea lapping on the shore, each wave a gentle massage of sound washing away her worries. She turned over and lay on her front which made her bikini top feel uncomfortable so she pulled it off taking great care to keep in contact her towel. She was starting to feel blissfully relaxed when she suddenly heard Jan’s voice. “Good morning ladies, how are you?” he said. Alice didn’t know quite what do. Quickly putting her top back on would be very fiddly so she sat up with an arm across her front. Then she saw that Jan had a young man with him perhaps a few years older than her; tall, tanned and muscular with curly sun bleached hair
“This is my son Pieter,” said Jan, “he arrived on the ferry this morning. I didn’t even know he was coming.” Alice was amazed that her mother was casually chatting with Jan without making any attempt to cover herself up while being increasingly aware of Pieter stealing furtive glances at her. She was starting to feel that her arm was becoming transparent. But she couldn’t help stealing furtive glances back because he was one of the best looking guys she had ever seen. After a few minutes they moved on down the beach towards where Maggie had said nudity was practiced. Alice continued to sit up staring down the beach after them.
“Don’t look at him like that,” said Maggie, “you’ve got a boyfriend.”
“But Mum he’s gorgeous and Leo and I aren’t officially back together again.”
“Don’t give me that official nonsense. Leo’s your boyfriend and you know it. If you have a fling with Pieter you’ll regret it forever.”
“But you spent the night with Jan.”
“No I didn’t, I spent the night at his house which is something else. Your fucking father, sorry, your father left me and if I had slept with Jan it wouldn’t have mattered. Your situation is completely different. Oh, and by the way I can see your nipples.”
Alice wasn’t quite sure she believed that there were beaches where people just casually walked around with nothing on. Perhaps it was one of those urban myths like the alligator in the sewer or the Kentucky Fried Rat.
About half an hour later Alice started feeling a bit restless and said to her mother, “I’m just going to cool off in the sea and then walk along the beach a bit.”
“OK.”
After her dip Alice started walking along the beach at the water’s edge. She didn’t know if she’d have the nerve to go all the way to the supposed nude beach. It still didn’t seem possible to her that such a place could exist so close to the town and she suspected that the whole thing was a wind up by her mother. At the end of the beach the waves washed over a few meters of flat sand where the rocks came to just short of the sea. She stopped unsure of whether to go on or not. A young couple not much older than her carrying beach mats passed her and walked through the shallow water round into the next bay. There didn’t seem to be any harm in following them, so she did, only to stop in amazement There were nude people everywhere she turned and what amazed her even more was that there were properly organized sun beds and parasols and a man with a leather bag going around collecting money for them just like on the town beach. She saw a young family with children playfully screaming and running at the water’s edge. A couple in their seventies, slim but with bodies wrinkled by gravity and sunlight, gingerly paddled hand in hand. But what really caught her eye was a dark haired woman about her mother’s age with beautiful Mediterranean features having an animated conversation with the man sitting next to her. Her first reaction was how good looking she was but then Alice was shocked to see that she only had one breast. She glanced up the beach and noticed two men standing in the water some distance away that looked like Jan and Pieter. Without waiting to find out for sure she turned and hurried back the way she’d come.
As Alice got near to where her mother was, a man with a prosthetic leg came out of the sea and sat down on one of the loungers. Alice wondered if there was some disease going around causing people to lose bits of themselves.
“Well,” said Maggie when Alice sat down again, “is it a naturist beach?”
“A what beach?” said Alice
“A nude beach.”
“Yes,” said Alice
“You look really worried,” said Maggie, “what up? You’ve seen a naked person before, haven’t you?”
“Well, yes,” said Alice, “but not very often and not cavorting around in the open air and there was…there was…”
“There was what?”
“There was a woman with only one breast,” said Alice.
“Lots of women only have one breast.”
“But she was just sitting there with nothing on just chatting away to this guy as if everything was normal. She hadn’t even had any reconstructive surgery. There was just a scar.”
“Perhaps she didn’t want reconstructive surgery or couldn’t get it where she came from. What do you expect her to do? Put a sticker over her scar saying ‘stay away I’ve had cancer,’ wear a bikini top with a balloon in one of the cups? I really admire someone who’s got the self confidence to go out like that and just say ‘take me as I am and if you don’t like it you can get stuffed.’ Having breasts is part of what makes me a woman, and it’s part of what makes you a woman as well, but if I lost one or both of them I wouldn’t be any less a woman if that makes sense. That guy over there isn’t less of a man because he’s only got one leg is he?”
No one had ever called Alice a woman before. She thought about what her mother had said and although it was paradoxical she thought that she understood.
“I think bikini tops are just a bloody nuisance and if a man can go bare-chested on the beach then so can a woman how ever many breasts she’s got,” said Maggie. “But if you feel more comfortable wearing one then that’s your prerogative.”
The next morning it was just getting light when Alice woke up. She felt hot and sticky and realized that the air conditioning had gone off in the night. Maggie was still fast asleep sprawled naked across her bed with the covers thrown off. Aliceknew that her mother often slept nude but had never seen her like this before. She felt it was wrong to look but couldn’t help it. I grew inside her, I came out of her vagina, fed at her breasts and then she looked after me until I became a woman myself. Alice teared up at the thought. It might not be long before she was able to do the same for a baby of her own. Would that be with Leo or someone else? They were exchanging messages every day but she still wasn’t sure if she wanted to pick up where they had left off.
Alice quickly grabbed some clothes and crept out of the room The sun was only just emerging above the mountains to the East of the village. Haze on the horizon blurred the line between the sea and the sky turning the two into a continuous blue grey sheet. One of the nice things about Greece, thought Alice, is that all the beach furniture is left out overnight and never gets vandalised.
She sat down on one of sun beds and just listened to the soothing sound of the waves and the noises of the village waking up: a distant shout; a strident cockerel announcing the dawn which it would continue to do for the rest of the day; shop awnings being wound into position; an old lady with a walking stick tapping down the street exchanging a hoarse greeting with a friend. The breeze from the sea felt a little chilly so she hugged her knees up to her chest.
“Hi, Alice,” said a voice. It was Pieter.
“Oh, Pieter,” she said, “you made me jump. I was miles away.”
“Are you just taking some fresh air,” he said in clear and confident English with just a hint of a Dutch accent that made Alice tingle down to her toes.
“Yeah, the air conditioning went off in the hotel last night and the room’s still sweltering.”
Jan pulled a sketch pad from a small rucksack and said, “Do you mind if I draw you?”
“Yes, of course you can. I didn’t realise you were an artist too,” she said.
“I’m actually studying architecture,” he said “but art kind of goes with the territory.” He sat down opposite her. “Could you just look at me please and push your hair back with your hand. OK, and head a little higher please, that’s it. Right if you can hold it like that for the next two hours.”
“Two hours?”
“Only joking, about 10 minutes should be enough.” Pieter laid out several pencils beside him and then he picked one up. His hand flew over the paper occasionally darting away to pick up a different pencil. After only nine minutes he stopped. “Take a look,” he said.
Alice gasped, “That’s amazing,” she said. In only a few lines he captured the fall of her hair; and the shape of her hand against her face. Her body was perfectly proportioned and in a relaxed and natural looking pose.
He tore it off the pad and handed it to her. “Take it as a souvenir,” he said.
Maggie was very impressed with the picture. “He’s at least as good as his father,” she said. “Look at the way he’s drawn your eyes. You can see that he knows you fancy him.”
“He’s asked me to come to a bar with him after dinner,” said Alice.
“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” said Maggie doubtfully “he’s already used artistic license to take off your bra. Be careful or things could get out of hand.”
Alice looked at the picture again and noticed how Pieter had subtly changed the outline of her clothing. With a couple of lines and some light shading he had achieved a remarkable effect but it was a little creepy that he was already undressing her even before they’d touched. Now Pieter with a feather light touch had seen into her mind and reached below her clothes just by drawing a few lines on a piece paper. She couldn’t wait for life to start imitating art.
Alice reached the bar and found that Pieter was already there. He was wearing casual but high quality clothes: a T shirt, long shorts and a delicate chain around his neck.
“Hi Alice, you’re looking very nice,” he said and stood up to kiss her on both cheeks before offering her a seat. He smelt clean with just a hint of sandalwood. There was a singer who accompanied himself on several different instruments performing old standards such as Wonderful Tonight and then playing the lyra, a three stringed bowed instrument held on the knee that sounded more Middle-Eastern than Greek. The drink and conversation both flowed easily so that when the singer stopped at gone midnight Alice was feeling not only happy and relaxed but also a little drunk.
“Let go for a walk to clear our heads,” Pieter suggested.
“Why not?” said Alice throwing caution to the wind.
They walked down to the beach by the light of the Moon and before she knew it they were walking round into the bay where Alice had seen nude people and the one breasted woman the day before.
“Why don’t we go for a swim,” said Pieter and he pulled off his T shirt and dropped his shorts causing Alice to gasp when she saw that he didn’t have any underwear on. He neatly put his clothes on a sun bed. “Come, on,” he said, and he ran into the sea. Alice nervously undressed until she was just wearing her panties and went down to the water’s edge with her arms across her front. As she entered the water she nearly lost her balance and she had to put out her arms to steady herself. Pieter appeared next to her and took her by the hand out to where the waves were breaking. A large wave knocked them over and as they struggled back onto their feet he took her in his arms and pressed his body close to hers. It felt amazing and she couldn’t resist as he kissed her and gently ran his hand over her breast. The salt water on their lips tasted weird and she had to brush rat tails of hair out of her eyes. Her panties were getting very wet and uncomfortable and the elastic was struggling to hold them up so she stepped out of them, screwed them up and threw them to the shore. “Oh, no,” she cried as they failed to reach their target and landed in the water. She was just about to go after them when another wave nearly caused her to lose her balance again and she grabbed hold of Pieter and giggled. She looked again and her underwear had disappeared into the darkness. Oh well, she thought they were only cheap ones.
Pieter led her out of the water and they sat down on a sun bed next to the one where they had left their clothes. “I’ll just get something from my shorts,” he said going over to his clothes and taking out of his pocket what looked like a packet of condoms. His silhouette in the half light looked amazing and she brought her feet up onto the sun bed and lay down as he came and lay down beside her.
Alice was thrilled as Pieter pressed his body against her. Then she saw his face in the moonlight glinting off the sea. He looked kind, excited and very handsome but suddenly she felt terrible dread. “No, no, no!” she screamed pushing him away and scrabbling to the other sun bed to grab her short dress, leaving her tights, bra and shoes behind.
“Alice,” said Pieter, “if you don’t want to that’s fine.”
Alice ignoring what he had said started running naked down the beach calling back to him, “Sorry, there’s someone else.”
She put her dress back on which barely covered her bottom and clung to her wet body. Without her bra and tights she felt almost as naked as she’d been before. The streets were deserted but as she slunk back to the hotel she felt as if there were a thousand pairs of eyes watching her and a thousand voices whispering “We know what you’ve been doing you teasing slut.”
When she reached the room she knocked frantically on the door, “Mum, Mum let me in.” she said as loudly as she dared.
“OK, OK,” came Maggie’s sleepy voice, “keep your hair on.”
She was shocked to see Alice come staggering in and flop down on her bed, crying her eyes out.
“Alice, what happened?”
“Please just leave me alone,” said Alice.
“But are you alright?” her mother asked fearing the worst.
“I went along with him until the last second and then ran away. What if I see him tomorrow? I’m going to die a virgin,” and she buried her head in her pillow weeping uncontrollably.
“No you’re not,” said Maggie stroking her head. “Come on. Get yourself in shower and you’ll feel better in the morning.”
Alice still looked shell shocked when they went out for breakfast. She was praying that she wouldn’t meet Pieter but just when Alice was feeling that she’d got away with it she looked up from spreading honey on her toast to see Jan and Pieter standing in front of them. “I think you lost these,” said Pieter giving her a plastic carrier bag. Inside clean and dry were her, shoes, tights, bra and even her panties that Pieter had miraculously recovered from the dark sea.
Alice cast down her head unable to look him in the eye. “Thanks,” she said.
“Alice,” said Pieter, “can we just have a little talk outside for a moment?”
Alice looked at her mother who just looked back and shrugged. She looked back at Pieter and then at the door as if planning an escape and then like a naughty school girl called to the principle’s office, she reluctantly followed Pieter outside.
“You upset me last night,” said Pieter.
“I’m sorry,” she said.
“You know what upset me most?”
“No.”
“It was because you didn’t trust me. You only had to say no. You didn’t have to run away as if I’d had a knife at your throat,” he said.
“I’m so sorry.” She thought that on a scale of 1 to 10 she had just scored 11 for stupidity.
Pieter continued, “I just thought that we could have a bit of fun together. I didn’t want to hurt or upset you.”
Alice was touched. Not only was he good looking but he was now being amazingly kind and reasonable. She realized that she hadn’t checked for any messages from Leo for over 24 hours. Was he still interested her? Was she about to get a Guinness World Record for relationship cock up of the century?
“I shouldn’t really have come on to you,” said Pieter, “I’ve got a girlfriend at home and it seems you’ve got someone too.”
“I hope he still wants me,” said Alice weakly
“I’m sure he does,” said Pieter, “he’s a very lucky guy. Look I’m catching the ferry to Santorini this afternoon so I won’t see you again but let’s keep in touch. He gave her a very business-like name card with his contact details including a QR code.
After Jan and Pieter had gone Alice sat down with Maggie again. “I need to get my head straightened out,” said Alice, “I’m going to go for a walk.”
“Careful,” said Maggie, “it’s very hot.”
Alice bought a large bottle of water and some fruit and put them in a small backpack and set off along the coastal path dressed in a T shirt, shorts and a hat. She soon realised that her mother hadn’t been joking about the heat. The sunlight was so strong it felt as if it were pushing against her; the scent of wild thyme seemed to displace the oxygen in the air and the buzz of bees blurred with the sound of the sea to create confusion in her head. But she wasn’t going to be deterred. She went past the naturist beach and into the scrubland beyond where the path was faint and little used. She was aching and drenched in sweat when after a couple of hours she reached a little beach of fine shingle. She sat down on a rock feeling light headed and very thirsty. After drinking about half the water and eating a couple of nectarines she felt a little better but she needed to cool down. There was no one around so she took off all her clothes and walked into the sea naked, something she would never have imagined doing only a couple of days before. The bottom suddenly dropped off very steeply and she only just managed to grab a breath before her head disappeared under the water. She spluttered back to the surface emerging as if new born. She didn’t care any more what her friends thought of her. What was wrong with going on holiday with her mother? She didn’t have to get drunk every night to have fun. It was great to be saving herself for someone special. Who cares if she didn’t have a body like a model? She stood at the edge of the water, raised her arms in the air, shouted at the top of her voice, “I’m Alice and I love Leo,” and then let herself fall back into the sea. When she came up again, she saw a young couple coming along the path only about 50 metres away. She watched the couple as they came down onto the beach and sat down only a few metres away from her things and took off their clothes. Alice stayed up to her neck in the water wondering how she was going to get back to her stuff.
The woman came down to the shoreline naked and sat in the water letting the small waves wash over her while the man laid out a picnic.
“Hello,” she said “it’s hot today. Isn’t it.”
“Yes,” said Alice. “Er, where are you from?’
“Poland, I’m Lena and my boyfriend is Henryk. I assume you are from England. I studied in Manchester as an exchange student a few years ago.”
“Yes, I’m Alice. I’m hoping to go to Manchester Uni next year if I get good enough grades”
They chatted some more and Alice almost forgot that she was naked. Lena then swam out into deeper water and Alice decided she’s better get back to her things. Taking a deep breath, she stood up in the water and walked back up the beach resisting the temptation to cover herself with her hands and arms. Henryk looked up and nodded at her but didn’t stare.
She decided that the time had come for her to get dressed and walk back to the village. The couple gave her a friendly wave as she left. When the beach was nearly out of sight Alice stopped and looked back. The couple were standing at the edge of the sea and as she watched they gave each other a kiss.
The next day was the last full day of their holiday. After breakfast the two of them went to their usual spot on the beach. Alice was just about to put on her bikini top under her T shirt then had second thoughts just took her shirt right off. Maggie looked at her in surprise. “What are you looking at,” said Alice, “haven’t you seen a woman sunbathing before?”
Her mother smiled. “You’d better put some cream on the pale bits sunburnt nipples are really uncomfortable.”
When they arrived back in England the next afternoon Leo waiting for them at the airport. He came towards her and produced a bunch of flowers from behind his back. No one had given Alice flowers before, tears welled up in her eyes and she kissed him. “Thank you they’re beautiful,”
Maggie watched from a safe distance.
“Hello Leo,” she said when they had finally disentangled themselves, “how did you get here?”
“I came on the train,” he said. “I’ve got a return ticket.”
“You shouldn’t have bothered. You can have a lift with us if I can find my parking ticket that is.”
When they got home Alice and Leo immediately disappeared up to her room. A little while later Alice came into the kitchen where Maggie was making dinner.
“Mum, is it OK if Leo stays the night?”
“That’s fine,” said Maggie, “but don’t moan and scream too loudly.”
“Mum, you always manage to rise to the challenge of being an embarrassing parent.”
“Years of practice. Seriously though, you don’t have to go all the way tonight. Only do what you’re comfortable with.’
“I know Mum, we’ve already talked about that.”
Maggie smiled. “There, I told you he was worth sticking with.”
“Yeah, I’m glad we went on holiday together. I found out a lot about myself. We ought to do it again sometime.”
“I’d like that,” said Maggie. “Dinner’s going to be in about half an hour. I’ll give you a shout about five minutes beforehand so you’ve got a chance to get your clothes back on.”
“You just can’t help it, can you?”
Maggie came down to the kitchen in the morning to find Alice cooking a fried breakfast. Alice skipped up her mother and kissed her on the cheek, something she didn’t often do. “My, you’re in a good mood,” said Maggie, “I assume everything went OK.”
“Well,” said Alice, “the first couple of times were a bit awkward and uncomfy but the third time was amazing. I understand now why they call it making love.”
“What happened the fourth time?” said Maggie with a glint in her eye.
“Fourth time? We did do some sleeping as well,” said Alice. “It was so nice to be cuddled up together even if it was hot.”
“So you’re trying to build up his strength again with a cooked breakfast are you?” said Maggie
“Embarrassing parent alarm quivering,” said Alice.
“While I’m in that mode,” said Maggie “I feel it’s only right for me to tell you something. You’ve been very open with me but I’ve kept back something important. You remember the day you went out for that long walk?”
“Yes,” said Alice sounding doubtful.
“Well not long after you’d left I ran into Jan and we went back to his place and… erm ...we had sex on his patio in the sunshine.”
Alice stood open mouthed. “But Mum you said there was no chemistry there.”
“There isn’t,” said Maggie, “but we did some amazing physics and biology and we agreed to meet up again when he’s in London later this month for an exhibition of his work.”
“I thought that there was something different about you when I got back that day. Are you in love with him?”
“Absolutely not,” said Maggie, “he’s just a very nice man who’s very good to have sex with.”
“Are you telling me that you’re Jan’s you-know-what buddy?”
“Yes, as you put it, I am Jan’s you-know-what buddy. Oh, watch out. You’re burning Leo’s sausage.” They both broke down in helpless laughter when they realised what Maggie had said.
At that moment the phone rang. “Oh hello Jan,” said Maggie answering it. “We were just talking about you.” 🪐
Author’s Afterword
Although this story is set in a fictional Greek town it is loosely based on Paleochora on the South West coast of the island of Crete. There are sun beds and parasols for rent on a naturist beach only a short walk from town. The beach, like a number of others in the area, is not ‘officially’ designated but has become accepted for nude bathing over the years by custom and practice. All the beach furniture is left out over night.
If you encounter an isolated beach and take all your clothes off, then its unlikely that anyone else who comes along will object.
If you want to read more of my writing then go to my substack page Science Fiction and Such Like, or take a look at my science fiction novel ‘A Suggestion in Space.’ It’s an interstellar adventure and romance in a society where nudity is generally accepted although this is not the main focus of the story.
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A nice gentle story of every day naked folk