LOVE AND DEATH IN VENICE, by Jerry Miller

[Tragic Rabbit]

Excerpt from Love and Death in Venice:

?Death in Venice? is one of those movies you can?t forget. I saw it for the first time when I was twenty. I had just moved to Indianapolis in 1972. I took my only day off and went to the Woodlands Theatre to see the movie...I was only one of about twelve in the audience. I knew it was a gay themed movie, but I watched anyway. Even with the thoughts that were circulating in my own head, I didn?t get the subtext to the movie itself. Not until now.

Love and Death in Venice, by Jerry Miller, is an exclusive to Awesome Dude, a very personal story by one of our best new authors. Jerry has already given us Behind the Silver Screen and Born to be a Missionary, both of which touch on his experiences as a gay Mormon.

You can contact Jerry at gaymormonwriter@yahoo.com and you can read Love and Death in Venice only at AD.

After sixteen months in Waco, I was offered a new theatre in Orlando, Florida. I accepted, a decision I regret to this day. I didn?t let Chase know I was leaving Texas. He found me though. I figured he would. We agreed to stay in contact. Chase amazed me that he wanted to continue our friendship. One Sunday morning, after being in Florida for seven months, he called me. It was a conversation I would never forget either.

?Hello,? I said, answering the phone from a deep sleep.

?Hey there,? he said. I recognized his voice.

I glanced at the clock radio and said, ?Hey, why aren?t you in church??

?My father won?t let me come right now.?

?Why not??

?I got into trouble with him.?

?I can?t imagine your ever being in trouble with your Dad,? I said.

I heard him breathing softly for a few moments before he said, ?I got into some personal integrity trouble.?

?Well, that would only have to be drugs or sex,? I said, jokingly.

?It wasn?t drugs.?

Sex! A healthy eighteen-year-old boy with hormones found his own discoveries, I thought.

?Wow! Chase. Some girl had her way with you,? I said, with a chuckle.

The next few words were ones I never expected to hear, at least not from Chase.

?It wasn?t with a girl.?

Chapter One online at: http://www.awesomedude.com/stories/LDiV/lo...enice_title.htm