Ok, ok, bad, bad Lugh... What's new? Well we have two for you -- enjoy!

review by Cia

For those who love to read the unexpected, check out The Mall by Mike00. A teenage boy goes to the mall with his mother and something he never would have dreamed of happening, does. Lost in a bizarre new situation, he has to make decisions and face things he never would have imagined.

First kisses, dreams, loneliness, and chocolate bars all come together in an enthralling short story with a twist. I don't want to give too much away since the story is less than 10k, but you won't regret taking the time to read it! Mike's talked about turning this story into a longer serial piece, and I'd love to see that happen. Review it for him, so that maybe we can convince him to get it going!!

review by wildone

In Safe Hands by Riley Jericho is a recently completed story that has garnered the nomination of Best GA Story by a Non Hosted/Non Promising Author. It truly deserves to be there for the author’s true ability to tell a story.

Elliott Carter, the near 14 year old son of a UPS executive, has found himself growing up as many different countries in his life than most of us would be able to travel to in a lifetime. The story begins with the introduction of his family and the setting is a short vacation in Spain before the family settles in America. Elliot is happy to leave the dreary weather and the self-imposed isolated living of the UK. With going to America he sees a glimmer of hope that he finally may be able to attend a regular school, rather than continuing the home education his Mom has provided to ensure they got a decent education.

One of the biggest things to come won’t be the pending arrival to the US, but his meeting and befriending of Miguel Ortiz.

Set over a length of couple of weeks finds the two making a lifelong friendship that Elliot had always avoided in the past. His anxieties about making friends when he would always know a move was around the corner had him protecting himself from the inevitable. Except this time, Miguel will break down those barriers that Elliot had carefully built up.

It just so happens that Miguel also brings out feelings for the first time that have Elliot questioning who he is, what he is, and is he alone in the way he feels. The journey to discovery is filled with a lot of guessing, wishing, hoping and disappointment.

I would hardly call this a teenage angst coming out story. If anything, more of the angst comes from Elliot’s 10 year old brother, one that we all seem to have in our past. It is more about a generally quiet, shy, introverted 14 y/o who begins to notice guys for the first time, or maybe not, and goes about it in a careful, calculated way.

As readers we get to enjoy the journey of Elliot growing up quickly from his point of view as well as others in the story. Told in third person, the narrator feels like he is Elliot and you know what he is thinking as well as the ones around him. It is a comfortable easy read, that wants you to click on the next chapter without having a lot of tension at the end of the previous chapter.

I invite you all to join this heartwarming and heart breaking story that drew me in from the first chapter and kept me following to the very end. Definitely a 4.5/5 on my scale.

This story is supposedly associated with another Riley Jericho story, An English Teen, Circumcised in America, but you don’t need to read to enjoy this story to its fullest. I didn’t.

Please read and review!
Happy writing!
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