[Cia] With Open Arms by Cia

[Graeme]

With Open Arms by Cia

Fear and pain surround Wes. His journey is witnessed and shared by the one person who will never give up on him. He just has to take that first step.

:nuke: :nuke: Spoilers Below!!! :nuke: :nuke:

[Andrew Q Gordon]

When I read this harkened back to a conversation I had with you I believe about knees and scars and wondered if any of this was autobiographically inspired - Yes you really are a man named Wesley and you're gay and all, this whole Cia thingy is an online persona designed to ensnare unsuspecting confessed gay men who think they might be straight then you threaten to 'IN" them to their boyfriends unless they pay you gobs of $$.

 

Anyway, I digress of course. The emotions were very raw, I as said in the review and I see from your reply that there is a bit of "I know what this is like" in your story. I can totally see that. Emotion is hard, good emotional writing is harder, so this was a for that.

 

(I only posted this here and not in a PM because I'm trying to get my post count to a thousand JK, okay, sorta, not really )

[Cia]

LOL. Who knows? I just might be that deviously deviant... muah ha ha ha You may be more of a reviewed/reviewer than I am but I've got you beat on forum posts! Ha! Well.. I do have almost a year headstart on you. No catching up to me, it just wouldn't be right!!

 

As for the realism... Yep, some things come straight from memory. I was trapped in our car for over an hour while they cut it apart around me because it was crumpled so small and they thought I broke my neck or back or both. The firefighter I'll never forget held my head straight for that whole time and never once stopped talking to me and letting me know what was going on around me, even though I know I was annoying and asked where Josh was and told him I could wiggle my toes 50 million times. Massive concussions from breaking out the window with your head will scramble your brains a bit, lol!!

 

The chaos of the ER, the absolute blank right after I finally was awake enough to be aware of how hurt I was and the resulting explosion after I was out of the hospital because I was just so damn mad at the world for being crippled when I shouldn't be definitely are my memories too. I was fortunate enough not to hurt my back or neck but it still took over a year to be able to walk without a walker, crutches or cane and there were moments of excruciating effort to force my leg to work properly that I felt had to come out in the scene where Wes is taking his first steps.

 

So all in all... yes, a lot of this story is straight from what happened to me, more came from how I felt during the accident and my recovery though. I made sure I added enough changes to keep it from being autobiographical but it definitely is very much a reflection on a major part of my life that still affects me to this day.

 

Thanks for taking the time to comment on top of the review and pm, hun!!!

[Bandage]

Great story, Cia! I really felt for that poor Wes, so I'd guess your mission is accomplished!

I really liked how you scrambled the time frame, I think it's a difficult thing to pull off, but you certainly did so, and with flair!

 

I'm sorry to hear it's a bit autobiographical

[Cia]

Thank you Bandage! I did hope that really having a pipeline to how the character felt would make it more dramatic and real. I'm glad it really came through. I came to terms with the accident a long time ago but I'm very actively outspoken against anyone drinking and driving since the person who hit us was very drunk. Perhaps that will be something to write about later... hmmm.... Anyway, Thanks for commenting hun, I can always count on you to leave some little nugget somewhere and I really do appreciate it!

[Benji]

Thank you Bandage! I did hope that really having a pipeline to how the character felt would make it more dramatic and real. I'm glad it really came through. I came to terms with the accident a long time ago but I'm very actively outspoken against anyone drinking and driving since the person who hit us was very drunk. Perhaps that will be something to write about later... hmmm.... Anyway, Thanks for commenting hun, I can always count on you to leave some little nugget somewhere and I really do appreciate it!

 

.................Great story Cia, I especially liked how you had the end in the beginning!!

[Bandage]

Thank you Bandage! I did hope that really having a pipeline to how the character felt would make it more dramatic and real. I'm glad it really came through. I came to terms with the accident a long time ago but I'm very actively outspoken against anyone drinking and driving since the person who hit us was very drunk. Perhaps that will be something to write about later... hmmm.... Anyway, Thanks for commenting hun, I can always count on you to leave some little nugget somewhere and I really do appreciate it!

 

Hehe you know I can't write long reviews, I'd certainly do so if I could

 

Keep your muse, it's certainly a good one!

[Cia]

.................Great story Cia, I especially liked how you had the end in the beginning!!

 

Thanks so much Benji. I wasn't sure if that was going to work but I wanted to see if knowing the story had a happy ending affected the emotional impact of the rest of the story. I'm not sure quite yet but I think it worked!!

 

Hehe you know I can't write long reviews, I'd certainly do so if I could

 

Keep your muse, it's certainly a good one!

 

 

Awwww, thanks hun! I'll keep plugging away writing if you keep reading! I don't care how long your reviews are, I treasure every one.

[phana14]

This is one of the sweetest short stories ever.

 

Very quickly, as we are introduced to Wes and Doug, I knew that it was going to be one for me. I was right.

 

It doesn't take long to fall in love with a story when the characters exude love as these two did.

 

Thanks, Cia.

[Cia]

This is one of the sweetest short stories ever.

 

Very quickly, as we are introduced to Wes and Doug, I knew that it was going to be one for me. I was right.

 

It doesn't take long to fall in love with a story when the characters exude love as these two did.

 

Thanks, Cia.

 

Thanks back! I did want to really pull the reader in and leave the ending at the beginning that way the fact that this was a love story, one of those happily ever afters I so enjoy to read myself. That is one of the things I experienced myself, my husband taking care of me and doing the things I couldn't. We had just gotten married so we were so wrapped up in each other and then bad things happened. We made the best of them and got that much closer. It's what I wanted to show with Wes and Doug, that type of love that makes it through the hard times. Thanks again for leaving the review and a comment in my forum, it means a lot!!

[Conner]

Beautiful story, Cia!

 

Conquering personal adversity is one of my favourite themes.

 

I loved Doug for the man he was in this story. There's no doubt in my mind that he was also presented with a huge personal challenge. I shudder to think how I would have reacted in similar circumstances.

 

Did you consider showing at least a little "chink" in Doug's armour? I'm just curious.

[Cia]

I did but honestly the story wasn't about Doug. The relationship was there and obviously important but it was more of what he was doing FOR Wes than how he reacted to the recovery process after the accident and his emotions. I realize I made him a bit 'ideal' and it was a direct contrast to the realism of the accident and Wes' recovery but well, I'm a sucker for an all around good guy. I'll definitely keep in mind that my good guys can be 'too good' for future stories and try to give them realism by showing their flaws as well. Thanks for the comments Conner, and giving me something to think about!