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I come close when I'm alone and there's a really emotional moment in something I'm reading or watching. Crying in ordinary life? I dunno. I've often wished I could, though not for joy. Kind of sad to think of it, but I can't remember ever being particularly joyful at all, let alone enough to warrant tears...

Interesting how you've sort of got me losing some respect for his friends (well, some of 'em) just as Coop is sort of gaining some. I like that, it's an interesting turn.

I know exactly what you mean. A few similar experiences of my own were in large part the inspiration for this story.

Hey Louis, thanks for the review. And no, I don't mind you asking at all. I don't normally avoid dialog tags, but this piece was written as it is for a few reasons:First, the spoken text has a lot of phrases like "keep your voice down" and "stop muttering" in it which, given how little each speaker's tone changes through the story, are more than sufficient to convey how the two are speaking. Throwing an "Anna said, her voice rising" or "Anna muttered" into the preceding sentence would be awkward and redundant (doubly true given my love of adverbs). I felt that one or the other has to go, and the spoken words took precedence as they convey something about their speaker in addition to the content that I'd otherwise put in a tag.Second, they're talking rapidly, cutting each other off, and hardly pausing to think at all (Olga because she almost unconsciously leads with expressions of outrage and frustration, Anna because she evidently doesn't care to think in the first place). Tags would break up the flow.Third, their manner of speech isn't changing very rapidly at all. That makes for line after line of character names followed by synonyms for "snapped" and "interrupted". When a bunch of synonyms for one and the same word end up densly packed (and they'd be pretty dense, given how short some of the lines are), it starts looking just a little silly.Finally, there just wasn't any need. The descriptive content is fit neatly into the spoken text without making it feel awkward or stilted. Neither are tags needed to keep track of who the current speaker is, because it's just a simple back-and-forth reinforced by their differing attitudes and the odd line where they say each other's names.And it seems now that I've completely overthought this response. I should go back to bed...

Thank you.

Thanks!

Thanks Sara! It was fun writing it. And thanks again for the quick proof.

"This cashier," she said testily in Russian to her friend, "needs to hurry up." "Why? We're not in a hurry." "I don't like standing in this line, is all. Anyways, look at her, look how slowly she's ringing his things in. Typical lazy Canadians..." "What? We haven't been waiting all that long." "Fine. I don't like standing in this line with him." "Anna, don't point like that, it's rude. And anyway what's wrong with him?" "Look at him! All weak and scrawny, and his hair's too lon

The thing about knowing foreign languages is you never know what you might overhear...

Well, Chase's marriage is pretty much what I expected it to be. Much as I wanted to hate him I kinda figured it was more convenience than disloyalty. Still, there's a lot more than just that holding those two apart. As far as Cooper, wow, he grew up (a bit). I wonder if it'll last. Kind of expect it won't. Especially not if Kyle goes all miserable and self-destructive, which you seem to be leading towards (an if you're not then wow is Coop ever delusional). Can't see the book thing going well. Not at all.

Not bad at all. Loved the very last line. Near the end you wrote: "Did you just for me to go on a date with you?" Looks like you a verb, there.

A spaceship.

That was a really good story. Short and bittersweet. You packed a lot into so few words. It actually hits very close to the way I've felt at times, that I could fade away without anybody even noticing. I'm sure that's a common feeling, but, even if it isn't, you've captured it very well.

Y'know, I've thought all along that it would be that type of story. And I hate that type of story. And still you've had me hooked all along. Glad I came to read the forums - now I can look forward to the next chapter without also dreading it. Great story, Adam.

Wow. This is...atrocious. Are these parents under the impression that they're going to get a normal boy out of this with no lasting issues, or do they really just not give a shit about their child so long as they get a boost to their social status out of it? Like...wow. Just wow.

Nah. Wasn't heavy-handed at all. It fit perfectly with Sean's character, and it's exactly the sort of thing I'd expect to come out of the frustration of trying to minimally fit in and tag along but being largely ignored meets some real deep conviction coupled with all the things he's always wanted to say but held back.

Hi, I've been reading stories here for, well, months, now (doesn't seem it - time flies when you're having fun and all), and I figured I'd finally register and say hello. So, uh... Hello!

Well, I had work to get done...

What makes you think the child is yours?