Andy78

London is doing its usual. Uncomfortable, sticky, humid days in the 80s and 90s with he odd bit of rain thrown in. But give it another week and we'll be back to temps in the low 70s with lots of rain

A lovely tale Dolores, very different from my one. Reminds me of the legends of the ravens at the Tower of London.

#161 sounds familiar for some reason. Have we had a similar prompt recently, or am I just slowly going strange? I like #160, not overly drawn to trying out #161; not yet anyway, maybe after I sleep on it, inspiration will come.

After today, I'm adding cyclists who flat out ignore road traffic rules. A cyclist almost ran some guy over after cycling through a red stop light at 35 mph, a cyclist almost ran me over after going through a side entrance that was marked no entry, and another cyclist almost got smushed by a car after ignoring a no left turn sign; it was no left turn for a bloody good reason - to stop stupid cyclists from getting smushed. And you wanna know the really crazy thing? Under the law, none of these cyclists did anything wrong.

This has been a great tip. It has given so many a small glimpse into the world of some of our authors.

This is just another problem that occurs in sports where these days we have the technology to allow for video replays, and in some sports (such as cricket) an umpire/referees decision can be appealed against and videotapes and technology consulted to ensure the correct call has been made. But these technologies and appeals processes need to be made available in every sport. It seems to me that the American player was perhaps a little quick in calling for the time penalty, as you said in your post "Abby Wambach admits to the world later that she counts out loud every time that the Canadian goalie has the ball, near the ref, to influence her to make a oft not use penalty of delay of game". She was clearly determined to use this rule to her advantage come what may. Usually, referees grant some leeway with these time regulations if the game is not obviously being delayed. There is a similar time penalty in cricket, and it is even less often called for - only twice in professional competition in the past hundred years and upheld never. Perhaps Canada were just unlucky to get a by the book ref

Happy birthday. Enjoy your special day.

That's great news Benji. I'm so glad that your family have been so supportive. It's not the easiest thing in the world to tell anyone, and just knowing that they don't love you any less, is the best any of us hope for; and whatever comes on top of that is a bonus.

Doesn't look like he could do much damage

Another great chapter. The boys have Bill and Michelle to rely on and for emotional support which is great. You also write Sarah really well and I love to hate her. Makes me wonder how Bill and Sarah ever got together in the first place? Keep up the great writing.

I certainly enjoy getting reviews from my readers. A big thank you to everyone who has read and reviewed my stories. It really is only the comments, feedback and reviews we get that keeps us posting our stories. I think most, if not all, of us would continue to write, but we just wouldn't bother posting our stories. I think that is part of the reason why so many new authors disappear or stop posting a story part way through; with a lack of feedback and reviews, it is very easy for a new author to give up.

The media pulled the same crap with gymnast Dominique Moceanu of the USA at Atlanta 96. Her two vaults where she ended up on her bum were played over and over by the media here in the UK, to the extent that it was about all of the gymnastics that was remembered - people probably don't even remember that the USA won the women's team gold for gymmnastics. I remember watching a lot of the gymnastics at Atlanta and her amazing floor routine will never be remembered because of the absence of media coverage - I'm not saying it was up the there with Lilia Podkapayeva, but she only just missed out on an individual bronze. The media either need to start reporting responsibly with events such as the Olympics, or just stop reporting it altogether.

I just wish we'd done a little better in the artistic gymnastics, we always seem to suck at it for some reason.

You're not the first person to ever do that, and you certainly won't be the last. I've done it more than once before.

Bill is quite correct, that's exactly what a binder is. I do not know how GID is managed in the States, but over here he would have been started on puberty blockers to prevent the female puberty from happening - or at least dramatically reduce it's effect. Then once the age of puberty is passed (which under UK guidelines is aged 16), he would have been started on testosterone injections, and possibly growth hormones, to effectively go through the male puberty and to build up body mass and muscles. I presume none of this would be covered by insurance companies in the US, but please correct me if I'm wrong. There have been a few kids with GID lately who have been treated at the hospital where I work. As if coping with cancer isn't difficult enough for a child, once you throw in the emotional turmoil of GID, it becomes a whole different ball game.

Well thankfully I only got as far as my first draft on the winter antho

Welcome to GA Elena. I'm sure you'll find something you'll enjoy reading.

I assume you mean Andy Murray

The present (December 15th 2011): My name is Josiah Banners; I’m fourteen years old and have been the victim of bullying since starting at St Catherine’s; Christ I sound like someone at an AA meeting. Most of the bullying has consisted of verbal insults and snide comments, but then about three weeks ago it got a lot worse, a hell of a lot worse; but I’m getting ahead of myself. Let me see. I suppose this all started on the first day of the school year, which would have been Tuesday Septembe

Josiah Banners is being bullied at school, and things only get worse when the fact he is gay gets out. As events come to a truly frightening head, help comes from an unlikely source.

Here's hoping you have a great day Mike. Happy birthday.

Now third in the medal table. One more gold and we can overtake Korea and get into third place, but I can't imagine team GB doing better than third place overall.

Thanks for the review Cyn. These prompt stories have to end somewhere, and leaving the ending open like that seemed like the right place for this one. To be honest I haven't really thought about what happens next. Each reader will simply have to decide for themselves .

"Always" is on my next to read list. Just sadly my next to read list is number 78 on my list of things to do list , must find ways to improve this

We were all up early in the morning and we were in the lounge having breakfast as soon as they opened the doors. Kodi and I were eating as though we were facing the next three weeks without food, and by half past six we’d eaten enough to feed an army; even Jess was putting away a not inconsiderable amount of food and for her breakfast usually only consists a bowl of cereal. “I’ve booked a taxi to take us to the station. We’ve got about an hour to finish eating, so you two can stop inhaling yo