Dodger

Thank you so much, AC. I'm sorry that you have been hurt recently. I have noticed your recent absence from GA as no doubt have a lot of others. You bring a lot to this site, not just your fine work but with your comments, advice, and support and it's a gap that cannot be filled so I'm hoping that you are able to find your way through your mess. I know that I'm not alone in these sentiments and your honesty is easy to see but difficult to respond to. I can only answer with the truth because we don't have enough time in our lives for bullshit. It may not help that much and you will probably hear this from a lot of people, but it's clear that you have a lot of good friends on this site and that is a valuable asset that you should use. I was unsure whether or not I should share my own issues here. I had been hesitating right up until the moment of posting, worried about what people would say or if anyone was going to say anything at all. I nearly deleted the content at the last minute, so sure I was that no one would want to read about my real life problems on a site where people come to read fiction. I was also unsure about adding my own health issues to a blog that was meant to be a tribute to Skinnydragon. I didn't want people to think that I was being disrespectful in any way, but rather to show how this terrible news, in the end, made me realise how lucky I was. I'm glad now that I chose not to keep this to myself because the messages of support, including yours, were priceless and sometimes I think that no matter how self-confident we are, at times we all need reassurance. There are a lot of good people on this site and it is a close community that I have only just started to appreciate. I hope that we will soon see you back to your normal best my friend.

I think that it would be totally out of character for Daniel to do something like that, even if he is annoyed at Robbie for whatever reason. We haven't seen anything to suggest that he has a violent streak in him, but I'm not going to say outright that it wasn't him either. Thank you for your comment. Nicola's not all bad, in fact, she's convinced that her treatment of Robbie has been justified and Robbie even admits to playing the sympathy card whenever he can to get an advantage. Her battles with Robbie are family squabbles though, and contrary to what Robbie believes, she has always accepted him as a part of that family. This is evident in the last chapter when she rushes to help him, in the same way as she would have done for Daniel or Amy.

Looks as if I got it wrong about the Jays. I thought they were gonna pick up where they left off last year. 1 - 8!!! What's happening boys?

I enjoyed the game tonight but not the ending of course. Might not need the 3 game wait and see with the Leafs, but I'll cheer on every Canadian team (even the Habs). So I'll be hoping the Flames can break their 26 game duck against Anaheim tonight. Sorry for the pun.

Yes, there was a rail car ferry to Cobourg in the 1920's that operated up until the second world war. More information here. https://www.cobourghistory.ca/histories/cobourg-s-rail-car-ferry-history A lot of people would claim that Robbie is his own worst enemy and makes life difficult for himself, but he probably hasn't been dealt the best of hands in life, except for when Nathan was dealing of course!

Sue is also a part-time nurse, so she should know about the dangers of concussion. Whether or not Robbie was pushed or not remains to be seen, but the school should be able to find this out fairly quickly by checking the CCTV footage. Thanks for your comment Tim.

After the disappointment of last year, it's good to see 5 Canadian teams in the playoffs and probably a relief for the NHL. I can't see any team from here winning the Stanley Cup, but I'll fill out my guesses and try to be realistic. As much as I'd like to see it happen, only a complete idiot would pick the Maple Leafs to beat Washington, so I'm going against my team and hope that I'm wrong.

Thanks, actually I've read quite a lot of stories on this site but I'm ashamed to admit that in the early days I rarely bothered to log in, comment, review or participate that much. After posting my own story I began to understand how important this was and started getting more involved. I've been lifted by positive comments that I have received and driven by some negative one too. Now I have a little more time on my hands, I'm enjoying commenting or at very least showing some appreciation for the stuff that I'm reading or have read in the past. I will catch up with your other stories!

And Tim of course for editing. Just noticed that you edit for Gary.

Chrisis Eve, was one of the best short stories that I've ever read. I remember reading it twice in a day and I've never done that before. Dirty Pool is great too, but I'm a bit behind on your other work. Great choice for author promo. Well done Gary.

A long walk, minimum of half an hour--try to clear your head while walking--then straight to bed. This depends on where you live of course, probably not a good idea to walk around some neighborhoods late at night. I've lived in places where insomnia would be a healthier option, but if you can, walking always helps and is good exercise too, although I'm no health freak.

Ha ha, love it! I will visit one day, but I'm not interested in Los Angelesation, Disneyland, or Hollywood. I would go to the National Parks, Redwood, Joshua Tree, Channel islands. Probably San Fransico (I like bridges). I'm not after a second home, so I'll pass on that one. Although, it's not just California that's being bought up by the Chinese. There are loads of empty apartments along the river in London that are owned by them and kept empty, while the city has a growing homeless crisis. In Vancouver, they are trying to address the problem by putting a 15% property transfer tax for foreign buyers, and Toronto looks like doing the same. House prices in both cities have gone through the roof in recent years and the same is true of London, where it's no longer possible to buy an average family terraced house for less than half a million pounds. Oh yeah, I guess California doesn't have much of a heritage just yet, but maybe in the future? Nice tangent you started here.

I don't think that it's odd at all to be reading a story at any age. The characters may be young, but it's not really written for teenagers. I think we can all identify with younger characters in stories, because we've probably made a lot of the same mistakes and worried endlessly over the same problems that in the end didn't turn out to be problems. I'm rambling, but thanks so much for commenting and I'm pleased that you have found some enjoyment from it. It makes the effort worthwhle. Oh, and congratulations on coming out at 62. It's never too late!

'Adorkable' I love that and you're probably right. It does suite him. Not too many cliffhangers left. Thanks for leaving a comment.

Thanks for your comment Kjamieson. Yeah it's hard even for me to keep up. I think we all knew that Rory was going to be OK. He's a nice guy and Robbie obviously values his friendship. There's no reason why they can't be best pals. Daniel is a worry, because his behaviour is so untypical of him, we will have to wait and see how much he knows, if anything.

Well spotted, thanks. Of course--Spring Equinox is not in June--all fixed now. Yeah, I think Jake has to be hot favourite.

“Robbie has done remarkably well, and we’re very pleased with his progress. He’s made a few friends and proved himself to be a capable and popular student.” It sounded as if Mr Andrews was reading from a script, but I was happy to accept his candy-coated compliments as we played hosts to the school principle and his young wife. Nicola, unimpressed by his laudatory remarks, rolled her eyes at me from across the dinner table, but I had put a lot of effort into improving my grades and was prou

I don't think that it's a bad thing for cities to have these regulations, they do a lot of good and without them, we would probably have lost a lot of our heritage, replaced with stainless steel and glass. I like the Mission style architecture in California, all credit to Santa Barbara for preserving this.

Thank you so much for reading this chapter and for your positive comments, I hope that you enjoy the rest of the story.

There are a lot of these houses in Central London. Most of these Georgian and Victorian houses are listed buildings, which means they cannot be altered in any way, particularly at the front. There are strict rules that the property owners have to follow, which may seem petty, but the councils and English Heritage take it very seriously. They have a lot of power and control over these properties, even though they don't actually own any of them. The rules even govern the colour and type of paint that has to be used on the outside of the building as well as the height, font, colour, and position of the house number, which of course has to be hand painted and perfectly matched to the others in the street. The owners need to apply for planning permission before any works are able to be carried out even on the inside of these houses, like replacing the boiler as in the story. It's all done for a reason, of course, to preserve London's heritage, but sometimes it seems a little over regulated.

Thank you. I wasn't sure how well this story would be received by North American members. I wanted to keep the dialogue as realistic as possible without losing people along the way or having to interrupt the story to explain everything. I find accents and slang fascinating but difficult to write. I'm sure it's about getting the right balance, but I'm still just learning. I'm glad that you enjoyed the first chapter.

Corey's mother's behaviour is the complete opposite to that of most normal, 'loving and protective' mothers, but there are some out there. She should not have had children as she's not suited to be a mother. As for the reverend, well, it doesn't matter what religion he represents, why would anyone even bother to listen to this bigoted, condescending, bible-bashing, old bastard? With the church's history of abuse against children, he and his like would be the last people on earth that you would trust to guide your child. I would have slammed the door in his face! Great chapter, it really pissed me off!

Err...don't think so buddy, but if that don't tell you something, nothing will! I guess he's only young and wants to please his friend. Charlie is good, I think, but she got it wrong when she said that Bret had dumped him. He hasn't dumped him and that's the problem, Corey may not like it, but it should be obvious to Bret now that his friend isn't getting the hints and he needs to give it to him straight. Sleeping in the same bed is definitely not a good way of doing this. Good story and I'm quite liking the flashbacks.

Emi, you're younger than I am, you've got plenty of time to find someone special in your life, and for better reasons than just to let us know if you bite the dust.

178 St. James’s Walk was a three-storey Georgian townhouse that overlooked Regents Park. It was a prestigious address in the heart of London and only a brisk walk away from the West End or trendy Camden Market. The house was owned by one of the big record labels and used by their artists when visiting England to record, promote or tour. It had recently been renovated but the plain, featureless façade at the front disguised an opulent and surprisingly spacious interior. It was nine o’clock o