mayday

What a surprise!

this is your first attempt at writing? I can hardly believe it...

Great start. But now I have to read the first novel, too...

What's not to love about this wonderful story!

Camp Refuge is living up to its name. Great to read and such a tender story, with people only who love unconditionally for a change. What a welcome comeback. Thank you Wayne.

I posted it more than a year ago... sometimes the internet here is a bit iffy, though.

You have whisked me out of my bout of self-pity with your colourful images of life - I marvel at your way with words ...

I'll still be with you

I know embraces cannot heal pain and anguish. Virtual ones drift by in the wind.

Great chapter! I could not help laughing at the scene of Z. recoiling from the plunger. What a funny scene! Brilliant. I had always wondered how these two will ever manage to get together. You have worked your magic as ever. Great story!

Great ending! Thanks for a wonderful new story.

They found him. Lee told Eddie to keep away. He has got rid of him. Finally. Now just let our guys not be too late! Forgiving authors for cliffhangers would be easy if the next chapter was posted the next day!!! Harlan. He knew. Of course. Who else...

Isn't it sad to feel how special just having a room of his own and a clean, inviting bed are to Lee? Yes, there was so much to enjoy in this chapter, I agree with all of you before me on this, but somehow the omelette-making and the scene in the cabin have shown me more of Lee's past than even that horrible first chapter could. Has anybody ever shown real interest in Lee, in his abilities and his personality? These scenes, how Greg draws him out, how Lee starts developing ambition and a sliver of self-confidence, which was never there before, culminate in Harlan's assessment. But they also show the emotional abuse this boy suffered for the last years. And the squalor and dirt in Eddies apartment will now be a contrast to the cabin Lee can call his own. Avery will help him, if need be, to keep it as Lee likes it. I remember that Lee knows nothing about making life worth living. And I remember what you wrote about Eddie, Wayne: Why teach somebody to fish if you can buy him a can of tuna? This chapter is highlighting your comment brilliantly, by contrasting Eddie with Greg. Greg, who teaches him how to live. Who pays attention to him. Who tries to understand him instead of bending him to his will. I have always wondered how people can overcome the consequences of having been abused...

You have moved me to tears. Beautiful. I love the way past and present are joined here to make a promising future. How evil is buried and forgiven. How mother's love is remembered with love and new lives. And our two men right in the middle. You couldn't have given this story a better ending.

Beautiful - I like the way they complement each other, overcoming inhibitions. How difficult it must have been then to talk about something so intimate, not wanting to use any dirty words for it. Watching the trust and the love between them in the barber scene was wonderful, hearing Boone talking about using an enema - ingenious construction! - and then feeling their love for each other and their care - then hearing them promise for ever. Beautiful. It might just make me forgive you for saying that's it. But I do look forward to your epilogue. Thank you, Gary, for this beautiful story. And be well.

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The headline led me to expect something different, but what I read had me hooked immediately. I also liked your little trick of looking back on the scene in the office instead of following the timeline. I was wondering all the time why they would be buying horses first. Lemon with his hidden agenda... does not bode well, I'm afraid. I do hope that trouble won't unfold before they have made a few good friends. And I cannot help but think that a pair of watchdogs might be a good idea, too. I love how easy and happy the two of them are now. What a contrast to the constant tension and uncertainty of the first chapters. Thank you for another great chapter.

oh, it was hot, all right, but their intimacy and their happiness - words too weak - were far more shining

Beautiful and more than welcome on this dreary day, Gary! I wonder what more will come? Will they hit any obstacles buying their lots? Will they be accepted by the locals? Will they be able to prepare for winter? Will they take in orphans? There are so many ways this can go on, I just hope it does...

Great to be at Camp Refuge again. A wonderful present to start the new year with. And - although many have said this already - a very promising start. I found the scene in Eddie's apartment really harrowing, it made my heart ache for Lee, especially getting to know later that he had been there for three years... What a contrast to the last scene, where we see Lee getting a decent meal, one that he had made himself, too. I wonder how long it will take him to understand that he need not be afraid of our friends at the campground... and what it will take him to understand that. He seems - understandably - unable to trust anybody. I am also glad that his phone is destroyed which means that as long as Eddie does not come to get him he will be safe from that creature. but I am sure that we have not seen the last of that man. Thank you for this new story, Wayne!

I love the way the two of them circle around the issues, first how they check all the plots until they find the ideal ones - really like Eden - and then around their relationship, first talking about farms, then houses and then - finally about themselves and each other. How they find their way to expressing their love, both in words and in then physically, too. Great chapter, Gary. Wonderful present for Christmas this year! Thank you.

Dear Gary, enjoy Christmas Day and all the goodies you may be preparing for yourself. We will feast on deer tonight, Brussel sprouts in a cheese cream and I'll try a new potato dish. We just finished sampling our traditional Christmas cookies (old family recipes) and our "Stollen" (German Christmas cake). Winter this year feels more like spring, no snow as yet and none in sight. Here and there a lonely violet in blossom in the garden. All the best to you, Gary! em

It has been long. Indeed. I have lighted my candles, my 'traditional decorations' are lit, too, to cheer me and the people passing by up. Take care, stay safe and enjoy Christmas, my friend!

I need to add this: the loudest lines to me in your poem, Gary, are these: It’s for my own good While I await my four calls

In the original German poem or song, the Christmas stood for true love, evergreen, ever loving, ever growing. Not flighty or fickle. So, your tree - let it stand sparsely lit. You will still smell what it is, enjoy its green twigs, a sign of hope in our times of isolation and care. Let's hope for being together again and touching our loved ones. Why not? Yes, we may be alone now (how long has it been???), but there are phone-calls and emails, letters and chats. Remember, a letter once took days to arrive. We know now once more, what's really important. I was sitting at my desk, trying to pour my love for my loved ones into verses as there are no embraces in sight, no Christmas parties, festivities in the days up to Epiphany. Those days between Christmas and Epiphany - a never-ending party with ever more guests and friends and family.... This year it will be a truly quiet time. Silent. As the night. (There's a 9 pm. curfew over here.) Holy night? I'm not so sure... Feel embraced, my friend. Feel comforted. With thousands of miles between us, that is all I can send. em