mayday

This chapter is harrowing. Tough to read. If only Kitt let Tom help him...

I agree that Susan is strong. But only Matt may remember Riverbend as a place where to look for Kitt.

You have let us feel Lonnie's grief so poignantly. Hard to read but so real. Getting productive is certainly better than remaining passive. It also shows us that he is not alone and meeting with the managers, Maisie and Jim more often might be good for him. His parents will also be there for him. A very engaging beginning. Thank you for sharing! By the way - your style here is completely different from yours in "Sold into freedom". Your range is impressive!

Kitt was so lucky to meet Mateo ...

Kitt wanted to save Matt from being thrown away as he himself was by his father. He is slowly learning about a world he was sheltered from. I hope Howard and the professor will be a lifeline. Matt's desperation is devastating. If only he confided in his parents....

Yes, he did. After being ignored and overlooked by many who might have helped, probably half of them good and upstanding Christians.

Brutal, yes. And probably only too real. The Wellingtons - how will they cope? When will Kitt's father understand what he has done, if ever? How will his wife react when she realizes that her family has been destroyed by cruelty and ambition dressed in rightfulness and beliefs that have denied reality? How will Matt cope? How is it that most of us refuse to see what is directly before us? That somebody is freezing? Needs help? A busboy, a kitchen help the only ones who do? I guess if anyone can find and help Kitt it will be Matt. Only he knows to look in Riverbend. He is the only one to see him, to know that that place may hold good memories for his friend. And Kitt's mother has no idea, because her husband has set boundaries that have strangled the life out of their only child. And he has no idea what his son is like. Kitt has never been allowed to be himself, only what his father believes what he has to be like. Will she have the courage to even approach Matt? Will she even think of going against her husband, of being herself? The kindness of strangers has given Kitt a chance. To me it looked like touch and go. If Mateo and Xavier had not been could Kitt take any more?

Great story telling. Hank's understanding of Jesse is amazing. Jesse's suffering as a child and teenager have traumatised him badly. Deeply moving. Thank you for sharing!

I have been waiting for this. And dreaded it. Matt's pleas have gone unheard, he is standing alone waiting for his best friend. How will Kitt survive in the night? In the cold. If Matt does not rescue him from his fears ... This chapter makes me fear the temptation of the lake. But Kitt has packed his backpack. So maybe not all hope is lost.

And he calles him baby in public...

Quiet before the storm. Baby. Your boy. Obviously.

I cannot remember a story which progresses in such tiny steps towards breaking point. Kitt's father seems to be afraid of life, of choices, of anything different, other. Do not acknowledge something and it won't become real. I ache for both boys. For everyone involved. Dreading the next chapters.

Sophomore year won't be easy? People will be cruel. Expectations. The norm. Ambitions.

Tyler is making progress. He seems to have gained some feeling that he is worth something.

I agree with your opinion but I am not as hopeful as you. But what Tyler's mother did - I cannot cannot comprehend...

After such a horrible revelation I do have to explain my immediate reaction. Now the cleansing can begin. Now Tyler's past can be addressed. Maybe he will recover from his experiences. Maybe now he may learn to trust.

I fear for Kitt and his parents. His father means well but he is suffocating his only child. Matt tries to communicate. Should anything happen to Kitt he would never forgive himself.

I wonder about Kitt's father. Has he any idea of his son's state of mind? I think I get him. He wants the best for his son. But has he ever thought of Kitt as a person in his own right? What he might be feeling and thinking? Wishing for?

Great story.

I love the way this is written. The style fits the slow growth of feelings between the two boys.

Kitt's father seems like a tyrant to me. Both his wife and his son are are afraid to be too much. Both are quiet. He seems to lay down the law in "his" family and tries to keep his son on the straight and narrow. This does not bode well for Kitt. We'll see what kind of church they attend. Old testament rather than new testament's message of kindness, I would guess. That's why I hope Kitt will be home by 10. Well written.

It should be cool enough in the Dolomites, I guess😁

Beautiful ending. I am left without words.

Jonas' perspective gives us some hints as to how things may develop. Jeff's lonely existence seems even bleaker from this point of view.