mayday

I hope the boys will get the chance to see a counselor, they may need help to overcome their abuse and its consequences. I don't think that they need the recording in order to convict CM. They have enough and I guess that it is him "in action during the film sessions with the boys" on those tapes, and a few others.

My thoughts exactly. He is far too full of himself to even notice he needs help. The way he thinks of other people makes my skin crawl. Powerful chapter again, which makes it hard to wait for your next... Thank you for sharing this story.

This story is getting better and better! Thank you, empath, for sharing it with us. I can't wait for the next chapter.

I really love your story telling! Thomas must be really smart and bright to transfer what he watched under extreme emotional stress to a new situation. Bren's mother is learning at the moment, on her own. Not easy, when you have been led all your life... Still, seeing your son suffer for months will take its toll on a loving mother. I am really hooked on Roger's past. Please put it into a story! And thank you for sharing this story with us!

I am sure you know what you are doing...

I struggle to write letters with others in the room, so writing a story is out of the question with others around me. I am glad to read you are feeling better!

A really good chapter! I find this story so gripping and so moving! Thanks for sharing it with us!

Great chapter! Can't wait for the next. I love how the reactions of the characters are rendered.

Wow! I can't wait for your next chapter!

I can't comment. They are too poignant. Take that as a compliment, please.

hope you will be safe and get through unscathed

Hope you are and will stay safe!

I had to search yesterday's papers for news on Hurricane Helene. 64 deaths! I hope you will soon be over the worst in this! I guess you might do with some good days now. All my best wishes!

... if at first you don't succeed try, try, try again... I have had a good day (it's 11pm at night over here). I have gone to the mountains in the east to see a friend and to pile up provisions for the winter of better quality than we could get around here. I tried to be kind but I failed at giving solace to those who grieve and try to suffer in silence. Grieving takes time and it leaves me feeling powerless. On the other hand, having power means being responsible. I am not sure which is easier or preferable. But I take things as they are, after all, I cannot alter them...

9 lines, 33 words that rip apart imagination – conjecture - exposing it for what it is 33 words to counter with life and hope and … The Red Admiral on the wall next to the door The purple-blue morning glory thriving through the drought The gray morning mist hugging the valley at dawn Yellowish carrots shaped by the stones constricting their growth, yet growing Sun-loving laurel battling against the Northern conditions, yet thriving A pair of common redstarts visited us today outside our window looking around never explaining why or what for life goes on a gift every day every hour Be well, my friend! Love e

Thank you for this story! It was a pleasure to read, even if some passages were a bit tough to get through, you make us feel so intensely with the characters. I love how you weave the past and the present together. Unfortunately, I must also acknowledge how right you are in your assessment of the political dangers in Europe. I wish you weren't, but Christoph's fears are only too well grounded.

Great story, I like it better with each chapter.

Great dialogues - I really enjoyed this chapter. Thank you!

I love the scene with Kat. What a great friend Christoph has got in her. And she knows and values him. Small world indeed if Christoph actually works for Severin.

I thought wrongly, we knew the extent of the abuse the children suffered. This means that sunny Jill has some dark times ahead when she remembers. Brendan seems to be a great stand-in dad, a million times better than the sperm-donor.

What a great chapter! Lukas has managed to meet his father's saviour and made his dad so proud.

Another great chapter. I love the way it paints the love between Kai and Adam and the happiness of Doc and his future family.

If you read this gripping, tough and wonderful story now, you are spared the suspense we had to endure while waiting for the next chapter to be posted. It is one of the best stories I have read here on GA, and it is one which only its author could write. It is tough as in what Matt has to go through. Wonderful as in how it is told.

And I have just remembered: Gwen's attitude has changed - 180°: I still remember her response to Matt's telling her about Andy's coming over. She flies off the handle. She only sees her son as a hormone-driven teenager doing/wanting to do unspeakable things with men in his room. But now she sends him to find Andy. She tells him that Andy loves him. That he should go for it. She has accepted him as an adult at last. She trusts him. She shows him that she loves him. And she sets him free. Her being right in this is - at least to me - obvious from the one-way-ticket. Matt jumps. With both feet. And she has approved.

In spite of repeating what has been said before: A great conclusion to a great story, Tim. After the previous chapter I had no idea how to reach a happy ending - and it is one! - in just one more... You did it again. You showed us how to imply and say so much with a few words. Again it is Maeve who welcomes Matt, gets him out of the cold and out of his wet coat. It is her who tells "her men" what to do and how things are, when they are stuck: back "home"... go to him... All the more interesting then the epilogue, knowing that they now can deal with life without her, trusting each other, knowing each other, while before Matt had had to hide himself behind a mask. You once said, Tim, that we all are actors. I am so glad that Matt could leave pretending behind and find himself. And by doing so, trust somebody who was trustworthy. I would never have guessed Gwen to be the one who would push Matt to "jump". But jump he did. With both feet (one-way-ticket), unlike Andy in his visit to Matt before (wisely though...) - it shows how much she actually knows and how dearly she loves her son. Matt's first arrival on Windy Island contrasts with this one - what a powerful comparison! I still remember Maeve's impression of Matt in the mud room that night, spot on: "He's wet, cold, and frightened. Who could blame the poor lad?" Like Parker Owens I have not read this story for the last time. Timeless... Thank you, for sharing it with us!