Ron

I admire your ability to latch on to the emotional depth of a story while digging deep into the underlying rationality of a character's behavior—the reasoning for doing what is done, if you will—in your reviews. These elements make for a great review. They are also essential to get right for a great story. I suspected that if you were to attempt your own story, that your ability would serve you well—and it has, Gary. I was struck by Kendall's despair. It came through loud and clear, as did the underlying determination of his need for distance—and clearly, his desire. The description of Michael made me think of rock stars and sports heroes followed by groupies named Candy willing to grab on and ride as long as they can, but not able to offer anything of substance. I grasp hints of the depth of what Kendall's friendship means to Michael—and what the loss of it might mean to him. <-- This is very important to not lose track of, I think. Aside from the formatting snafus, which seem to be inevitable at the beginning—me included—and, maybe, leaning on the emotional aspect, you've a fine first chapter, Gary.

Me too, I hope you have a really great day, Cassie. Happy Birthday! Many, many happy returns.

I got rid of the car a couple of years ago. In the city you can do that and probably should--voids the need of looking for parking. I noticed the gas station sign yesterday and it displayed a price of $2.999 for a gallon in Boston. That's down from four dollars and up. An article in the paper suggested that the savings was helping New Englanders pay their electric bills--some of the highest rates in the nation.

No worries, Wayne. You've given us a whole lot of enjoyment and exercise at writing with the prompts. 384 prompts and 1 repeat ... get outta here. Save the apologies for something big and important.

I often view fiction that includes this type of scenario with a critical eye. Viewing these fictional depictions as somewhat fantastical. Your reality has now trumped some of those fictions. I'm sorry. I know I had no hand in your situation but I'm sorry anyway.

Tech is great. Young gay males (underage and no car) no longer have to sneak around in Walden Books (me) to secretly read gay fiction while their moms are busy shopping in the other mall stores. lol ... And yes, CM, I get up in the middle of the night and jot down story ideas, too, just like you do. My newspaper is available at the touch of a finger (admittedly, I do like the paper version) and no more wet paper or stolen ones (I don't miss those), and not to go into detail, magazines. Hell, I can watch just about anything and everything nowadays: TV; tablet (for me, iPad); or on the computer. All of my music is converted to lossless files and it sounds fantastic (your mileage may vary depending on your gear). But yes, I think, it needs balance. There is nothing like curling up with a good book; the feel of the paper under your fingers and the anticipation of physically turning the page, and furthering the adventure. Digital, for all of its convenience, cannot beat that connection, for me. I'm still a little old school, after all.

Starting the year out with tears, I see. Oh my, what's the rest of the year going to hold for us? As to the story: All of the pieces were there for a rather sweet vignette but I wasn't quite convinced this time, though I know that you've the finesse to do so.

Yes, I think that last word just about sums it up. It's a catch-all word that makes for useful expression. Tough, tough subjects to be tackling and you've done a fine job of reaching, without going over, that line into excess. Knowing when to push and when to pull back can be deceiving. An author with good instincts . . . See where I'm heading? Kudos, CM, and all that!

Thanks for reading and reviewing, Sis. Capturing the senses as fully as can be was what the prompt was all about. I'm glad to hear you liked that. Yeah, it seems that for awhile Max was able to grab some good to hang onto.

I wish you two the best of luck, Sasha.

Happy Birthday Dughlas! And many happy returns.

Good effort. That was a hard prompt to pull off. Kudos for tackling it.

I have so many newsletters from topics I am interested in already (that I never get to) that I'm afraid one more would get lost. But this link is one I'm definitely going to check out, at length, after having just taken a peek at it. It's in my 'Writing Resources' web folder now. Thanks for blogging it, Cia.

I'm not sure that . . . that, could have been done better. Touché, to yourself. Edit to add: Remarkable!

I have to remember, and write 2015 on checks, now? Happy New Year! To each and everyone of You.

Friends that become family are deeply missed and well remembered when they leave. You have my sincere condolence for the loss of such a great friend to you, Joann.

Questions. I've been in a back and forth with Irri about these same questions, Carlos. The best response would be to extend Max's story, but not here, and not right now. I'm certainly not opposed to the idea, though. Thank you so much for your review, and the questions.

I'm glad to hear that you found the appeal of the story, because that was up for debate, considering the subject matter. Thank you for the review, craftingmom.

Thank you, Irri, for the praise. I didn't give too much thought to the answer to your question when writing. Now I am.

I've got one for prompt 381. This is my last prompt story for this year. My thanks go out to those who've used their time to spend it with my work, it's much appreciated. Max Cauler

Why did he come? He didn't owe the old man anything nor his mother . . . what did she ever do to stop him? Nothing, but to patch him up when the old man was done. He was his own man now, he had no need of false affection, and he owed him nothing. Not that the old man would ever ask for anything. The crack-crunch of frosted grass under his feet—silvered blades crushed and snapped—were his company on the walk up the slope. Nearer to the top of the rise, a bright red cardinal sang from winter

Happy Birthday and many happy returns of them!

Wow! This is a bit of a surprise. Thank you GA! Thanks to all of you who entered the contests, as well. I enjoyed reading all of the entries, very much.

I'll add my two cents worth: I was reading on that other site, and (memory fails) someone posted a link to GA, which led me here, where, before signing up, I read voraciously for about six months. Like quite a few others, I wanted to comment on what I was reading, and I wanted to be able to participate in some of the forums, mostly the lounge at that time. I ended up staying here, mostly, because of the community of like-minded people here. I was fifty-three years old and I had never been a part of an online community before, and I thought that this one was something special. I still think that it is. Oh, and I caught the writing bug. It's all, you all's fault.

Happy Birthday Johnathan!