Ron

The ostrich pillow seems to be strangely, oddly attractive to people for some reason. I don't get it.

I think the worst gift was the phone sweater. It doesn't even qualify as kitsch.

I hope the spitting was figurative.

Ha ha, Stephen. Me too - branches, many branches. Codey's poem was lovely but I had to do a little search to find who he was. So young! That was a very touching chapter, Graeme. The writing makes it easy to feel sympathy for the characters. Just how long ago did you write this? And did you make any changes when you ported it over to GA?

Son of gun. It doesn't seem like a violation of the spirit of the rule. The reaction and suspension does seem overblown. How would they even know what he was reading?

Can't find that gift for your special someone? Running out of time? Last minute decisions driving you nuts? Here is a humorous "Don't Gift This List" Feel free to 'List' your own favorite gifts not to give this holiday season. Don't forget to report those spectacular 'Fail' gifts, "Oh no, you shouldn't have!", that you did get later. We know that you will want to show your appreciation. I know I will.

Welcome to having registered and public acknowledgement, Gypseytails. Cheers!

According to wiki, the extent of aid to India, excluding military aid, is a little over 3.2 billion in US dollars this year. The current population is 1,270,272,105 people, half are under 25 yrs old. Seriously, 1 out of every 6 persons lives in India and there are more men than women. The aid is a drop in the bucket. The numbers are staggering for lack of education, the poor, infant mortality, and so on. Some of the wealthy may be trying to make change and even there they run into resistance it seems. That doesn't mean a trickle down to the poorer populace. In fact, it is something to cling to because at least that is somewhere that they have control of the outcome. No one wants to have no control in their lives and it will be hard to convince folks of another way of doing things without widespread education and the ability to move upwards out of poverty.

Amusing. Who is next?

Education and birth control have been known to work at reducing population numbers.

This thread most definitely got hijacked. If anyone would like to begin a thread for beers, I would happily chime in with my own choices. But if you start one on trucks, forget it.

It looks like yours and Nosty's hard work on this chapter paid off, it reads well with a nice mix of show and tell. Writing, making changes, rewriting and doing it some more works for getting the best possible outcome out of yourself. The first draft is more than likely, never the best version. The boy's first day is bit of a mixed bag. There were a few unexpected side effects (so to speak) of the switch. Jacob had an incredibly, unaccounted for, boring day at school it seems and Josh handled his day well enough with help. But Josh, well that one is going to be sore tomorrow from working muscles he's not used to working. Let's see how much longer they can keep it up. Good work, Sammy.

Yeah, but dang! She could have fell beside the bush and looking up at that perfect rose. Death isn't generally dignified but come on man...a little grace for the death of the old Heart of The Tree. All caught now. Great piece of work.

Finally, I've been waiting for a kookaburra to show up!

Wow! The bells are clanging. Impressive and deftly done. I had forgotten how it all began what with Vince taking off like that and all the hoopla involved. Cool.

Ha ha, I've bought into the idea of the tree and am curiously trying to figure out the tree's next victim. I have a choice sacrifice in mind, but we'll see. This is really good, Graeme.

What an interesting set up to the story the prologue and this chapter is, Graeme. They have captured my attention very well.

It is a fine chapter, if awful in its content. I think that I speak for many when I say that we have been waiting to learn of these events. You certainly do not disappoint in this deeply sad chapter and the tale continues to move forward just as it looks back. Thank you, Fitz for this moving moment in the lives of these characters.

No disrespect to the individual, I didn't like country even though I had to listen to this stuff when I was a kid. It didn't stick and I can't stomach it as an adult.

I understand your feelings and I am sorry for your loss.

It seems that he is destined for a rehabilitation center and not just for a little while. Psychologist and the authorities are slowly coming around to the fact that it is easier to change the mindset of young offenders than it is for adults. The young brain is wired differently and can be influenced more readily to appropriate behavior. Why do you think that organized religion and militias around the world try to indoctrinate at early an age and keep control until adulthood? By adulthood it is set and difficult for the mind to break free of. That goes for both behavior and the thinking process. It's also why parents, even the crappy ones, have so much sway long after children leave the nest. So why not attempt, with restrictions and consequences of failure in place, to rehabilitate? Frankly, I am surprised that the response is to assume that it will happen again with mostly anecdotal evidence and no real knowledge of this young man's life or thought processes to support your conclusion, Kitt. People do change. Especially the young.

Spooky and I want a cookie!

The poem and opening paragraph set the tone and direction well for the rest of the story. The description of the protagonist, Brian Cole's behavior was interesting and thought provoking. The mention of the anthology theme in the story was redundant, and its use perhaps ill considered. Brian's gambling addiction horrifyingly and all too clearly emphasized the theme well enough. For such a short story, to use the ruse of repeating the first refrains of the story at the end should not have worked, in this case it did. Nicely done.

Excellent and horrifying. The emotional apathy of the para-human, Poll is captured beautifully in the opening chapters and just as artfully is his tech empathy abilities explained. The relationship between him and his owner, Anthony is amazingly well thought out. Introducing the brother, Costa into the story as part of the aftermath from the attack was deftly done, providing another vehicle to weave in information to further the tale, and open the idea that, Poll is a being with feelings after all. While this story touches on both historical and past science fiction ideas, those very same ideas strike as original in their use here. Something to be proud of. The story reads remarkably well in its entirety. The ending is altogether imaginable. Well done!

Prison is not the be all - end all answer to every crime every time, perhaps even this one. Maybe a monitored probation and rehab is better than the choice of prison for this young man. It is unfair to judge the judge on a single word definition used by a psychologist as there is more to it than that. The prosecutor's blanket statement 'that being cushioned by the parents wealth would produce another tragedy' doesn't ring as always true. In fact the lead defence attorney suggested that it was likely he would have been out of prison in two years but this way 'he is under the thumb of the justice system for the next ten years'. In other words - he screws up, he goes to prison. I am not saying that it is an option every time but it could be the right one this time. I am not so hasty to judge.