Ron

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.

The story was dreary and had a generic feel to it. Most of the characters were unlikable. The main characters were flat and the attempts to make them real were not convincing. There were elements that could have made this interesting in a humorous way but it ended up being an awkward read instead. The dinner party was all over the place. The clandestine behavior of dinner guest away from the table would have been better served had it been noted as odd behavior during dinner. Instead it was tacked on, in its entirety, as if after dinner gossip in the kitchen (before the guest left) and lost impact. The ending felt contrived but the nephew and girlfriend, who offered the only real sincerity in the story, saved the ending. And not because they had money, but because they felt genuine.

This is a very professional example of the short story. It reads nearly flawlessly. The ease with which the different characters are brought in and out of the story is exemplary. Dialogue is easily assignable, free and natural amongst the differing individuals. Humor is doled out as befits the situation; again naturally and not forced. What with the nature of the subject matter, it would be so easy to go overboard on the emotion though the dramatic scenes never feel overblown. This seems, as mentioned below, to be a deliberate choice and one that I applaud. The ending left room for possibilities and I found it to be most agreeable. I expect great things from you.

Oh, you manipulator you. It's now amusing how many folks were up in arms in defense against Jesse being pulled away. You quash that and bring back the intrigue from Spin's attack and an unknown half brother with cancer. A fine example of bait and switch and a lesson on upping the ante. Another fine chapter, Andrew.

It was cute. There was a lot of action but not much depth and the story was full of ideas that didn't seem very well thought out. With more work, it might turn out to be a fine story for young adults. As is, it is enough to loosely hold my attention but not much more than that.

I see. Even the various author banners do that. It's something that I never noticed before as I've never had a reason to click or touch on them. Thanks for the explanation, Renee.

I would have thought that the anthology banner on each story page would have linked back to this announcement page rather than the home page. What is the reasoning behind that?