ColumbusGuy

It's great to have you back again, my friend! Such a wonderful update for our hero's Realm and the beginning of a new era in the relationship between Kieran and Agleron. Sounds like there may be some progress with the portal network soon...

While it's true people are social animals, some have always been more comfortable being mostly apart. I think I'm one of those, accumulating a few good and true friends, but not diving into the mainstream...still, it's a different thing when you can't due to circumstances beyond your control. I enjoy going out to eat with a friend or two, or seeing movies at times, but now we're denied those options, I find I want them more than I had before.... Things will return to some state of normalcy in time, but until then, at least our beloved G-Man has his woods for consolation--I envy him that solace. Hugs, my dear.

I do cliff-hangers....? I wondered when Chase would run into the guy from the bathroom again; people tend to frequent the same places socially, but this was not a good moment for this, although it gave Chase more incentive ti let his feelings surface. Canadians have an image of being over-polite, and until now I had that impression of him, but I'm glad the truth will come out if pushed hard enough. My main concern is whether Hank has actually changed inside where it counts, or it's still just something on the outside. One or two therapy visits aren't a cure, as Chase ought to know quite well, so he needs to keep his guard up. Even if Hank does change, he broke the trust they once shared, and that is nearly impossible to restore. Both men need to grow more inside and rebuild their psyches before there is any hope of a renewed engagement, but only time will tell if they are still headed in that direction.

Hi Speedo! Welcome to my little slice of wish fulfillment. Some of your speculations are answered in comments I've made along the way, while others will remain unsolved a while longer. The town and places are real, Miles is me as I was then, and Jay is based on an acquaintance I knew then. The initial note incident was real, though in real life I passed up the invitation and only remained a casual friend rather than what develops here. Many events from my life are in these chapters, but the sex ones involving anyone but me are fantasy until my later college years. Talking with my older sisters who went to the same school up to ten years earlier, it seems I was the only gay person, closeted or otherwise. Kinda hard to believe in a school almost twenty years old in '76, but it was a farm town. Hope you like the pics and song links!

Okay, I'm very late to the reviews, but I had to think about this one a bit, and wasn't feeling on top of everything. I never thought Hank's mother was the complete villainess he painted her to be, seeing his reactions with Chase I thought there had to be more than a little bias there. Now that we know the story from an adult perspective, it makes a lot more sense than his jumbled memories. In many ways, I admire her for staying as long as she could for Hank, and then not pulling his world to shreds by playing the common tug-of-war between bickering parents over their children. That showed her love for Hank in more ways than he can imagine. Parents tend to think the divorce is hardest on each of them, and few give thought to the pain it causes their children. Amicable or not, it means the loss of security to the child, and the courts don't make it any easier by not allowing many kids a say in who they live with or can visit. Some do, if the child is older, but this ought to be considered especially for younger ones. A teen has some idea of what is going on, but all the younger ones know is one parent is now gone, and may no longer even be allowed visits. Add to that the fact that many parents place the blame on the other parent and heaps abuse on the absent one either in front of the child or if the parents need to talk to arrange visitation. Seldom are divorces single-sided. Acrimony and the need for revenge often destroy any peace of mind the children may find now that the parents are no longer fighting in person under the same roof. I know this because my parents divorced after twenty-four years when I was a sophomore in college; I commuted from our country home, so stayed with my father while my mother took our house in town. My mother had a temper, while my father just tried to maintain the peace. I visited my mother often during summers or weekends, and we talked every day by phone, and until she remarried some fifteen years later, constantly bad-mouthed my father at every opportunity and tried getting me to take her side. My father never talked about it, and our relationship remained good until he found out I was gay, when he cut off contact for his last thirteen years. Sure, I was twenty when my parents divorced, but it hurt nonetheless, and so did the attempts to turn me against the other. So, Hank, now you know the truth...face the fact your father held his own share of the blame and wasn't a saint...don't lose the chance to get one parent back in your life, even if you've thrown away the man you professed to love. You need to do a lot of work on yourself if you want to have even a glimmer of a chance at happiness with anyone in future.

Okay, I'm not comfortable with the beginning premise of the story, and that's on me or my rural youth, but my friend Ivor has never turned out a disappointing tale. Spanking is another difficult concept for me, mainly because I was picked up by a guy who met every ideal I had of what I wanted, until he asked me to spank him several dates in. Yes, I'm tall, broad-shouldered, but a pussycat at heart...I tried, but I could barely stop myself from laughing at the absurdity of it. We ended the short relationship shortly after. Back in the late 80s I saw a couple drag shows in a bar downtown, and it just did nothing for me. Nice costumes some of them created, but very few had the talent to be convincing entertainers. I loved the male strippers a lot more. Maybe it was my not being around any other gay culture in the 70s, but I was gay, liked guys, and had no desire to either date, bed or be in any way female either in actuality or appearance. I'm sure you all know, but transvestitism just means 'cross-dressing' from the Latin. It sounded 'posher' as a label than the Saxon name. Personally, it has seemed to disappear into a morass of subcultural identities the extreme Left are forcing us to use as a divider rather than to find common ground with one another as those who identify more with their own sex. You can be whatever you want, but first and foremost, we're humans and should love and respect each other.

Sigh. 'Just when you think it's safe to go back into the water...' Chase has now learned what's behind Hank's change in attitude....not accepting his explanation at face value, but only after corroboration--and even then still giving Chase hell. It'll take a lot for Chase to trust him again. Once more Chase is being a friend by sticking around for the meeting with Hank's mother...showing growth despite Hank's continued inability to see the consequences of his own actions. Is this a modern soap opera for the gay community? Beats the heck out of the older Soap and Modern Family which could never seem to do a serious plot without stereotypically camp characters to make the story less threatening to the straight world.

I'm sorry my dear friend, but the beauty and eternal truth of these words have left me speechless. There are just too many visceral emotions brought forth here for me to give voice to them in any way that my words could make clear.... Immense respect and awe for these jewels.

The site where the original picture challenge came from has posted another that fit with an idea I had, and I was going to work on it over the weekend...alas, I got sick on Easter and am just now feeling close to writing, so I'll miss that deadline. I'll try my best to get it written and it will show up here first. Been a long time, and my major fear is the sequel won't be as good...

I'll bite...'What's your Cause, James Dean-Rebel?'

If only people could work together at all levels of society, but as we see even in our time of world crisis, there are those who cannot put partisanship aside. Even in proposing legislation to help workers and small business, some continue trying to insert things entirely unrelated which they couldn't get passed on their own, hoping the greater good of the measure will mask the rot underneath. Surely this was not how our Founding Fathers intended the system to work? They were idealists and men of reason for the most part, but they failed to give guidelines for later generations on the most basic principles such as 'one bill, one subject'. If we truly want transparency in government, then the system has to be changed to just that purpose. What appeared to be a simple piece of work takes over 1500 pages so dense in legal terms that even lawyers find it difficult to understand. Ever try reading the proposed laws on the ballot when you go to vote? Forget it. The subject sounds clear, but when you actually read it, often it works entirely differently than the title says it will, and adds special provisions to profit one group over another that you might miss at a casual glance. Then again, some twenty five years ago I laughed to see a proposal on Ohio's ballot to outlaw duelling--I thought that had been done long ago, so just for fun, I voted against it.... My fear is that controls may be lifted too soon since humanity has a short tolerance for sane measures....

Yeah, Geron--the Mall Madness one was nearly 14k, and I don't want to wear out his axe blade with excessive chopping.... Mind you, I always seem to have more words when I get them back, so it is a puzzlement, as the old line from King and I goes. Could G-Man be using his axe backwards?

I'm working on being faster at posting...if I made them longer, I don't know how long the intervals would be; the brain works, the fingers work, it's just getting them both to take part in the same project at once. Also, some other people out in cyberspace continue to produce stories that distract me. Now that my reading is confined to pixels, I can't just put a book down, go do something else and come back to the same spot again. I've been toying with an idea for JM, but don't know if I'll do it...ages ago I was advised against it, and the story wasn't as involved then as it is now, so....Maybe an incipient short coming up, as there is another idea I got for one in writing this chapter. You're looking at a 'long' short right now that isn't near finished, and it's already 11k words...it might not wind up being a Geron opus, but who knows?

Some questions will be answered when the older brother shows up, and maybe a few more about other family members too, such as Mikkel and Sam... Crap, this grad party could go on for days!

I don't think I've ever killed anyone off, so my little high school is safe. Well, maybe Zane could...nah, he's graduating in a month, so let's have him survive in limbo. Very early on we got some dialogue between D and R, and it seemed right to have them acting like this with a temporary lull in their day. Early 40s doesn't mean you're unromantic if the bond is real and deep as theirs is. My father had such an episode around 10th or 11th grade for me, but despite the squad's urgings, he never went in for tests, and went to work the next day. He lived until 2001 when he died at age 83. Until a stroke in 1999 he was still living on his own and being active in all the sports his community had in Florida, according to one of my sisters. He took the inventory job to supplement his dairy driver one where he drove a semi to stores and schools. When the dairy shut down, he became a janitor for my high school district until he had to quit at 71. Iron constitutions ran in his family, and I'm pretty healthy except inheriting my mothers risk of diabetes. Incidentally, she did take tons of meds, and was sure her heart would kill her, but it was her refusal to undergo dialysis that did the job when she was 76. It was a weird thing, neither of my parents looked their ages, so maybe attitude has a lot to do with health and longevity as well as genetics?

I was struggling with a way to work your ideas in with Pinse being near Linda's graduation day, so I thought reminiscing about earlier years was better...and reading some people got married on that Sunday clinched it as a time for them to make love for the first time. Jerry will be appearing soon, full of mystery and perhaps pent-up urges if he's actually being monkish....

I wondered why I was feeling somewhat off in the last few days...guess it wasn't indigestion after all! Dirck and Rosalie haven't been heard from in a while, so I thought a peek into their lives might help understand Jay better. I hope it worked. Got some ideas for the next chapter already...

POV: Mikey, Dirck “I don’t want to go to school today, Jay….” The words hung in the still morning air as we stood just outside my open garage door. The turquoise and white Pontiac that normally sat there now stood purring in the semi-circular gravel drive, waiting to whisk us off to Monday’s classes. My boyfriend looked at me with an uncommonly worried expression on his wide-awake face. Unlike me, he was happy to get up before dawn, while I wanted nothing more than to sleep in. El

I'm happy to see some of their old friends coming back into Chase' life, and hey noticed the change in him right away. Still, the one person he'd like to have back remains distant, if not quite as much as before. Only time will tell what the final result will be for our tragi-heroic couple. 🐈

Interesting that the third rune came from outside the Realm... Now for something I'm not sure of: will there be a bit of jewelry for the fourth House that becomes a new rune, or is Chris himself the symbol of that House? Waiting for more, both chapters and answers.

Gotta hand it to granddad for his connections and quick thinking. Also for his good judgment of people and his willingness to keep an open mind. This was another example of your ability to tug at our emotions in unexpected ways, and a 'simple' tale of love took on whole new dimensions with your cleverness in crafting settings and characters that just beg us to want to know them better. All of your stories are gems, but this one shines for it's subtle beauty rather than gaudy show which has become your particular hallmark.

Mark is an incredibly resourceful young man to survive as well as he did. Being of legal age helped, but his brains gave him options most kids wouldn't have. He's maintained being an honest man too, and his feelings about David are thankfully genuine. I'm eager to see what David has in mind....

Going into an attic depends on how accessible it is; our ranch in the country had a small opening in the hall closet, and you needed a ladder. I looked up there once in twenty-nine years, but my father was up there fixing the roof or lighting. In the 1880s Victorian I lived in for six months, my friend lived in the attic that was part of our second story apartment, and I never went in it since it was her private space. My current house has a walk-up attic that is finished space, and I've had house mates who wanted it, so my books and stuff went into the separate storage spaces in the eaves between dormers. From the Boltfort description, it seems to have a Mansard roof with windows all around, so should have plenty of head room and light if the windows aren't blocked off. What further mysteries will David find beyond Mark?

Something happened for sure, but was it just losing the moment, or did it involve the child crying? Some trauma from his past? High tech to solve a ghostly mystery? Where's the supply of Scooby snacks, Shaggy?

Mysterious questions about Mark; what if he doesn't live at the address he used to before, and it's not a nice place, so he doesn't want David to find out? The hesitation over giving his last name could be due to losing his parents so recently, or just not yet fully trusting David with that bit which could aid him in finding out a lot more from online sources? Maybe his family was into some slightly illegal activities? Could be any number of reasons for Mark's hesitancy...New York isn't your average town after all. Two days acquaintance isn't really enough to forge a bond of intimate trust....