Jaro_423

Another good chapter. I think you get better as we go. Very convincing and enticing. Looking forward to the next chapter and need to move on to find out what happens.

Another good chapter with the knots being tied and untied! You doing a great job of exploring their relationships and their sexuality. It's very realistic.

Another good chapter and lots of humour there too! Very easy to imagine Matt getting so fussed up over his sweating and trying anything to hide it. And Andy practicing his kissing was funny too. It was a most enjoyable read. I was surprised at how free they were in telling Andy's parents a bunch of their antics. They obviously have a good relationship with the rents. We didn't get the girls perspective yet, but then they weren't able to get together yet. So perhaps that's to come in the next chapter.

That was a good chapter. It took the story some knots forward very nicely and in a most convincing way. Loved the teasing of each other between Matt and Andy and their so wanting each other but also so holding back - scared? anxious? unsure? It's so realistic as this would be totally new territory and once they break the barrier who knows what will happen. It's a very, very big step for them to take. And having the girls insight too is very revealing. Gina has a strong suspicion about Matt and Andy so I don't think she'll be at all surprised when they do eventually come out. What is so interesting too is your showing how they are just so in the dark about girls and so very unsure of how they feel about them. Oh, what a puzzling, confusing time the teens is! All their anguish brings back my own struggles as a teen even though it was a long time ago.

That chapter was very confusing because it seemed to be printed twice. A real deja vu . The knots and the confusion increase (no need to double it! haha!). I think it is good. Do teens call it going out to a "show"? Somehow that didn't sound right, but I'm so far off what the terms are in this generation that it may just be me.

I did enjoy IanGf's comment - "Then I found out 'guys' are a whole lot worse." Gave me a good chuckle. I was very much a late developer and very shy, so I fully appreciate Matt's dilemma. It was very realistically described. Matt seems to be pretty sure where his attractions lie but he's still exploring the possibility that he might like girls. Gina is a great girl for him to like, but seems a shame that she'll get hurt in this process.

Hell, its so long since I was that age! It's kinda hard to go back to it and imagine what it was like! But you drawing the characters so well. Gina definitely showing she's leadership material! She's solid, sensible but sensitive. Good combination of traits. In contrast her friend Emmy is quite self-centred. In this case like is attracting like!

Oh the confusion and the so wanting to be normal and like everyone else! That's so true of that age, and especially if one is gay. I remember wondering if what I was going through was normal, but since nobody else talked about what I saw or felt I came to the conclusion that it was definitely not normal and there was no way I would ever admit or own up to any feelings like this. In my day it was perfectly normal and acceptable to be totally homophobic, and absolutely not acceptable to be a homo. I came to so successfully deny any homosexual feelings (except in exploring my own body) that I even hid in the closet to myself! It was years before I came to acknowledge such feelings and attractions. By the way, there are some bad (but few) errors that should have been taken out in a proof-reading. They just become annoying to a reader and can lose you fans. Happy to help you with this, if you want.

Your description of Matt's feelings were so vivid and real. His anger which turns to hate so easily is so real too. Andy was so insensitive to him and what he might want. This puts their potential relationship into a whole different field that makes it that much more difficult. I think if I were Matt I would be wondering now if Andy really were my best friend. Andy makes an attempt to make up by spending some time with Matt but there's no indication of any real apology or sense that Andy is feeling bad for having put Matt on the spot in a really bad way. This is a tricky knot!

This reminded me of my first stirrings of attraction for a boy. It was way before I hit puberty and I had no understanding of it at all but I remember the attraction and the confusion and the pull of wanting to be like him but not understanding or knowing why. It happened on a sea side holiday and when the holiday was over we went our separate ways and I never saw him again. Here your two protagonists are friends who have the potential to become more than that. I like the way this is going and how you have started. You use of knots is a good idea too. I was never much into knots but what this put me in mind is how electrical cords will tangle into knots if you don't wind them up neatly and secure them. It's almost like they have a mind of their own to tie themselves up! Don't even think of what fishing line does or string in a bag or wool! So I am looking forward to the entanglements that you have in mind here.

I hadn't realized your two prompt stories actually form a unit. That's neat! I've read them back to front, as it were! Silly me! So maybe you will continue the story over time and we'll see where the Nelson/Eric thing goes. That will be great.

Full of promise and intrigue but far too short. It ended before it really began and there is so much more that still remains so unanswered. But it was fun to read. Thanks.

A very difficult and tricky subject to write on as it is so sweeping and has all sorts of intricate and un-thought-of consequences, and then you had to resort to a lot of very general observations (many of which were not actually verifiable by the characters as they would have depended on news via the media which was non-existent). The actually story line and the characters then became totally secondary to the world events which was, to me at any rate, a little disappointing. I would have preferred to read about their anxieties and pressures and panics as they tried to cope with their altered world. But it was a very interesting read and a challenging topic. Thank you for sharing it.

I lived my life married for 40 years so I find your story very unconvincing and unrealistic. But I agree totally that Logan did the right thing in ending the marriage.

A lovely story, and a really good reminder for us all to appreciate all the good people in our lives, but especially our significant others whom we might take for granted from time to time. I think it's also a lesson in moving on too - Mickey needed to have moved on from Chris and the fact he hadn't was part of the problem in him not appreciating who and what Tad was to him. Interesting that it was only as Mickey began to help and serve others that he came to healing. Being wrapped up in ourselves can be such a dangerous thing. Thanks for the lovely story.

Very starkly horrible and sad in its consequences for everyone. This was a total mess for everyone concerned. Aptly titled and deeply moving.

That was an interesting review that Rano wrote and very full! I'm not into mythology and simply enjoyed the forest, the delightful openness of the 16 year old towards this mythical creature that had such human qualities and enjoyed sex so much. I identify with the boy wanting to find an escape - I was the second of 4 boys (he was the 3rd) but I know exactly how he felt. In my teens I did the same. We lived on a farm and I would wander the bush on my own, sometimes with a dog for company, finding delightful spots to indulge in my own fantasies. Thanks Fax for a gem of a story.

Ah, so glad for another chapter. I do so love your style, Nephy! You are good. I love the excellent description here of Sasha's turmoil of emotion and physical pain that is causing such confusion in his weak state as he struggles with the issues surrounding him. You make it so very real that one can feel what Sasha is feeling with such intensity. Thanks for writing and sharing, though it was far too short for satisfaction. I kept hoping Nik would make an appearance. I might have to put this story aside until you finish it and then come back to it. I'm not good with these serialized stories because I can't remember what happened before and have to keep going back when I lose the thread.

Continues to intrigue, and is, as I said before, not really my cup of tea. Too fantastical, out of this world, to be something that would really speak to me, but I'll stick with it for a while longer out of curiosity, but also because I like the way you write.

I would be pressing "likes" but I've used up my quota. Very frustrating! Fax, you are amazing with this story and the way you write. I think you could write a whole heap of nonsense and it would be good because of the way you put it together. Haha! Your expressions too are just so good. There was something about their happiness flitting around them like a butterfly - as magic as the story! And the idea that Erin has to hold back and yet he wants to go forward is adding such tension to the story. Nate's already smitten and nothing Erin does is going to drive him away short of actually being totally nasty to him, which Erin doesn't want to do as he values his friendship. Seems the old story of the gay and the straight, though in this case its the human and the ? alien? mythical, magical being? Anyway, delightfully tantalizing!

Wow, Al! Thank you so much for such a wonderful response! Yes the bees are still exploring the flowers on the ground so one has to be careful where you walk. My little Schnauzer got stung on her paw and was very distressed!

Thank you so much for your encouragement. You have the sound absolutely. It is very mournful. Our weather is normally great and I often think we have the best climate in the world - never too extreme!

Yes it's summer here at last! I don't know why winter seemed so long - perhaps because it was a hard time emotionally for me.

NATURE Bees busy toiling Amidst Jacaranda buds Carpeting the lawn. URBAN Hollow chant crying Shatters suburban quiet Tracking the broom man. [The broom man hawks his wares of homemade brooms along the residential avenues. To announce his whereabouts he has this weird hollow chant that carries quite far and alerts potential customers that he is passing by. Sorry, I forgot about it being seasonal though I heard him go by while I was thinking what to write!]

I love them. Thanks! Though it's half a world away to me!