Topher Lydon
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No, NO! I set the date and everything... I have it up on my screen... what... :: sighs :: I swear I have no... it isn't... Ok from here on out, I do solemnly swear to not touch the publish book button until the day of publishing. No timers, nope, they hate me. I am going to go and make myself a coffee.... Well, enjoy this one... I need coffee... and maybe I can eke some more baileys out of the bottle.
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### **Chapter Two: Paint Over Rust** **Finn** The Grady family bathroom was a shrine to aggressive wholesomeness. It smelled of lavender potpourri and Dove soap, a scent so clean it felt accusatory. The towels—fluffy, folded in precise thirds—were color-coded: blue for Walter, white for guests, and a sickly pastel yellow that had been deemed “Finn’s.” They hung with a military stiffness, as if daring anyone to disturb their order. The tiles were a soft, suffocating pink. The entire roo
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Chapter One: The Asset and the Liability **Garrett** The polyester didn’t breathe. It suffocated. Garrett sat inside the glass box of the dispatch office, the air conditioner humming a sterile, tooth-aching note that did nothing to cool the rash forming under his collar. The shirt was a pale, sickly yellow, issued by Vickers Supply & Haulage. It was a shirt of pure negation. Two sizes too small in the shoulders, straining against the constant, furious tension he carried there.
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Two broken boys, one collapsing town. Garrett was the golden-boy quarterback until his knee—and his future—shattered. Now he’s a secretary in a glass box, choking on resentment. Finn is the beautiful, feral foster kid hiding self-inflicted tattoos under mechanic’s coveralls, running from a past that won’t let go. They’re supposed to hate each other. In the greasy dark of an auto garage, hate gets confused. It’s messy, brutal, and the only thing that makes either of them feel alive. But in a place where everyone’s watching, their private war might just destroy them both.
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Thank you for reading. Please leave a review/recommendation on the title page (It REALLY helps me) And remember: winters end, love, real love, endures. And Granny always wins in the end.
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**Epilogue: The Deed and the Doilies** **One Year** The roses were showing off. That was the only way to describe it. The climbers Tabby had pruned with such surgical precision in the autumn were now rioting across the trellis in a violent, joyful explosion of crimson and cream. They smelled like honey and victory. Alvin stood on the porch, holding a mug of coffee (the espresso machine was now humming along happily with a new, high-grade grinder). He was wearing a t-
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Dang right, I am in layers at the moment, looking like a Peruvian pipe flute band member. Hat, poncho, and hugging a heater. I swear were I in the US, I'd expect a visit from ICE, and a polite relocation to somewhere warmer. As it is, our government (UK) is too cheap, I'd end up in Bognor Regis, with a bill for the trouble.
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There were times, in Canada, when it hit -51°C (-59.8°F), where exposed skin freezes. We used to sleep with the windows open at -20°C and call it warm. My Students were always agape at me, when I would teach in my shirt sleeves and complain about the heat when it was -10°C. I earned the nickname Polarbear from those students. Still get that when I overheat with central heating on.
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So aptly sums up Cradle Grove
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Indeed, it makes me wonder about the mugging, it seemed that in that exact moment we had an opportunity, that Ben saw, to do exactly that. You take a person who was utterly crushed, and see the new blank slate it provided, for Ben to use as his canvas. I am writing more of this dynamic, getting into what makes Ben tick, and I admit writing a completely divergent individual interests me... and we know what happens when I get interested in a character. Also good to shake off some dust and write a character with a certain level of lethality.
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Tabby slaps himself rather effectively
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Kier might just be a paper tiger, and you are right, he needs to do something to earn his place. So far everything he has has been handed to him. Everything in his house came from Riley. His place in the Estate came from Ben. Lee gives him an outlet. Let's see what he does with it.
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Tabby's journey was the lesson Granny needed to teach him. By Keeping Alvin behind, Tabby had to face his separation from the first roots he's ever, really, put down. And it answered the question for Tabby that staying never could. What's more important, a home and love, or the road and idealized freedom? A question he now has the answer for.
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None, utterly concise, a message delivered with fanfare, and signed in blood. Ben's utter ruthlessness on display and painted in Kier's colours for Dyson to see. A declaration of war, crisp and clear. But Kier is getting so close to being exactly what Ben wants him to be. If only he hadn't hesitated...
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Chapter Fourteen: The Border and the Blood The border between Cradle Grove and the Blackwood estate wasn’t drawn on any council map. It was a scar in the turf, written in neglect and contested fear. It ran through a desolate patch of scrubland known with grim local irony as "The Green." It was a no-man’s-land of bald earth, broken glass that glittered like malignant dew, and the coiled, pale sausages of dog shit. Council mowers gave it a wide berth. It was a dumping ground for the es
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Captain vs Goofball is another light Merrickville story - Brian is our resident Giraffe Pastry Chef The Coyote stories are also about Brian - Brian earns his Ninja nickname making him the Ninja Giraffe Pastry Chef. The earlier Carter books are all set in Merrickville and deal with the parents of many of the characters you read about in the modern books.
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Ben is going to surprise you.
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it can be said that a Solipsist is also a sociotpath, it's a particular breed. Where they believe only they are real, and that everyone else is a character in their story, NPC's in a game. that they are irrelevant like video game characters.
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:: lifts rock and looks for precious feedback ::
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Oh Ben definately knows what Kier is doing with Lee. out of the two, Riley and Lee, Ben understands Lee's attractiveness to Kier better. Riley makes zero sense to Ben, he's a cockroach made of rubber and no matter how many times Riley gets stepped on, he bounces back. That confuses the hell out of a solipsist like Ben.
