raven1

Hi All! Hope you have a great time tonight! Remember.....

Hi Bucket! Hope you are doing well! I have no problem sticking up for Clo! Especially when she makes me laugh!

You made some very great points in your comment @LemonSoda! This first sentence really struck me hard because of my own experiences. Avery is very alone and although his parents did try, the did not have the knowledge, skills, training or compassion to help him. Mental health issues and sex abuse issues were apart of my life that I didn't have the training for until I was confronted with and had to deal with them. I had to learn, and in most cases that meant that I had to spend the time and money to become educated. The first time I had to deal with a sexual abused child and then an autistic child in the classroom, the school district paid for three days training!!! Three DAYS! I was also given a teacher's aid who also got three days training. These kids needed much, much more help than we could give them in a classroom with 30 other kids that needed an education. Society ignores these kids and provides only a small fraction of the resources needed to help them and their families.

Fine thank you! I was a bit sick yesterday, but felt fine today and got a lot done. We postponed going out tonight, but will be going out Saturday night with our gang of local misfits. How are you and your boys?

Of course! We teachers need to stick together to protect ourselves from the bullying principals, school boards, parent associations, some ignorant parents, educational specialists and politicians at all levels.

A great Halloween story that I'll read again! I enjoyed the fun and love the characters. Great prank at the end!

Really Doc???????? Donald Trump? That is very scary! However, it does explain a lot. I did enjoy the story very much and the ending was a great prank. I'll put this on my must read again for this Halloween!

First of all Doc, I can't believe this story has been commented on before. It is a very enjoyable tale with two very good characters who I can easily connect with. The plot is both an adventure and a political intrigue. It also has some fun elements such as the Celestial Library assistant who now needs to tell Simka's mother, Queen and Mother Superior of her son's sexual adventures.

A great rescue by the team. It looks as if the new knot developed by Snave was just in time to help Dorf Garvin make mincemeat of the attackers! Jamie's time in the aether was well spent and now the group has a new defense against Dragon Fire and hopefully other more dangerous weapons of the enemy! A very exciting chapter!

Is the the Pun Ick War? Don't anyone punic! At worst these will only attack the funny bone and/of cause a massive case of groans. Thanks @drsawzall, @drpaladin, @Ivor Slipper and @Geron Kees for all the punny comments. A special kudo to Ivor for the clip of Sellers and Loren!

A sad tale, but a good start to a story. Too bad there are not many more people like Trace around to save many teens that have been kicked out of their homes like this.

A beautiful stroll to meet the dawn of the summer solstice. It was a very captivating walk from dream to awakening in the start of a new season.

What a wonderful story! I focused on the happiness of the memories created and shared by Sidney and Arthur whether they were real or not. Their love was very real. It is also a fact it lasted a lifetime. That was the important thing for me.

The virtue of this sad tale of love comes from the characters and their relationships. There is a great romance between Sidney and Arthur that has lasted a lifetime. The story is written with great care and compassion. The writing and characters will draw you into the story. It is a story within a story uniquely written.

Hi All! I see things are abnormally normal here today. Some good zingers, but I personally think Clo won the snark off!

Baring My Soul is a hard hitting story dealing with difficult topics that often affects the lives of many of us. Mental health, child abuse and attempted suicides. The story is a realistic portrayal of these issues and their impact on family and friends. There is a hopeful element of courage and survival of a family that faces these problems together. Have tissues ready, and please heed the warning about triggers if you are susceptible. This well written story may be difficult to read, but also should be read.

It is not often you read a ghost story that isn't scary. This is a beautiful but bittersweet tale of two young men who find love. The author has created an excellent tale with characters you can immediately bond with as you feel the sorrow, joy and love.

I got misty eyed as I read this wonderful bittersweet love story. In my heart, I hope Chris and Tom will be together again. It was such a well written story with all the right clues, so I wasn't shocked or upset by the end.

The Secret Author of this story has written a very penetrative and emotional view of how mental health issues can disrupt the lives of a family and also their friends. It is a dark but revealing story that gripped me emotionally. It brought back troubling memories of dealing with this personally from a family point of view, as well as a teacher who witnessed these dynamics when dealing with children and their parents. Some estimate that one in five families have to deal with this problem. This issue is too common in our lives and not one that can be marginalized or ignored. However, many people do. It took great courage to write a story like this. I applaud the author for that as well as the great compassion shown. It is a very well written story.

Charlie and gang are on a dream adventure with Frit and Pip trying to teach the two elf teens what it is to be frightened. Their adventure is rudely interrupted by two Moth beings threatening Charlie, Kippy, Rick and Adrian. A fight ensues, but the boys are rescued. The only problem is that the Moth now know where the planet Earth is located and that spells trouble. This new Halloween story is full of scary stuff. Enough that Pip and Frit now know what it is to be frightened. Filled with trick and treats this tale is well worth a read now or next Halloween.

A great ending, especially Frit and Pip demonstrating their new knowledge to scare the others. I love the way you wove some of the special effects from classic science fiction into the story!

A lot has happened in the chapter and all was exciting. It seems as a human gift for deception has them landed safely on the planet. The sentient beings made is safely to the surface, but the ship isn't going to provide them a way home. I wonder if Max can translocate them back to Engris? That would leave Murcha without a ship however. There is still a lot of problems to solve before they get in the castle and erase the evidence.

It's quite a posse Charlie and the gang have assembled. I had forgotten that Billy and Will had a magical robot made to escape the confines of the dimensions in which the exist. I'm sure a certain ornery Texas sheriff from the past and future would have tried to get himself one of those robots. I'm enjoying how Kippy's skwish is developing. I also think that some of the skwish is developing in Charlie, if all the references to telepathy are an indication.

By the sound of the conversation, the Moths are so full of it they have to stand to get rid if it all. Max knew how to put them in their place. It seems that the Moth are not only evil, but can use magic. I wonder how many more users of magic our friends will find on this trip. We know that Pacha and the Kiftas used magic to get ride of the Arpathants. I do like Murcha and hope he is enjoying his freedom. I think Charlie is very right in thinking of Murcha as a being not a machine. Now they are in the Cooee I expect the sphere they can see is Engris. Since they are in no space, they have time to take a break and still track the Moth ship. With luck or maybe some magic, Pacha and Mike could be visiting Engris.

I wonder if I'd watched Armand and Collin's workout, would I get some new ideas? That sure was a lot of kids that arrived with Geno. It's a good thing the older boys are now grown up and on their own. With their homes, there is space for all the new arrivals. I don't know about the meals, but if they continue like this a buffet would probably work better than sending in small groups at different times. It's nice to have everyone together now.