Cynus

Thanks, Robert.

I apologize for the lateness in reply. I didn't know how reviews worked way back when I posted this story, and I guess I never got back to it once I figured it out. I've considered expanding this thought process several times, and I think it may be my next major project, once I've completely finished my current one. Gods as aliens is one of my favorite things to explore. I really don't know how I missed responding to this review, but at least I have some cool things to update since then. I've written a number of more spiritual texts since this one, such as my piece titled "The Power of Truth". I recommend looking into it if you haven't already.

Thanks, Cannd! I apologize for the lateness in reply. I didn't know how reviews worked way back when I posted this story, and I guess I never got back to it once I figured it out.

Thank you, Robert. I apologize for the lateness in reply. I didn't know how reviews worked way back when I posted this story, and I guess I never got back to it once I figured it out.

Thanks, Brian! I apologize for the lateness in reply. I didn't know how reviews worked way back when I posted this story, and I guess I never got back to it once I figured it out.

He was the one meant to save the rest of them from the beginning, just as Damien was meant to save the world.

Keith was my chosen martyr from the beginning. He was the one who had to die so that Damien could find the courage he needed to persevere to the end.

I hope it was eventually worth the wait.

That was actually what I was hoping for at the time. I apologize for the lateness in reply. I didn't know how reviews worked way back when I posted this story, and I guess I never got back to it once I figured it out.

Thanks, Lug. I apologize for the lateness in reply. I didn't know how reviews worked way back when I posted this story, and I guess I never got back to it once I figured it out.

It did make my editor laugh when he read it. His comment to me was, "Now we just have to know which one grows the uterus!" I don't know if I've ever figured it out, but Micah in Ashes of Fate was born sometime later.

Thank you! This was my debut story on AwesomeDude two years ago, for those who didn't know that already. I apologize for the lateness in reply. I didn't know how reviews worked way back when I posted this story, and I guess I never got back to it once I figured it out.

Thank you for your great review... from six months ago.

Wow, I must not have known how the GA review system worked back in March, because I apparently missed responding to a lot of reviews. Although I'm unsure as to whether or not I addressed your question in this review at some later point, I will address it here. There are certainly more members on the team, but the ones mentioned here are those that were known for being Logan's good friends. They all grew up together and shared many experiences together. Drew approached Gary with his knowledge of Logan's supposed infidelity, and then involved the other four kids. So, although it's not the whole team, they are the ones that directly impact Logan's life all the time.

I agree. I also apparently missed replying to this review months ago. My apologies, James.

“You wouldn’t understand . . .” His words hung in the air and left us with a terrible silence. I knew this was the end of the conversation, and that was what scared me the most. Once again our conflict would go unresolved, unless I found some way to break through the wall he had thrown up between us and entice him to speak again. But I was certain that I would fail again as surely as I had every time before. I was losing my son, and I feared it was only a matter of time before he stopped speaking to me altogether.

That reminds me of this one, which used to hang in the wrestling room(which served as a dojo for me) at the high school where I studied Aikido. "The true test of a man’s character is what he does when no one is watching.” ― John Wooden

Each of these boys is hopefully as complex as I tried to make them. This story is essentially about what you put in your last line: " . . . them struggle to reconcile their faith with who they truly are". I hope to deliver an interesting journey of self-discovery for these boys.

It is going to be an interesting ride for sure. As it's not completely written yet, I'm not even one hundred percent certain what will come of the interactions between them, but I do know that whatever they end up telling each other is going to affect a lot. I hope that your eagerness will not be disappointed.

Oh, we'll find out soon enough, I think.

It can be insane. As I was mentioning below in response to Reader1810's review, almost everyone enters the MTC trying to prove something, and that can make a lot of tensions run high. Especially if you have two alpha-male personalities bump into each other. Physical fighting was incredibly rare, though not unheard of. If those in charge found out that you were physically confrontational, sending you home wasn't beyond their potential consequences. That being said, most physical conflicts were resolved among the missionaries themselves to avoid involvement with "the authorities". Funny you mention "Lord of the Flies" though. I actually entertained an idea several years ago of writing a story centered around a murder at the MTC. Maybe someday I'll actually do it.

While none of the characters are directly based off of people I knew during my own mission, they are all based odd of aspects of what I call "Mission Culture". Each of these boys could have easily been boys that I served with, if they were real. And there always seemed to be a number of groups that form. Oddly, despite it being a religious experience, those who were overly zealous like our dear Jason Hadley, were often the outcasts.

I don't think that this is a true spoiler, but a line I'll use later in the text from Luke's internal monologue is, "Jason Hadley is an asshole". But, suffice to say, you are seeing him the way I intended him to be seen. Unfortunately, this is the stereotype of how the strict, righteous missionary acts, and as such I wanted a character who fit into that stereotype. If you refer to the description of the story, you may notice that the "reasons for serving a mission" each fit one of the boys. The politeness is something that occurred uniquely in the MTC while I was there. There's an expectation for how a missionary should act, and most missionaries I knew when they arrived at the MTC were eager to impress with how polite they were. However, after a few weeks most of them began to loosen up, and the dorm rooms were every bit as chaotic as you'd expect them to be with a group of young men left to their own devices.

Thanks, Rex. I hope I won't let you down.

I try not to be anyway. Thanks for the review, and for the positive energy.