Parker Owens

This is a wonderful chapter, and an unusual one - so many stories gloss over disagreements and difficulties, but this one faces a very difficult social situation squarely. It remains to be seen how well it resolves in subsequent chapters, but I much enjoyed watching this relationship develop. Looks sternly at Northie: There will be other chapters, right?

Is this what the wine connoisseurs call "a long finish?" In any event, I am glad the taste agrees with you. Thank you for reading, and for your comments.

You are so very kind to comment like this. As I said to Val, I hoped to capture an instant, just one moment. If you think it worked, then I can sleep easy tonight.

Why have a plain bagel when you can have everything you wanted on it? Just saying. Thanks a ton for your comments!

I like these - not sure if I can approach them in the time I have, but I do like them...

Oh, yes - an absolutely luscious dish for this spice! Great!

How to describe the taste of a delicious, unforgettable moment? That instant in time before the brain kicks in with its need to edit, comment or chatter? It is a delectable second or two. Thanks for reading and for your comment.

Breathless, flushed, euphoric, chests heaving, pulses race, all thought dispersed like mist before the sun; no words: every mindless outcry silenced in all-consuming fire; and love, panting, remains.

I am sorry you lost someone so special to you. Your poem is a moving memory and tribute.

Longest short ride... that is a perfect and wonderful line, my friend. This is a fantastic poem that takes me with you.

This ode to transient beauty is lovely. Not only do I agree with you about roses, I love the way you show us how to appreciate the impermanent.

This is wonderfully concise, yet utterly beautiful.

A fantastic shifter's tale of the tides, the moon and a man by the sea. A romantic yarn you won't be able to stop reading.

This story, its characters, and especially Sim, had a deep effect on me. This is both a story of hurt and of affirmation. Written so well, it puts the reader in the narrator's shoes, head and heart.

A marvelous story of misunderstanding, a simple tale of complex color. Endearing, engaging and fun.

Falling Apart is a fantastic yarn set in an absorbing alternate reality. Here, a boy named Kye discovers his own strength, his true worth, and the courage to change his destiny. It is a gripping and beautifully told tale.

So the time travel paradoxes will have a field day, now. But Scott did what he ought to have done, and you set this moment up perfectly. I admire this comedic - turned wistful - turned significant story very much.

A fantasy weekend with Davey? Christmas shopping? This is a lovely, once in a lifetime experience. You only get this first-time Christmas Shopping Experience once. And there is so much to learn about Davey, and so much to absorb. Thanks for this fairy-tale like chapter.

Jesse has had both Filiberto and Devan lay down firm edicts: time to grow up; time to be responsible. Part of Jesse wants to do that. Part wants someone new to take care of him. Which will win out? One good sign is that Jesse cared for Stefan, comforted him, tried to be something other than self centered. But if time is short for Jesse, it must be critically so for Stefan. More please. Soon?

Thank you, dear Emi!

How engaging this is. I am immersed in Jake's life, in his descriptions. Let's hope he stays on the wagon. Thank you for the thorough description of the scene, and a deep look into Nats. But the description - "she consumes them heart and soul" is more than a bit scary, at least for the people she fancies. It makes me wonder what happened to Ginny. On the other hand, I have little interest in Jake's partners. Yet I still wonder if just one of them ever attached more meaning to their sex than Jake did.

This is so beautiful and so real, I want to weep. It speaks to the memories stashed deep within, to the pain that still radiates, and to the echoes that are never silent. Thank you.

I, too, lurked in the shadows for a long while when I first discovered GA. I simply could not believe the breadth and depth and quality of the writing here. Later, I joined, just so I could comment on a chapter of a story which affected me deeply. It wasn't long before I asked a far more experienced author what I would need to do in order to post a story of my own. I expected a long, and discouraging answer. Instead, I received a pleasant, and genuine response, laced with the hope that I would someday post something. I offer my deep thanks to those who created and maintain GA. I am even more deeply grateful to those who encouraged me to write: Val, tim, AC, Carlos, and many others, too. In this place, I have been befriended, gently taught, and frequently encouraged. Here I have learned more about poetry and writing than I ever learned in school. And I have been given gifts beyond measure, in the friendships and easy, accepting collegiality that exists here and no place else I have been. Happy #15, GA.

I sincerely hope they get to Paris someday. But they seem awfully happy as it is.

I am so glad you thought the asides were effective and not distracting. It was conversation, perhaps the intensity of youth communicating to age. But it wasn't clear to me if the action and interplay would come off. Thank you for your generous remarks!