Parker Owens

Whew! I see why the name for this chapter fits so well. Up, down, up down, poor guys must feel seasick. Poor Craig actually losing his lunch, seemed apt. But how wonderful apt is the support and love Jared and Craig demonstrate for each other throughout this chapter. These are the strong bonds that will hold them fast to break whatever fall either one may experience. Thanks for a great chapter!

I see green in all seventeen syllables. Wonderful anticipation of the season!

Late, but hopefully not too late, dad begins a healing conversation. Good for him. Casey had better talk privately with Dad and Linda about Lane's 'willy games' before the parents find out on their own and freak. Great that Casey is getting a class with Shade. Hope something comes of that...

I'm delighted you enjoyed it, Emi. As I said to SD, this poem appeared in my head completely unbidden. Had to scramble all day to remember it and write it down! Thanks so much for rut encouragement. And I love coffee, too!

I am so very glad you liked this. I had a long tussle with the last stanza, 'O love whose heat...' There were so many directions to go in just four lines...coffee, one of the best inventions for love and friendship ever conceived...the stair was just hanging there, waiting like the speaker, on the off chance it could be used...I am glad you sensed the fear in this, too. Many thanks for your kind comments...

Thanks, SD. Tim's had a great dramatic turn, this one more of a tableaux effect. The fulfillment is just barely sketched, but plainly there. Glad that came through. The first line came like an unexpected gift in the middle of the workday. Spent the rest of the day distracted trying to write bits on scraps of paper to stuff into my pocket...

I could have written a poem about the embarrassing waiting around I've done in just that way...but oh, dear, that would be galling...In this, the hope was fulfilled. Thanks for noticing 'acquiesce' which I liked better than 'surrender.' I am humbled by your kind words, and I am glad you enjoyed this.

I am very glad you liked it. I can remember hanging around, endlessly waiting, hoping for a special someone to appear on the off chance...I'm still embarrassed, because nothing ever came of it...Thanks! - P

O love that rides the cresting wave, that cannot be resisted, save I hide myself in reason's lair from that insanity I crave. O love whose rhythm fills the air, I wait embarrassed on the stair perchance I hear your step descend and with me pass a moment there. O love, the crystal stars portend A moonlit smile; you call me friend. And we an evening's pleasure take To linger over coffee's end. O love so thirsty naught will slake, desire so deep with need I quake; I revel in

David is awake and functioning. David's friends are beginning to connect some of the dots. David's real family loves him. Go Tommy! Even with your doubts, you're going to put it together. Matty acting scared of a girl? Hard to imagine. Alex might pursue him, though. That could be highly amusing! I am enjoying the chatter, but I am looking forward to some serious Twoey-David time. Soon. Please?

You know I liked this - had me going in two different directions emotionally. Ecstatic, elated, hurt, sad, angry...all it took was four stanzas. Really showed off your talents, here Tim! Loved the image of ...turned up my cowl...reminded me of trying vainly to shut out the storms of life and love.

Your comment about enjoying the epilogue made my morning. Thanks very, very much. Your compliments are very kind, and I hope to be worthy of them someday. You are right that A to Z took a huge amount of time and emotional energy. I loved every moment. I figure everyone needs a rest for a while. In the meantime, I am waiting for new ideas to percolate to the surface. I am very, vey happy you enjoyed A to Z, and you are most welcome!

I did, and thank you. You have me wondering about the walls you must break down or out wait. What's the rest of the story?

I am very grateful for your simple, eloquent affirmation. Thank you for reading Andy's journal, and staying with it to the end.

I thank you very much for reading Andy and Zander's story. That you find it compelling enough to consider re-reading is a great joy to me. I am so glad you reached the end, and hope you will enjoy it again...

What a pillow talk! Love three times, just like that. Good going Clayton! And good for addressing Ryan's hurt head on. And Ryan, you were good to be honest. This moment was perfectly lovely, wonderfully romantic, and you make me want to believe in the two of them. Thanks for this great chapter...now is more coming right away, or are you going to make me beg?

Agreed with Emi that 'You back away when I start to fall' spoke to me. Also the 'minutiae of life swallowing me' relates to my experience. This poem as a whole reached into my gut and turned it...dabbling in malaise is more than suitable a description for the experience. I continue to hope for your successful climb out.

You have a vey good point there; poor Andy doesn't have much in the way of experience with these devices...doesn't really get that every call has an ID. Of course, his father is dead, or so he assumes. Hope you don't need to break out the chocolate yet...

The dust is still settling, and we see everyone beginning to assess and see what needs to be repaired. 'Tommy Logic' is priceless. Can't wait for Tommy and Twoey to meet for real, and for them to work together on helping David recover. Sam was sure quick witted and sure footed through this emergency. Now he gets to see if he is up to the task of going out with Deena for an evening. The pastor and David's ex (ex-mother, that is) are still on the run, and that seems pretty disturbing. What's even more disturbing is the whole YACC organization. That didn't spring from nowhere, and what were their activities before attacking David? Are there any other missing kids in the Daleville area? What kind of evil warped mind thinks this is in any way related to the actual teachings of Jesus? Are any of them still around, lurking in dark corners? You present a picture of a network of friends and a community still recovering from shock. There have to be serious questions going around now - first Danny, now David. Why aren't more kids scared or anxious? Great chapter - you can tell, because there are so many questions to answer!

Very hard to 'like' this, but it's a horribly compelling story. What happened to Tait happens in relationships both celebrity and ordinary. And it's terrible whenever it happens. This should never happen to a human being; that it happened to one's beloved makes it so much worse. Good for Tait for his renewed strength. Good for Tait for being persistent with Phil; good for Phil for gathering enough courage to agree on a slow, but perhaps certain relationship with Tait. This was a grim chapter for the past it told, but hopeful for its present. You have written a very powerful chapter here, Tim. Bravo.

I am enjoying this story immensely. I love how you have packed so much into just one day...Very well done, very engaging. Can't wait to see how the game goes!

Glad you're here. You've joined a great community. Have fun and enjoy yourself!

The drama explodes on the scene, and all the characters tell us what they're thinking. Gary sounds like a best friend again; Sam is inscrutable and mysterious; Matty continues to think with parts other than his brain; Chuck is concerned, surely; Alex is worried sick over her crush, and...and...whew. Thanks for the mass thoughts...Twoey stronger now? Good; David doesn't need a weepy Twoey. Hope Ginny lets him go visit ASAP. Agree with Spikey that the mother and the pastor ought to be easy enough to track down; don't agree that Burch won't talk - he'll want a grandstand to preach his hate and lies from. What made Burch and the kids he directed attack David at this time? Were they directed by the evil pastor and David's so-called mother? And how could a mother allow such a thing to happen to her son? Let the questioning begin. Wonder if the local media will make a circus of matters this time. As for David's father, it's good he called in some assistance so he can spare time for his injured son, but holy cow, David is sure paying a steep price for his near-criminal cluelessness. If he feels no guilt for that, he has an emotional pathology. Just saying. All this is to say that even the dust settling in this chapter is exciting and engrossing. Am expecting the next chapter, um.....NOW. Please?

What a chapter! So much seems to be coming together for Jared and Craig. And not just their bodies, either. You wrote such a strong dose of love in all its temperatures and flavors, I am still reeling - in a very good way. Thanks for a grand chapter!

I keep you now in the poems you share; you are alive in my memory, alive in my brain, alive in my heart. You compel me to respond to the echoes of your cries in this poem. I can't remain silent at the sounds and images you write. Hold fast to the beauty in what you write, for this is beautiful - and difficult, too. And this reader, at least, will hold fast with you.