Parker Owens

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.

I don't blame you for your disappointment. Andy kept everyone at arm's length. Terry probably didn't want her head bitten off. You may want to break out the chocolate again.

You could share some with Andy; he could use it. Yes, it's hard going just now.

I love this one Drew! And it is STILL on my classroom door today!

The coach, too? Really? Maybe the father can wake up, and try harder to actually listen to Casey. And Casey needs to give a little too - and try talking. Maybe Karen is the right person, who knows? I really like the way you are constructing this story. You make me hope that Casey himself will find some hope. Lane is certainly doing his best!

I. Like. This. Chapter! Beautifully done. I can see Luke opening up, and Jackson opening with him. Maybe there's hope for them both.

That you like them is enough for me. That you think them so good makes me humble. I just hope you are not infused with the sense of vague unhappiness that drove me into writing them. But if you can sense that I felt it as I wrote these, then perhaps they worked. Thanks Tim for reading these and telling me what you think. - P

I am humbled by your generous thoughts. As I said in an earlier reply, these came from a vague sense of unease and dissatisfaction, as well as from the prompts given. I wonder if what one of my old music profs said was right: that we can be more expressive and inventive in minor keys. That may be so, but I do like my sunshine, too. Number one played with a conversation I had with a colleague that reminded me of Owl Creek Bridge; number two simply came from wondering what anyone would see if I were broken open and examined like an assay. Thank so very much for what you said here, I am glad you liked them.

Thank you so very much! I have a new chapter written (needs to be edited), and a few more ideas for added material. I decided to hold off on doing more as life intervened last fall. A to Z was largely on auto-post and mostly sanded and varnished by then. I am deciding on whether to continue 'Aquinas' as my next project when I get some writing time, or whether to proceed with still another story I have partly done, anyway, I am very glad you found Aquinas. These two characters are compelling in their way, and I am happy you made their acquaintance.

David's stalking and guerilla war suddenly got him into a nuclear conflict. He is lucky to be alive. The evil, unhinged, and utterly unchristian nutcases who attacked David are very dangerous criminals. David knows who they are. Hope David's dad has called the police and the State Police Hate Crimes unit. What a pity that this horrible attack is what was required to get David's father to pay attention. Tommy, Sam, and the gang of four may rally around – it appears they will. Twoey seems excluded when he's really the one David needs most. There are many possible directions for this story – but it would seem that whatever path it takes will have to go through Twoey. Perhaps he can return the meditative favor done by David to get inside David's brain and body and accelerate David's healing. Start meditating, Twoey!

That's really nice of you to say so. I'm delighted you enjoyed "Hazard." I'm a hopeless romantic, so while I can't guarantee a happy ending, I certainly prefer them. And surely Daniel and Ibi deserved one, I agree. Thanks so much for reading and reviewing this story.

The mathematics/physics of number one can be intriguing, but getting bogged down in it blinded me. Number two spoke to a vague sense of disquiet and unease I'd been feeling through February. You're as good at poetry as I am; Tim and AC convinced me to try, and I think I write a little better as a result. Perhaps you can join me on the Poetry Prompts quest. Thanks for taking the time to read and reflect on these!