Rigby Taylor

Argh!!! Typical. I remember the owners of grand houses on the Esplanade in Hervey bay destroying all vegetation that interfered with their view across to Fraser Island.

And thank you for reading. I suspect Jerry and tom were keeping their evil plans close to their chest. So maybe our heroes will escape further horror....

That's right, Timothy. Yes, they cleared away all evidence - and it's why Snake phoned from a call box so no one has any evidence he called them. But it remains a worry.

After driving all night they arrived exhausted at a set of magnificent wrought iron gates hung between two giant eucalyptus trees. The surreal effect triggered an involuntary laugh of delight. They parked in front of the gates and got out to look, listen, and smell the environment. The winding road had been cut into the edge of a heavily forested slope. Their driveway, visible through the gates, wound up hill out of sight. Trees and undergrowth on the other side of the road obscured whatever vie

You are right - We trust too much that those in charge of keeping society going, will keep it running the way we like it - there is absolutely no guarantee of that and no mechanism apart from the occasional election or bloody revolution to ensure that. Civilization is a very, very precarious situation for humans to put themselves in - especially now with total 'Big Brother" surveillance 24/7. Thanks for reading and commenting.

Yes - I did enjoy it - I should have made that clear. What's your next tale about - I like short stories - being no good at them myself.

No, it wasn't generous! In fact Frankie is doing Prospero a favour by accepting the gift and putting Prospero's mind at rest knowing the future of his property is in good hands. I am personally acquainted with people who feel exactly like the old man - no children, no relatives they would trust, and no faith in charities to use the money wisely for the good of the planet, instead of the 'good' of humans, of whom there are already several thousand million too many.

Oh gosh!!!what can I say? Dear Okiegrad, It seems to me you have no need to be liberated by my paltry efforts - you have done that yourself. Thanks heaps for your lovely words, though - now I feel all warm and loved.

Ah! A human with a social conscience - gosh. Qualified agreement with your views about the insanely wealthy's right or not to dispose of their ill-gotten gains as they see fit. Although I know several people with strong life-enhancing views & modest assets who would love to find someone who shares their values to whom they could leave their modest wealth. No charities embrace population reduction or true environmental protection. And who is going to choose the " areas of greatest priority" you suggest be targeted? As you point out, $50 million isn't really much, so Frankie would have no say when it came to banks just taking it, as they did in Cyprus and are demanding the right to do everywhere else - and without the current Royal commission that would have been granted. Meanwhile, people such as a previous US Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Economic Policy are posting dire warnings about the total collapse of the current financial structure. Real tangible assets such as gold are the only surety when a fiscal system is based on unsustainable debt - wise people try to maintain financial independence while alive - which is why real estate is so popular. Now to your predictions - you are remarkable prescient! Developers and rapacious relations.... I wonder... So pleased I could add to the pleasurable experience of morning coffee.

'So after that pinball reenactment'.. ha ha... 'Dead to the world, just the way I like to sleep' Great description of the bar. You've taken more care with editing this chapter - good. I'm pleased you stopped dating females and trying to be different from your natural self - it's a waste of time, I've realised. At least I've never succeeded. Formatting: When I use the 'return' key for the next line in composing the 'Word' doc. , it produces a double line space when posted on GA. That makes it easier to read. It looks a bit jammed together with only single spacing between paragraphs and dialogue.

Prospero occupied the entire top floor of a luxury downtown hotel. After welcoming Frankie and offering him a fruit drink, he excused himself for a few minutes. While waiting, Frankie inspected the large, light-filled rooms, not impressed by the starkly minimalist décor, but intrigued by everything else, especially several small artefacts displayed on the top of a glass bookcase. When he returned, Prospero explained that they were three-dimensional puzzles. Frankie pointed to what looked to be t

I love it that you feel gently guided - usually I'm less than subtle - you've quite made my day. I must say "Lord of the ties" was an adventurous choice for a school play, exploding as it does the myth of inherent 'British justice, decency and fair play' by revealing the core of primitive and cruel violence at the core of the scions of the English 'Upper Class.' So, you 're a thespian - how nice. I'm also looking forward - to your continuing commentary.

And thank you JeffreyL! Although it is slightly alarming to realise my plots are so easily recognisable. I hope you will continue to enjoy Frankie's 'journey'.

It's difficult to comment because I'm not sure what sort of education Wesley has. If he is a kid who's careless with grammar because he's just not interested in school, then this reads perfectly well. It is a convincing and graphic tale without hysteria. If, however, Wesley is supposed to be a reasonably smart kid, then droughtquake is correct - it needs tidying up before rushing into print. It's interesting that you are making us feel almost sorry for the mother. That's clever. How your brain got the information for the visions is a mystery - but not very important.

Thanks to Ingenio’s computer teaching program, Frankie’s academic results were adequate, and thanks to Con’s advice, so was his school social life. Although fun loving and gregarious, he remained a private person and never accepted invitations, or gave any to fellow students. At the first rehearsal of the play they sat in a circle and discussed what they would be wearing. When it came to Frankie, silence fell. ‘What about you, Frankie?’ ‘Although his heart was thumping he shrugged as

Indeed it is, Wesley - My Grandmother's addition to the Gospel Beatitudes was: "Blessed is he who expecteth nothing, for he shall not be disappointed." And as my mother used to sigh - "Hope for the best and expect the worst". My parents didn't consider optimism to be a useful useful character trait. And I tend to agree. Although never a member, I applaud the Boy Scouts' suggestion to "Be Prepared!"

Thanks for your kind words of encouragement. As for Impending doom? Whaddya expect from a kid who grew up with a father 12,000 miles away fighting a hot war to preserve the trading rights of English millionaires, while his mother kept the bath full so she could drown her offspring when the Japanese invaded, then spent his youth under the cold war threat of nuclear annihilation, and now sits trembling waiting for melting ice-caps to submerge all coastal cities, rising temperatures to cook us all, storms that will ravage what's left and the collapse of the entire fiscal system under the weight of sixty-thousand-million-million dollars of debt? (sighs). I reckon I'm pretty cheerful - when you consider all that.

The following morning at half past ten, after a breakfast of fish and chips that Frankie failed to keep down due to nervousness and a stomach unused to anything other than lentils, beans and raw herbs, they watched the plane touch down at Hobart Terminal. Frankie waited nervously. Would Inge really be pleased to see him? Ten minutes later Ingenio appeared through the arrivals door, looked around, saw Frankie and waved with the old friendly smile and slightly crooked front teeth. Frankie had forg

Ah, the evils of drink. But War is an even greater evil. How can a man hope to cope when his head is filled with horror images and memories. A caring society would provide assistance for men in that position. Very competently written and described. I hope it get's less depressing soon. And of course David is gay and Simon to there's a conflagration coming...

Very droll, I love the prissy queen calling his houseboy a queen.

You hope all will go well - I knew a girl called Hope; wide-eyed and ignorant. Giggled inanely and chattered incontinently. An entirely apt name we all thought. Have I let any of my heroes suffer unduly? Suffering strengthens the something or other, I read somewhere. Have faith, Canuk - it's just as useful as hope.

This is bloody good, Wesley. I like the fast pace, it drags me on to read more, yet there's exactly enough description to trigger my imagination so I can feel Wesley's hopes and fears. Getting naked first up seems natural to me. I agree with 'Sojourn' above - you have a good style, don't change it.

But I thought you guys all liked sweetness and light sort of stories? What could possibly happen now he's reunited with his father?

After a couple of hundred metres, the ranger veered south down the slope through places Frankie knew well. ‘He’s going to the lake,’ he whispered to himself, following as close as he dared. ‘I wonder if he’ll swim.’ Watching from a few metres away, he laughed silently as the ranger stopped at the edge of the water, bent down and put his hand in, gave a slight shiver and stood up. ‘Too cold,’ he muttered, clambering round to Frankie's diving rock, where he removed his shirt and lay back to so

Fancy you being born in Southern Tassie! What are the chances? For me cold is the ultimate hell, I can't admire any scenery if I'm cold. You are a true romantic, Canuk - 'back to his true love'... surely you don't mean.....?