Marty

Awh..... That was luverly!

That, sadly, is often the case. And it's not just a recent thing, the case of the famous actor and comedian (and British Army war veteran) Spike Milligan maybe being a good example. I've a nephew in England who has taken out an Irish passport as a result Brexit. He often works in Europe, and is concerned that he may lose the right to work there after Brexit. He was able to use the grandparent rule to get Irish citizenship.

Thanks for the comment, Carlos. I particularly appreciate it when someone is willing to let me know what they didn't like about a particular piece of work. 😊 I'll certainly take your comments about bloat words into consideration in future. I'm not sure what you mean by 'The fact it's mostly narration turns me off' ... I thought this piece was more of an introspective one; I only see around 15 actual pieces of actual narration in it. Thanks again.

I was actually born in Stockport - now part of Greater Manchester. Before I moved to Ireland I would often park my car when shopping in Manchester in a run down area near the old canal, and then afterwards take a stroll along the deserted canal. I used to think of it as my own wee oasis next to the hustle and bustle of the city. I might occasionally have come across a lone fisherman, otherwise it was just a spot where I would unwind and lose myself in my own thoughts for half an hour or so before heading back to the hurly-burly of city life. I was actually quite sad when I revisited it on holiday around the time they were redeveloping it and saw all the frantic activity taking place...

Yea, as you probably guessed, that was my English (maternal) grandfather. I never knew my paternal (Irish) grandparents. My father's mother died when he was a baby, and his father before I was born.

I couldn't be bothered but, as my grandfather used to say "There's nowt so queer as folk." (Actually he would usually continue that with "I sometimes think there's only two sane people in the world. Me and thee." Then he would give me a careful look and finish with "And sometimes I'm not even sure about thee!" 😂)

I suppose that's true enough. I suppose that the site could be set up to prevent the read count going up when authors read their own stuff. But, then again, I suppose if they really wanted to artificially boost their read count they could just log out and read as an anonymous user...

I'm not sure, but I suspect Tim's comment there was possibly in response to another member's reply much earlier in this topic. And, if it was, he was only saying what I was thinking myself.

As @Carlos Hazday has pointed out, lots of readers on here are not actually registered members, so they are unable to post likes or comments. I think I saw @Myr comment somewhere that of the number of people actually using GA at any particular time, usually around 90% of them are not actually registered members, so that may go a long way to explaining why some stories may be shown to have been read an awful lot of times, but have few actual likes or comments. Personally I would usually like or comment if I have enjoyed a particular story or chapter. As an author myself I feel that's the right thing to do. As for people doing the same for my own feeble(?) offerings - - - well, I'm happy if they do, but I'm not going to upset if they don't. The fact that I can actually see the number of times a piece of work has been read can be reward enough in itself (I don't think you can see that on Nifty - or can you?)

A lovely case of the hunter becoming the hunted. Another delightful little story, Geron. One that left me with a quite warm feeling. 😊

Thanks, Gary.

I'm also not a religious person. I was baptised in a Catholic church, but have considered myself a confirmed atheist since my early teens. But I agree with you about there being many important quotes from religious texts. Paul's thoughts on love (Love is always patient and kind....) in his letter to the Ephesians being a good example, as is the way Jesus is quoted to have answered the question 'But who is my neighbour?" in the parable of the Good Samaritan. I've no problem with religion. Nor with anybody who is religious. My only problem is when people use their religion to hurt others.

Oh, I always do! Sometimes I have to clean them thoroughly first, though...

Another great wee story, Geron! There were so many parts that I found I could relate to... The interaction between Luke and Sandy was sweet. It particularly brought back two memories from my past... The first is from back in the 1970's when I was teaching second level. We had taken a party of second year pupils (13-14 yrs - I think they have a different classification of school grades in England nowadays) out on a day trip to visit some fairly famous caves (the Blue John Caverns) in Derbyshire, England. For lunch we had driven a mile or so to a disused quarry and, after I had finished my sandwiches and flask of coffee, I was amusing myself by trying to traverse the quarry face. I had climbed about four feet off the quarry floor and was trying to navigate myself from one end of the quarry to the other without having to touch the floor on again the way. One of the girls came across and asked me what I was doing. When I had explained the purpose of my game to her she then went on to ask why I was doing it. "For fun!" I told her, "Don't you ever do things just for the fun of it? When she told me No, I felt really sorry for her. Sad thing was I couldn't think of a way to help her. 😡 I was happy that in this story Luke was able to help his cousin Sandy see that there is nothing wrong about his parents having a bit of fun. 😊 The second happened much more recently when I accompanied some of my friends and their young children to the beach one June Bank Holiday Monday. Whilst both sets of parents were taking it easy, sheltering from the sun in the shade of two huge beach umbrellas they had brought with them for the day, Uncle Marty was keeping the kids occupied - helping them build and destroy sand castles, throwing a frisbee up and down the beach (and into the sea occasionally), swimming and splashing in the sea, and occasionally letting the whole bunch of them jump all over me and push me under one of the incoming breakers. As I emerged coughing and spluttering from one such dunking, grinning evilly as I approached one of them (about 8 yrs old) playfully threatening to get my own back, he grinned at me and asked "Marty, are you ever going to grow up? I pretended to take his question seriously for a moment, then lifted him bodily out of the foam and, as I was throwing him at the next incoming breaker, just laughed out loud and exclaimed "Now why on earth would I want to do a silly thing like that?" (His parents gave me a copy of The Encyplodedia of Immaturity for Christmas later that year... 😂) So, Geron, it's not only cameras that can act as Eyes Of The Heart. A well crafted story can do that as well. And this one helped me remember a few memories of my own. I had a few other comments, but I'll maybe leave them for a later date. We wouldn't want this comment to end up longer than the actual story itself, now would we? 😉

Yes, what BB said. A difficult topic to write about, but you managed it brilliantly.

It can be indeed. It took me far too long, but I did get there in the end. But everyone is on a different journey. What works for one person will not necessarily work for everyone.

Another beautiful story, Tim. At least I know now to have a roll of kitchen towels (my equivalent of a box of tissues) next to me before I start to read one of your offerings. 😊 It is always sad to watch a loved one slowly getting sicker and sicker, before eventually dying. But I will always remember what a church minister said to me once at the graveside of a friend's mother who had died suddenly of a massive heart attack, and I was reflecting that it must be a nice way to die - quickly, without a long period of pain and suffering - unlike watching my father's slow and painful battle before he had died of cancer just a few years earlier. The minister's response was "It may be nice for the one leaving, but think about the loved ones that are left behind and had no time to prepare." I almost envy your ability to pack so much using so few words.

Tim, I'm struggling for words. Such a beautiful, yet achingly sad story. I have hit the "Love" button, but almost feel there should be another button to express how it made me feel. A very difficult subject matter to write about, I know - but you pulled it off amazingly. There are some stories that I almost wish I had never read - and this is one of them - but I'm actually glad to have read it. That last sentence probably doesn't make much sense, but I did start by saying that I'm struggling for words. Suicide is not easy to talk about, let alone to write about. It takes a brave author to do so. I congratulate you for having the courage to write this story, and feel humbled by just how well you managed it. You have my total respect.

The night hides the world, but reveals a universe. Iranian Proverb

Great story, Geron! Maybe John would have been more sensible had he taken up Mr Henderson's offer to run them and the tree home in the truck. But, had he done so, he would have missed that all so important epiphany as they were crossing Felker's field. (And the chocolate chip bit right at the end was simply delightful)

Sadly, in those days a lot of us found it necessary to spend time in that very long river that flows through North Africa to empty into the Mediterranean, droughtquake. ☹️ (The Nile - denial)

Thanks, Geron! As for a follow up, this was only ever meant to be a stand alone story. Perhaps sometime, but certainly not anywhere in the foreseeable future, I'll revisit Simon and Andy. I've two other long unfinished stories that I must try to finish writing first, however. But... never say never! 😊

Seems like there's plenty of drama and comedy at the shelter you mention in the first paragraph that could provide lots of inspiration. And cameo characters can also often act as a sort of writing prompt. In my Misunderstood short story, which is basically total fiction, I used a real life character (the schoolboy who needed piggy backing down the mountain) as a means of bringing the two main protagonists together. I really did need to piggy back one of my pupils off a mountain once. Oh, and thanks for the heads up on the movie. I'll put it on my to do list and try and check it out. 😊

Hi Geron You'll maybe notice that I show this story as being On Hold here in GA. I do have a lot more written, but it's one of the two novels I mentioned in this blog post yesterday that I have been struggling with for the past ten years or more. I do intend to get back to it eventually but, because I know just how stop-and-start my writing can be, I really don't want to be upsetting readers on GA by starting to upload more chapters here and then making them wait months (or even years) for the next update. I did that on another (now defunct) site around ten years back, and it upset me to see readers getting upset about being left hanging. If and when I ever get it finished I shall upload it here (perhaps one chapter every few days). In the meantime, expect to see more single chapter stories (and poems) from me.

Great minds think alike? (Or Fools never differ? 😉)