Clancy59

Happy to read this story again. I’m looking forward to the next chapters, especially how the court case goes. I thought I recognized that song. ELO from the movie “Xanadu,” right?

Sorry to say, I’m not at all surprised to hear that the tribe did that. Bringing it to light in order to shame them into proper behavior would have done very little. I have relatives who worked at the local casino and they told us horror stories all the time of how they were treated. No, I don’t think we’ve heard the entire story yet.

Yes, Mozart was such a genius at such a young age. And look at how messed up his adult life became. This doesn’t happen to everyone—Einstein and Hawkings come to mind as level-headed certified geniuses. I’m absolutely positive that Ian will survive and thrive due to his parents’ support. They just have to find a way around in order to break down a five year old’s wall of stubbornness!

Yes, Ian is driven by his music. He is a musical genius. But he is FIVE YEARS OLD. Many of history’s geniuses had very troubling childhoods and adulthoods. Granted, some of them had (mostly) fathers who pushed them past the point that we might have considered abusive today, but Joel isn’t that kind of father. He will encourage his sons (and soon his daughter) to follow their hearts’ passions. If that leads them in a different direction, so be it. He’s not going to force his children down a particular pathway so he can boast about their accomplishmentsJ like those parents long (and not so long) ago. Five year olds can get very stubborn about what they do and don’t want to do. Ian is accustomed to technology doing the hard part of any work. As far as he’s concerned, Athena is there to assist them, so let her assist! The people around him are trying to explain that musical theory is an entirely new language for him to learn. It can be extremely challenging. He’s up to it, but again, he’s FIVE YEARS OLD. He wants to go play and be a little kid. I don’t know, but maybe they could break up the lessons more or find a more creative way of presenting them. Yes, instruct him as he obviously, so desperately needs to be instructed, but keep in mind that he is FIVE YEARS OLD! He is not an adult. He may have better attention control than most kids his age, but he’s still a kid. As far as Gaea is concerned, I just am fearful of it turning into a duplicate of the messed up world they just left. They need to leave the petty squabbling and jealousy back there. Take better care of this planet. Yes, I know they have to do some terraforming to make this planet hospitable to life from Earth, and that life from Earth will have to adapt to the peculiarities of Gaea. That’s to be expected. I just want them to be careful, I guess.

I understand the atmospheric needs. I have no problem with that. It just seems to me that they want to duplicate the original Earth society with all its foibles. I just think that they have a chance to start fresh—which they do with the community of people they have. Try to avoid the pitfalls the original Earth fell into!

Poor Ian. It’s hard to have so many expectations at just five years of age. He may have the smarts, but he doesn’t have the maturity yet, as witnessed b6 his meltdown about learning the technicalities of the language of music. I don’t quite get the determination to make Gaea like Earth II. Things had gone so wrong there, I would think they would want a completely fresh start. Name your cities and locations after places on Earth I. That’s fine. But make a break and make a new society with more care for each other and the world on which you are now living!

Good on Annalise, Jase AND Auntie Anne (and I can sympathize with the honorary title there—I cannot tell you how many we have in our family!)!!! I don’t think Annalise has any ulterior, subversive motive. I think she sees the ridiculousness of Miles position and sees how Mother simply does whatever he says. I believe she doesn’t approve—that’s why she has been sending Colin messages, even if they are hidden from Miles. She’s trying to keep the channels of communication and contact open. Jase sounds like he’s got a good head on his shoulders. He gave Colin some good advice. Hopefully, Colin will listen to it and really take it to heart. (It sounds like he is with that email to his mother. It was simple, general and neutral, but gives her an opening, if she’s willing. Auntie Anne! I Love Her!She knows just how Mother works and what a jerk Miles is. However, she definitely doesn’t want to see Colin estranged from his mother needlessly. She had some good advice for him, just like Jake, about asking Mother’s advice about the garden. Such a large project could become a passion project for her. And the close contact with Colin and Owain will show her that they are really no different than anyone else.

That’s why I preferred the high schoolers. You could speak with them and not get dragged into their hormone-driven angst! Middle-schoolers are put on Earth to torture those responsible for them.

😥

@Valkyrie, if you are nervous of elevators, you’ll love this. The late educator, Leo Buscaglia, often spoke about how silly it was that when people get into an elevator, they all automatically turn to face the door and won’t talk with each other. He would, himself, often stand near the door and face the others to initiate conversations. Well, one day, he and two coeds got into an elevator together, and as it started to move, he turned to the girls and said, “Wouldn’t it be wonderful if this elevator got stuck and we got the chance to know each other?” You know, of course, what happened. Yep. The elevator got stuck. Leo said they were stuck for over an hour with these two girls terrified that he had somehow arranged it and was planning on attacking them! This was evidently before he earned the nickname of ‘The Love Doctor’ (and I don’t mean like Dr. Ruth!). To this day, partly due to the influence of this man, I find myself initiating contact with people in elevators, even if it’s a simple greeting. I am also pleased to say I am a lucky recipient of one of Dr. Buscaglia’s formidable hugs. For a small man, he had the presentation of a giant.

I want to give this both a ❤️ and a 😆! I loved how the tables turned near the end!

I thought people did #18 on a regular basis!

Boy, those charges at those restaurants really add up quickly. My husband and I were at one of my conferences and went to a local steakhouse like that—separate charges for the soup, salad, main entree, vegetable, potato, dessert, etc. We were in shock when the bill for just the two of us ran well into three figures! We had seen the individual pricing, but even so….wow! We were used to bills at that time of around $30-40 for a night out, so this was sticker shock! And they were the ‘artsy’ small portions, on top of that! But, otherwise, it was amusing to see Colin in typical ‘professional’ mode and critiquing everything he saw from the viewpoint of a craftsman. I have often found myself doing the same sort of thing with books, stories and literature as a Librarian and Educator. So, I completely sympathized!

Jasper is psychotic enough to think no one will possibly notice the night/day differences between them. Not only in food and cultural tastes, but habits which will surface shortly. Robert has already realized. Now he just has to prove it to the others. That’s the tricky part, since Jasper has been so careful in cultivating their ‘identities’ as absolute ‘identicals’ to the world.

Hopefully, the adults around him, will understand what he is attempting to do. Robert most certainly has to inform the adults. I’m glad they seem to be taking this seriously enough to separate the boys, but, unfortunately, as in real life, many seem to think this is simply teenage hijinks. Someone needs to wake these people up before it’s too late. I hope Robert is not the intended victim here. If Jasper intends to commit suicide by fraudulently laying the blame on Kalum, let everyone prove Kalum’s innocence and glad to see Jasper go. Did Jasper have something to do with Simon’s death? It certainly sounds like it!

I’ve already said it. Jasper is a psychopath. He needs to be in a psychiatric prison for the rest of his life! I know Robert wants to confront Jasper himself, however, I truly believe that would be a serious mistake. Not only is Jasper psychotic, he is manipulative and clever. He may not be academically clever, but he is clever at how to convince people of his ‘honest’ intentions. He pretends to be innocent and wanting to help. He pretends to love and care for his twin, but we all know nothing could be further from the truth. If Robert confronts Jasper, even if it is to simply tell him that Robert is fully aware of what is going on and for Jasper to back off, Jasper will make it sound like Robert threatened his life complete with some kind of weapon. No. If Robert really wants to protect Kalum, he needs to bring responsible adults into the situation. If he doesn’t know who to speak with at school, talk with his Mom. She will help him. At school, the counselors are good people to go to. Many schools have some kind of social worker today. The nurse is also an excellent resource. These are all people who can call Kalum in to start a discussion or an investigation and/or bring the situation to the attention of the Administration. Yes, Robert, we know where your heart is, and I’m not speaking in romantic terms. You don’t want to see Kalum getting hurt simply because he is entitled to a dignified life without fear of constantly being attacked. Think hard before your next step.

Oh, feel better, Libby! Something is going around here and everyone I know has been getting sick. Get plenty of rest! This was a full chapter! Between the interview, the hurricane, Burke, Rory and now their reconciliation, I don’t know which way to turn first! The story is really getting exciting here and I can hardly wait for the next installment! I think when this one is complete, I’m going to have to go back and binge read it again to catch all the nuances.

@frozenphenix, truthfully, at first I wasn’t enamored of it. I almost gave it up a couple of chapters ago because I didn’t like the bullying and viciousness being displayed. But, that has toned down a bit, so I gave it another chance, and as I said, my feelings about Mike are turning a corner. I’m beginning to think of him more as a victim of his father and was actually kind of happy to see him begin to rebel and fight back. He didn’t go too far—just far enough to send a message—a message his father clearly received. I can understand his response to his mother—at first glance. He has to take a stance regarding his weapons in the house (and with his father, he needs them at hand). However, he does need to go and have a calm, adult-level discussion with her about his reasoning. They have to come to some kind of agreement regarding the weapons. This her house and she has the absolute right to declare what is and isn’t allowed within its walls. Mike, on the other hand, has good reasons to have them there. In the meantime, thank you for clearing up my comments about Mike’s Army. It was simply a postulation on my part, but I often think in different directions from the author. I know what Mike had said about teaching the guys for their own protection, and the more we see of his father, the more we can understand his reasoning!

As far as how much it will take for Kalum to finally report the abuse and turn his brother in, victims of abuse live under the extreme fear of retribution from their abuser. They don’t believe that anyone will take their claims seriously, even when the evidence is obvious, as it is on Kalum. (And hopefully the hospital documented the injuries with the mandatory report and in his medical files.) CPS will be forced to investigate with such a report, especially from medical professionals. In Kalum’s case, he’s been forced, for years, to imitate everything his brother does and says—no individualism is allowed by Jasper. He has had to pretend to everyone to be happy with his situation with Jasper. So there is a true fear. Anything he says that contradicts his brother, or makes Jasper angry, will ricochet back to him a hundredfold. Jasper has already shown he is ready to escalate to actual murder. The only thing that prevented it was Robert’s presence and shouts for the others. Next time Kalum may not be so lucky—and Jasper will make sure of it.

Actually, medical personnel, as well as educators, are mandatory reporters in the US. Alex can’t force Kalum to say anything, but he is still required to report his suspicions and present his evidence. He did the only thing he could at this point. He gave Kalum the number for Samaritans. They’ll help him, no questions asked, by getting him away from Jasper. Things are now at the point that I think Kalum will take this one seriously, but I hope he memorizes the number, because, no matter how well he hides that slip of paper, Jasper will find it. Then, beware Jaspers wrath! I hope Robert keeps a close eye on him. Maybe, at least for one night, the care home’s nurse (and, yes, they have to have one) can keep him in the infirmary because of his injuries, no matter what he says. I have to wonder what the doctors said, but we don’t know here.

@Summerabbacat, I agree with everything you said, from the idea of Owain being in a rental to IKEA. I thought he moved into the house during renovations by being upstairs while the work was going on downstairs. Maybe we both misunderstood. We have the same situation with IKEA. I would also love to visit Scandinavia for all the reasons you cited, but, right now, it’s a pipe dream. The only IKEA I can get to is outside of Boston, about an hour’s drive from here, which is about to become 2 hours next week when we move to our new apartment (yes, during the Christmas holidays!). I’ve heard a lot about their goodies, but never had the opportunity to try them myself. As for the inheritance case, @akascrubber, I think this new legal team is going to look at the facts and start salivating at just the idea of how much they are going to sue the ‘church’ for. Their share will be substantial! Nathan and his cronies are going to be incensed! “Can’t you keep your woman under control, Nathan?” Witness the end of this ‘church’ and bankruptcy of every member of its hierarchy and their families. All because of the greed of the ‘rulers’ 20 years ago and the gullibility and hatred of their father.

Also, if Mike is training the 3 of them, it almost sounds like he’s beginning to build his own army, starting with the Soldier Boyz. Who else could possibly join them against such dangerous ‘Alphas’ other than their own group. Do the other Boyz have ‘recruits’ like the Johnson brothers?

I’m really beginning to feel sorry for Mike. At first, I just thought he was a bully in training (which he is, technically). But underneath that fake, forced façade is a typical teenager trying to figure out his place in the world. Unfortunately, he has an unforgiving he-man for a father who thinks might is right. His father actually knows just how wrong he is for having raised Mike this way. Look at how he has hidden the ‘training’ from Mom as hunting and camping trips for bonding between father and son. Mom has forbidden weaponry in the house for good reason. Her legal practice has shown her the dangers of weapons. Mike’s beginning to rebel by bringing his weapons into the house and telling his mother to simply deal with it. Mike knows he has had to do whatever his father has demanded or suffer the consequences, just as his comrades were forced by their fathers. All of them need to be arrested for child abuse and go into lifelong psychiatric counseling and anger management. What his father didn’t think about, however, is that his “Little Soldier” would eventually grow up into a “Big Soldier” and be able to rebel against the extreme treatment. The ‘little’ fight between them was simply a precursor, I think. Those twins are more observant than Mike or Tamir thought they were. They still think of the boys as kids, especially when they squabble like they have been. The twins may have been too young before, but they are knowledgeable enough now to read between the lines. They, and their Mom, know more than the 2 boys think. While Mike has been trying to deny it for years, everyone in Tamir’s family has known just how deep their feeling go for each other. Mom’s little discussion with them seems to have provided the final crack that brought down Mike’s strongly defended wall that kept him separate from his true emotions. He’s still going to have to pretend to be the Big Soldier, but the Final Event is in the offing!

Jasper is an uncertified certified psychopath! He has now stepped his torture up to attempted murder! Thankfully, Robert came searching for Kalum in time to, hopefully, get him out from a watery grave, but what hit Kalum? Did something fall from the scrag? Did Jasper stick around to relish in his ‘victory’ over his hated twin? Did Robert fall victim to Jasper’s viciousness? Will Robert’s screams bring the rest of the gang so they can witness Jasper’s true nature? Jasper will talk his way out of this, you know that. But hopefully, they’ll start watching him more carefully.

I’m a retired teacher. I cannot tell you how many times it was ingrained into various meetings, orientations and conversations that we are mandatory reporters. If we ever saw or heard anything that caused us concern, even a passing comment, we were required to report it to Administration.