Summerabbacat

"He hurt you,’ I looked up at Alex and he was frowning, his jaw clenched. Glancing away, I muttered, ‘He, um. He cheated on me, stole from me, he was always screaming in my face, got inside my head. He is sometimes.’ I bowed my head down, my voice almost silent, ‘He is still there." Nathanial's revelation was profoundly moving and upsetting. Alex appears to have taken it in his stride, which is a good sign. I take it as a good sign Charlie was not mentioned as still being in touch with Nathanial. Hopefully he has been relegated to Nathanial's past as I don't trust him.

Charlie is a jerk. Firstly he farts long and often and thinks it is funny. Then he comes onto Nathanial who responds in kind, only to be rebuffed and told to leave. I fear Charlie is going to steal all Nathanial's story ideas and give him no credit. Charlie's alleged break up with Karen and his firing from his TV show are awfully convenient for gaining him sympathy from Nathanial. There is something fishy about Charlie, he is disingenuous I think.

Is it merely a coincidence that two well known "celebrities", albeit from very different professions, just happen to have come across the blog of an unknown writer, happen to meet the unknown writer at the same charity function where he worked as a waiter, and now happen to be on the same chat show together. It appears too many coincidences and I am fearful for Nathanial's future, although he clearly survives whatever is to come.

AJ has revealed his true identity. I assume he is not publicly known as gay, which would make a relationship with Nathanial difficult if this is what Alex desires. The phone ringing which is not ringing is disturbing. Nathanial appears to be only too well aware of his deteriorating mental health, but as stated in the synopsis for this story he is embarrassed by this. Social conditioning is work against him.

I will not be surprised @Ticklishboy30 if Natasha has outed Benjamin to her parents, assuming they will echo her disgust at this. What I would love to see happen at the party is for her parents to enquire where Justin is, for Benjamin to reveal he was not invited because his mother disapproves, and for her parents to go postal over her treatment of their beloved grandson and his boyfriend. I am also hoping we get to learn of what they think of Martin, and if they like him, what their reaction is to his not having been invited to the twins' birthday party.

Ryder will likely be the cause of a massive disruption to Owen's "safe" life, but will it be destructive? I hope you are wrong for Owen's sake @drpaladin. I imagine Owen's parents will not only disapprove of his "choosing" to be gay, but will disapprove of Ryder. Will they shun Owen? I suspect for the sake of the family business and family "name" they will as they strike me as very conditional and uncompromising. Will Owen be better off without them? This remains to be seen. The one thing which I really hope eventuates from a fallout between Owen and his parents is support for him from Aunt Beth. I sense she is not the same uptight and rigid type as her husband and in-laws.

She is rather annoying, but is there a legitimate reason she is allegedly harassing Charlie. Nathanial has only heard Charlie's side of the story. Nathanial's diet seems to consist largely of coffee and crisps. Not a great diet for anyone. His immunity is apparently suffering, so the diet will not help. You have created a wonderful character in Nathanial @J92. Whatever he suffers before the story ends I hope he is able to overcome or at least manage.

‘Are you that stupid Nathanial?’ I could hear Jake’s gnarly voice digging into my ear. ‘Of course, you are stupid. Getting swept away. Happiness. Like someone like you could ever feel real happiness.’ Jake has really done a number on Nathanial, although I suspect Nathanial may have already had mental health challenges, perhaps low self-esteem or anxiety. It appears he is really starting to struggle. I wonder if AJ is someone Nathanial knows who is playing a trick on him. As for Charlie, I am not sure I trust him.

I am assuming Jake is an ex-boyfriend with whom Nathanial did not part on amicable grounds. It appears Jake may have been rather critical of Nathanial as whenever Nathanial hears his voice he is making snarky comments about him. Is this the first indication Nathanial may be schizophrenic. His diet does not appear to be healthy and his erratic rest patterns are probably not helping. Nathanial is very likeable @J92.

@andy cannon made the following comment regarding chapter 1: Not so much 'living' as 'existing'. The family might as well say, 'We only keep you around to harvest your organs in case one of the children we really love need them.' This comment resonated with me in this chapter, Owen's opening "discussion" with his father and mother illustrating this. To his father Owen is a resource, a prop to be used to showcase and reinforce the quality and appeal of the family business. It would never occur to him to question if the family business is what Owen is interested in, it is a given Owen will continue the family business as far as his father is concerned. I suspect his Aunt Beth is the only person who has ever noticed the family business may not be Owen's true "calling". To his mother Owen is a badge of honour she can wear to congratulate herself on what a fine job she has done raising him. She appears to only be interested in what he has done at VBS which will make him look good, and by extension make her look good for volunteering him. Did she ask him if he was enjoying the experience, no, the closest she came to this was asking if he had made any friends. His response that the children were only 7 or 8 years of age amused her. She is clueless and shallow (and they are her "good" points). If I am to be fair, I suppose neither of Owen's parents are "bad" people, they are just so totally self-absorbed and have no interest in knowing who their son is. As Owen revealed to Ryder, his occupation was selected by his parents before he was even born. I suspect the type of person he is was also decided by his parents before he was even born. Clearly they don't really want a son, they want a "product" they can display to prove their worth and confirm their status. Owen's discussion with Ryder was illuminating for both, although I suspect Ryder may have a few "secrets" of his own which may reveal he is not as carefree and confident as he appears to be.

The description of Nathanial's physical appearance was enough to suggest he has lived and survived something truly horrific. His appearance and the minimal information he revealed to Father Tom suggests his mental health is in even worse shape than his physical health, the two being intrinsically linked. "Are you okay, son?’ My back aches from lying against the wooden church door all night. I gulp, bowing my head down, ‘I, um. I am sorry, Father, I will, I will move away." Nathanial's reaction to Father Tom's initial kindness was particularly sad. It is a poor indictment on society at large that a person in dire need of help would think they would be turned away by a church, treated as a nuisance. Unfortunately, I believe such a reaction is not baseless. An impressive opening chapter @J92. I sense this story will not be an easy read, particularly as Nathanial's mental health deteriorates. I shall attempt to read it, no matter how harrowing the subject matter becomes. I must say the restrained description of Nathanial's physical appearance was very effective. Had you been too graphic I believe it would have been too confronting.

King’s School, Warwick, and according to his Wikipedia listing he left school for a life and sea too @Lynx003.

I think it is time again we readers give a shout out to @MJC who does an excellent job in editing your stories. An error is as rare as an honest politician after he has cast his eye over the draft.

@Mark Ponyboy Peters is it your intention to publish the three parts or acts as one story or will you break it into three separate stories? I am guessing it will be one story as you have not titled this one as Out Of The Blue (Part 1), unless each story will have its own distinct title.

I cannot imagine how awful life must have been for many living under the iron fist of Franco. I was 10 years of age at the time the events in this chapter took place so I doubt I had much knowledge, if any, of this then. I vaguely recall being aware of unrest in Argentina about that time, but for a 10 year old living on the other side of the world in Australia such things were completely foreign by location and foreign by nature. You are doing a fine job again depicting the terror and tension which I daresay was felt by many @Gary L. Blighty's loss has been Spain's gain with you calling Spain home.

I thought you were either an exceptional speed reader or you had some of the sailors at the San Diego Retired Marines Community Centre ghost writing them for you. Now it all makes sense.

It does not matter how much you polish it, you cannot make a silk purse out of a sow's ear. It has long lost its sheen and lustre.

You must have a strong stomach @drpaladin.

I think mine have cracked due to the cold weather.

It pains me to admit it, but I think @weinerdog's ball is the most crystal clear of all. He has a very good strike rate with his speculations. I have previously teased him and referred to him as Madame Zelenska, an Eastern European clairvoyant whose crystal ball, tarot cards, tea leaves, have often been very accurate. He refuses however to provide me with winning Powerball numbers.

I worship the great god Bassey and goddesses Agnetha, Frida, Donna, Kylie, Shirley, Ava, Kiki, Zelda, Missy etc (you get the picture). But do you think I can get a tax exemption for my religion? Not on your sweet life. If you answered all of our questions @Mark Ponyboy Peters there would be no Mystery to this story at all. This way it can retain a little Mystery, unless @weinerdog's crystal ball reveals all.

It was an American TV show which aired between 2001 and 2005. It is set in a funeral home run by two brothers whose father has died unexpectedly. I only ever saw a few episodes and thought it was excellent. It may not have had any graphic scenes so I may be doing it a disservice. The main reason I watched it was that it starred Rachel Griffiths, an outstanding Aussie actress who was in the fabulous 1994 Aussie movie, Muriel's Wedding, and another rather good American TV show, Brothers & Sisters, which I saw a few episodes of.

I guess Six Feet Under would have held little interest for you then @Tris.

Self-centred bitch. When Jacques, her equally self-centred boyfriend tires of her vendetta against Martin and dumps her for a woman Maria's age, she will find herself without a friend. Perhaps she will reach out to Amelia. LOL.

Fuck, how embarrassing. That is like saying Frida was married to Bjorn and Agnetha to Benny. I think I just got an F for that comment.