Summerabbacat

Way to go @weinerdog. I wish I had thought of this, but I had not. Mary is a pious poisonous prig and will hopefully get her comeuppance before the story concludes. I am worried Lucas will snap and in a rage kill his Granny. If he does his life will be all but over. It does not excuse his homophobia and bullying, but he has not had an easy life. Seemingly Granny resents him which I suspect Lucas realises. Neil is reacting to all the bullying he is being subjected to in a perfectly understandable manner. I feared for a moment he was contemplating hanging himself by his tie but his thought "He couldn’t face option one; and he didn’t have the nerve to carry out option two" indicates this is not the case. I believe Brenda will respond very positively to Neil being gay. Her comment to Jack “I just don’t want Neil going through the pain his father went through.” was truly remarkable, showing what a selfless, caring and compassionate person she clearly is. A wonderful chapter @Ronyx. A real weepy.

Duplicate posting makes me look like an idiot @Lee Wilson. I thought I had already added the comment and went to edit it but it was still showing 'add comment' as active. I did the edit and then added the comment only to find it had already posted. Very annoying.

Perhaps you could introduce this method preparing and serving fruit salad at the school you work at @chris191070. It may encourage the children to eat more fruit if it were served in such a manner. Maybe you could volunteer to perform a similar role to Joshua.

I think I have heard the word before. It sounds like the type of word Benny Hill or Frankie Howerd would have used in some of their TV shows, many of which were shown in Australia in the 1970's.

I was being facetious. He died a number of years before I was born too and I have never seen any of his movies that I can recall. If it were not for the fact he was born in Australia I would probably have taken no interest in him at all.

I was being facetious. He died before I was born too and have never seen one of his movies that I can recall. If it were not for the fact he was born in Australia I would probably have taken no interest in him at all.

I am going to choose to believe Morrie did not lie to Jane and Alisa when he stated his fur coat was faux fur. Perhaps Ralph could send his parents a carpet sample together with photographs of the twins playing football as Christmas gifts. Industrial chic is a very practical and attractive solution, except for winter when I imagine Parborough gets very cold. Another delightful chapter @Robert Hugill.

What do you mean by your "younger readers" @Lee Wilson? We are only youngsters ourselves, spring chickens, babes in the woods.

Errol should have stuck to what he is most familiar with and what he reportedly excelled at, drinking and fucking any adult with a pulse. I think @weinerdog was right. It was Errol he saw at the bar getting shit-faced with Eric Griffin before Eric started his prison sentence of over 430,000 years for negligent homicide. If Eric was able to survive his lengthy time in prison he might get to see Cher and/or Elton and/or The Rolling Stones do their final, the very last we promise, absolutely no more after this, farewell tours. I admire Madeline greatly for her passion and hotheadedness but must acknowledge she has the perfect counterbalance with Colin, the peacemaker, the diplomat. What a formidable team. I had to laugh, before I fumed, at one of the questions thrown at Madeline before she entered the Cancer Centre: "Do you think you're God?" For once I think Errol got it right with his comment: "You actually believe that horseshit?" Great chapter again @Lee Wilson.

I found the description of Tom's parents' outdated home both amusing and reverential. And Tom's recount of his discussion with Catherine, specifically "That is a relief. For me. the lady ship has never even set sail." was very amusing. What a quaint admission of disinterest. It will be interesting to observe how the intergenerational couples relate when they visit Tom's lake house. Both Alan and Mason seem like very respectful young guys so I doubt there will be any discord between the four.

Indignant Irene and her happy-clapper husband Cretinous Caldwell undoubtedly whisked James away quick smart after he was caught in the compromising position with Jonah. It would not surprise me to learn he has been sent off for conversion therapy and Irene has joined her local chapter of Moms For Liberty. I daresay Jonah has fared far better than James as at least Jonah is now living with a family who realise the earth is not flat and the bible is not a non-fiction instruction manual for life. I hope for Jonah's sake he ultimately learns of James' fate even if it is devastating. I am afraid the Calvin Kyle "joke" was completely lost on me. Is this an American thing or was it considered amusing because of its close resemblance to Calvin Klein? This story is very well written and totally believable @irivera. You have got yourself a winner.

I assume Julie Mack, Personnel Manager, is an influential employee, and unless she is a liar, she has already shown she is supportive of Grayson, not only in the workplace, but outside the workplace too. Her comments about Grayson's recent growing friendship/relationship with Rafael were encouraging as was her invitation to fill a vacancy left by the sacking of boofhead #1 (and don't worry @weinerdog, it won't be long I don't think before boofhead #'s 2 and 3 fuck up and join the chief boofhead in the unemployment queue). Shane may find himself on the wrong end of the stick sooner rather than later. Clearly Mike was unimpressed with his aggressive behaviour in the loading dock. Shane's "cry baby" comment deserved him a smack in the face (at the very least) and his grabbing his crotch and taunting Grayson with "looking for a bit more of this" shows how out of touch with reality he is. I have nothing to base this comment on, but I can almost bet Shane smells, all mix of stale unpleasant body smells, enough to make you want to puke. @wenmale64's comments above ring true for me. Great chapter @Mark Ponyboy Peters. Stinky Shane (as I am now going to refer to him) best wash behind his ears (as well as everywhere else) as his behaviour has been noticed by the powers that be and they were likely unimpressed. He may find himself joining the three boofheads in the unemployment queue. Stinky Shane and the Three Boofheads, sounds like a good name for a punk group.

I think Joshua has exceeded his limit of sanity, he is fucking crazy, which would not be so bad if he was at least fucking. Perhaps if he had seen William Friedkin's Cruising he may not have been as agreeable to allow Anthea to mix a knife with anticipated sexual pleasure. Joshua could be the son of Alvin Purple @Wombat Bill, with horny middle-aged housewives seemingly finding his curvaceous peachy bottom a wet panties experience. If he has intentions of attending a tertiary institution perhaps he could fund his HECS payments with the labour of his loins. He is certainly proving himself to be multi-skilled. At this rate he may have to obtain an ABN or the taxman may be after him.

Indeed she may @Paladin, such is the strength of your writing. I no longer trust her, I think she has an agenda, one which may be perfectly acceptable and proper, but without the revelation of the secret(s) one cannot yet know. You have painted a picture of a "real" woman, not a caricature. I look forward to the boys arrival in Stingray Heads. Whatever awaits Cameron I hope he has the strength to deal with it.

“What the fuck is happening here?” His mom shrieks. She rushes in, grabs James by the upper arm, and pulls him up. He whimpers, not looking at her. “Huh? Answer me!” She shakes him." and "But the last thing I remember for sure is seeing his mom slap him across the face." indicates the church to which the youth group is aligned is not LGBTQI-friendly. After Irene's assault on her son, it is a shame she was not also a passenger in the car in which I assume Jonah's parents are about to "meet their maker". Deliciously ironic they are about to do so, moreso Marcus than Tori. Perhaps Irene will choke on a peanut on Christmas day. You certainly know how to grab the attention of your readers @irivera. This story has started with a bang, literally. I hope Jonah is not consumed with guilt post-accident. Although their appearance was brief, Marcus seemed thoroughly unpleasant and Tori ineffective against him.

A case of complete misunderstanding accounted for some very amusing moments. Joshua's prior sexual flirtation with Lorna led him to believe he was being employed by her friend Anthea to perform some sort of sexual favour(s) for her, particularly given she has recently been widowed, but nothing was further from the truth. Joshua is surprisingly naive in some respects, with comments such as "How will I know how to make her come. I suppose women come. I thought I would look forward to this day, but I’m actually scared. Wow, I will be doing it with a woman my mum’s age. Also not what I thought would be my first experience. No...maybe that’s better...she knows what she’s doing...she’ll guide me, show me the way." absolutely hilarious. It appears Lorna is not "pimping" Joshua out, well at least not yet. Will she find further work for him which does not require he perform any sexual favour(s) of any kind? Only the "wombat" knows and he is not telling.

No MPP, the quotation was "After eating they dressed, transferred the clothes from the washing machine to the line and went shopping." If they had "overlooked" dressing after eating they would not only have been naked when they hung the clothes out on the line but possibly when they went shopping too. 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

I neglected to comment on @Cane23's astute observation. The primary concern I have with such a revelation being made is that it will either embarrass Jordan and/or Cameron, or prove very upsetting for Cameron such that he questions the entire basis of his relationship with Jordan.

From the pen of another author the secret(s) of Jordan's past and their relevance to Cameron could be something very sinister, however, in the hands of @Paladin this is unlikely. Whatever the secret is, it seems as noted by @Flip-Flop, that many friends and associates of Jordan's family are familiar with what is being withheld from Cameron. Whilst I realise Jordan and Cameron are a new couple and still have much to learn about each other, as it should be, the little comments made here and there by various people expressing surprise with things such as the visit to Stingray Heads, appears inconsiderate of Cameron's feelings at best. Cameron is aware something is being withheld from him and to date has behaved as a perfect gentleman, but even his patience cannot be endless. Vanessa in particular has made several comments which Cameron has picked up on but has not as yet questioned. I finished reading this chapter last night at about 10.30pm @Paladin and was all ready to make my comments then, but GA "crashed" and I could not access it at any time up until 1.30am when I decided to go to bed. I noted I was able to access it again at about 2.30am (I checked it on my phone), so I am not sure what happened. It is perhaps a "blessing" that I was unable to comment then as I have "calmed" since then. I am beginning to dislike Vanessa, although somewhat less scathingly so than last night. I think she is manipulative, not necessarily causing any harm with her behaviour, but has been allowed to be so for a long time to the point she is smug at times. She may have Jordan's best interests at heart, but I think she may be a little closer to being a Mumzilla than what she initially presented. I am renowned for being harsh and unforgiving, but she is close to wearing out her welcome with me.

I found the whole story tremendously moving, that line in particular evoked the same powerful images which occasionally haunt my dreams.

The ambition which drove Ludo and Arthur, and by default Damian and Adam in this chapter, was serenity through communication and recuperation. Arthur's descent into tears and the impromptu trip to the Arboretum appeared beneficial to the foursome, if one assumes Adam felt as Damian did. The diversion of an afternoon of nude fun romping under Gordy's sprinkler and watchful eye also soothed the foursome as it did Gordy. It seems Gordy may have been bitten by the "love bug", with Gordy's conquest, Alessio, offering more of himself to Gordy now that he is able to move on and work elsewhere. A delightful chapter @Robert Hugill, with only a brief mention of Jackie "souring" temperaments for but a moment.

A delightful tale @Ivor Slipper. I admired Paul from the start, but when he declared the horror he feared having to work in a slaughterhouse and made the statement "Can't stand seeing an' hearing all them animals waiting to be killed. They knows what's gonna happen to em, Martin!” my admiration for him grew exponentially. What an extraordinary young man, particularly so given the male "role models" in his family.

Hopefully not @chris191070. Hopefully the sentiments expressed by Gladys Knight & The Pips will prevail.

What's the view like from that bridge @Mark Ponyboy Peters? Maybe Kim Wilde knows but she is not telling.

It is possible Oliver will slip up and out Grayson to his father; it is also possible Tom Goodwin's father may intentionally do so. He may know Richard and complain to him that his son was sacked, blaming Grayson because he is a "poofter" and only got what any "normal" red-blooded male would deliver to such a person. It would not surprise me if the apple has not have fallen very far from the tree; Tom's father is quite possibly a boofhead like his son, taught him everything he knows on how to be a boofhead. It seems Grayson has more support from his work colleagues than he anticipated, apart from the Thompson cockroach. If he or Troy try anything again they will likely be dealt with in a similar manner to Tom Goodwin. What a trio, the three boofheads, with a combined IQ which barely makes it into triple figures. Another sterling chapter @Mark Ponyboy Peters. I sense, as so eloquently and amusingly stated by @pvtguy, the excrement is about to hit the fan, and sooner rather than later. I think Grayson should have a discussion with his father, he is only delaying the inevitable.