Summerabbacat

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.

Me either, but I have friends who have acquired it.

The male ego can be a "delicate" thing at times @Paladin, although both Justin and Lachlan appear quite secure in their relationships with Benjamin and Maria, at least for now.

She is nothing if not persistent @Paladin. A bit like gonorrhoea.

What a devastatingly sad chapter @mastershakeme. Cole's "let down" of Owen whilst perfectly reasonable and understandable was very disappointing, but on a positive note it means he is still available @drsawzall and @Tris. Thankfully there are people like Eric who have a passion for working with dead people, although there was something a little disturbing about how excited he became when talking about doing their makeup. I had to laugh when he talked about the cosmetic work required to restore some to their natural and most presentable self. I imagine he will be having to do less and less of this work in time to come as more of the dead will already have had at least some cosmetic refreshment whilst still alive. I wonder if Theo felt a certain kinship with Owen?

She seemingly has diminishing respect for them too @Paladin, and consequently they for her. It will be interesting to observe her parents at Maria and Benjamin's birthday party. Is she a product of her upbringing or is her selfishness, nastiness and general unpleasantness not indicative of how she was raised? Martin said nothing negative about them when he was challenging Benjamin's decision to not attend his party, suggesting perhaps they are nothing like their daughter.

"By Tuesday of the second week, the English contingent had completed all they had flown to Australia to do and were ready to return home. Bertrand offered Carol passage to Adelaide on the company jet their way back to London. Of course she accepted." Bertrand certainly knows how to woo a woman in style. I wonder if he will be paying further visits to Adelaide in the not too distant future, or perhaps extending an invitation to Carol to visit him in the UK. She won't ever have to worry about flying Economy. Maria's "big" reveal was somewhat of an anti-climax. She is not pregnant and she and Lachlan are not getting married. What a sensible young couple, and yet Natasha spat the dummy. What is her objection to the arrangement I wonder. Is it because they will be "living in sin", and if so, is she having sex with her boyfriend or are they just engaging in heavy petting? Hypocritical bitch much Natasha? Although it was not stated, I got the distinct impression Lachlan's parents, Shane and Lisa, do not care for Natasha. I have to wonder why, LOL. Perhaps she has been rude to them and/or to Lachlan. It would certainly not be out of character if she has been. I assume the Australian security company Bertrand intends to buy is KYS Security. Something akin to six degrees of separation one might say, LOL. If it is, Martin will have a first hand experience in dealing with one of their subcontractors. Although Benjamin joked about dumping Justin for someone with more money, it did raise a serious point I think. A substantial increase in the wealth of Benjamin and Maria could challenge their relationships with Justin and Lachlan. The saving grace is perhaps that the relationships have been well established before either Benjamin or Maria will reap the benefit of their wealth. It may still cause issues though, particularly if either Benjamin or Maria become ostentatious. They will I believe have to remain vigilant with their expenditure, especially if they start spending big on their partners. Then again, I may be being overly cautious. Another very enjoyable chapter @Paladin. I wouldn't mind some of Lisa's apple crumble with ice cream. I also enjoy rhubarb and apple crumble, and blueberries and apple crumble.