Summerabbacat

I suppose when all is said and done it was a happy ending. I am not one to hold grudges normally, I simply erase a person from my life who is toxic. If I am forced to be honest, I begrudgingly understand why Richard tried to retain Nicholas as a friend, but I still think it is far more than Nicholas deserved. He is still a thoughtless, insensitive, insincere prick, and I don't fucking like him at all. Richard's family life resembles Harriet's to some extent in that it is quite unconventional. The feelings that bind each of the families together are definitely genuine, even if the younger members are embarrassed by the older members as has been the case since time began. Cheryl is a drunk, a fire hazard. Rosemary at least supplies some comic relief, if nothing else. A most enjoyable read @Richie Tennyson. Hopefully we may see more of your literary talent on display going forward.

Oh yes, that is definitely it. LOL. I recall it was a woman whom I saw use this acronym in a story recently. The "c" word cannot be used by readers on this site, only by authors. The F and B are the same as a character from Fast Forward, Gina Hard F B. Natasha is a despicable person and a lousy mother. Her treatment of Noah did not surprise me, although I thought she may be able to treat at least one of her children with love and respect. Clearly, she possesses neither of these qualities. What a miserable bitch she is. I was pleased when Benjamin revealed his cousins do not like Natasha. It appears very few of her family do. I was very surprised Rick dropped the ball in this chapter, but pleased he rectified his oversight immediately when it was brought to his attention. "Nathan was pleased to hear this news. “Well it’s not over but so far well worth celebrating and we would if we had a glass.” Rick was mortified. “Shit I forgot you weren’t here when I served the drinks, but that's easily fixed.” Hopefully all were adequately compensated @Paladin with several glasses of Krug champagne, at a cost of at least $200+ per bottle. Pastor Gideon is a paedophile. How terribly unsurprising. Hiding behind a veneer of ultra-conservative respectability lies a man who is a true degenerate. With Noel on the case, and likely Patrick too, they should be able to have him charged sooner rather than later. For the sake of Mark's family I hope his father is not also involved in the child pornography racket, or if he is, his mother takes swift action to file for divorce. For Mark's sake, I hope his mother's olive branch is genuine, not a ploy to get him on side again before hurting him again. If her olive branch is genuine, and her husband remains a knuckle-dragging flat-earther, I hope she takes swift action to file for divorce. If his father is a genuine crackpot happy clapper, his mother may find herself in dire financial straits, with money funnelled to the Pastor's church/gambling account. Speaking of Pastor Gideon, I assume it was deliberate on your part to use this name for him @Paladin. Hopefully, Bertrand/Martin/Rick's companies that own hotels, do not have any of "his" free bibles there within. If so, I expect they will remove them post-haste. Indeed @dboggs9700. Falsely reporting a "crime", being a public nuisance, and most damningly, neglect of a minor (Noah). 🤞🤞🤞🤞 The irony would almost be too delicious @Philippe. Natasha placed in handcuffs, arrested at her workplace, screaming like a common fishwife. Denied bail, forced to wear harsh synthetic prison garb. The "godly Christian woman" exposed as a complete fraud. I don't think too many would be sorry to see her behind bars. Hopefully she would receive no visits from her children, so appalled are they by her hypocrisy and her vile crime. I must stop now @Philippe and @Paladin; the excitement is getting too much. And if this storyline does prove to be true, even if only in part, Martin had best not show her even a modicum of sympathy or kindness. Let her rot. Tremendous chapter @Paladin. Although Natasha is even more ghastly than I thought she would be, her behaviour is consistent. It would be so tempting and relatively easy to make her so outrageously vile that she becomes a caricature. Perhaps her most repugnant characteristic is that she appears to have no genuine love or respect for any of her children; they are merely props, to be trotted out and on display when convenient to flatter her ego. I have a mental image of her resembling that vile senator from WA whose family name rather appropriately rhymes with trash.

How very remiss of me, although I was only thinking of living Dames, which is why I did not include Dame Olivia Newton-John (not that de Havilland woman). And if Dame Edna was still with us, she could have been your "mentor", guiding you through the world of "Damehood". It is perhaps a shame you do not imbibe, you could get absolutely shitfaced with Dames Shirley and Joan, both of whom are legendary for their consumption of champagne, and it has certainly done neither any harm, being 89 and 93 years of age respectively. Talk about "pickle your grandmother" @Mark Ponyboy Peters.

You cannot rely upon being the heir to an ice cream empire forever. Now that you have added songwriting to your resume, you well may be in line for an OAM, AC or that extra special title, Dame. Just imagine the circles in which you could move; Dame Shirley Bassey, Dame Joan Collins, Dame Emma Thompson, Dame Quentin Bryce and Dame Elton John. Such exalted company. And if you are really lucky, you may be joined by Dame Kyle Minogue and Dame Molly Meldrum. They don't award them to just any old riff raff either; that's why you will never have to worry about Pauline, Michaela or Lidia getting one.

Unless it is for a Thompson; then I say, purchase them in bulk and hope for the best.

Once back in Thompsonville, the account of Levi's bravery and calm under pressure will no doubt spread amongst the populace. I daresay this will NOT harm his reputation. Who knows, Brooke may even speak to him civilly again, instead of behaving like a hard done by harpy.

I remembered it from After We Danced, but had a vague recollection (obviously wrong) there was a similar discovery in Beyond Salvation. Maybe because of the age of Salvation and its abandonment I "dreamt" it.

"There were three headstones, weathered but still legible, sitting inside a low wrought-iron fence, the grass grown tall around them. Celia Adams. Born 1867. Died 1904. Beloved wife of John Adams. James Adams. Born 1895. Died 1896. William Adams. Born 1897. Died 1915. " I remember this scene, quite vividly @Mark Ponyboy Peters, primarily because of the age of the children. It may be testing your memory, was there a similar discovery in Beyond Salvation?

Yes, yes, yes. My two favourites, Jack and Skarg, united in healing and foretelling. Brilliant @Anton_Cloche.

Lieutenant Collins aka Foxy Collins visits Loretta and Bernie and butt kicks “Burnie” from Maine to Albuquerque because she is one badass when dealing with wife-beating homophobes.

I didn’t mind at all that the story did not progress; we got to hear first hand what the Major’s opinion was about a 14 year old boy, recently evicted from home and who may or may not be his son, spending Christmas with his dog in a crappy motel room. That in itself moved me, but the nervousness felt by the Major and his greeting to Kurtis AND Dusty, which we had admittedly observed before, did me in again. Nothing like a nice little weep at 8.00am on a Saturday morning (way earlier than usual for me to be awake), to start the weekend. This is definitely your best Lee Wilson lite to date @Lee Wilson. If I may borrow a @chris191070 favourite, it is awesome.

I’m not on Facebook either @Lee Wilson and I could see the photographs, and they could be twins.

You could always aim even higher. Dame Mark Ponyboy Peters?

Off to bed now as it is 2.30am on Saturday morning. I worked today, non-stop with no lunch break from 10.25 to 19.55 and I am somewhat tired. Frida is lying next to my laptop snoring and her sister, Missy, is already upstairs in bed.

Or a thoroughly good "dicking" to sort him out. He's a twat.

Even if they had fur I still would not like human babies. I believe Stu' does not know how Dickoless treated Richard and does not know he is being used by Dickoless himself.

🥳🎉🥳🎉🥳🎉🥳🎉 Congratulations @Vcs. This story has ascended to the top spot. #1 in the Most Read Westerns genre for the month ending 04/09/26 (or 09/04/26 in American date format). It moved to the summit from #2 for the month ending 07/08/26 and #4 for the month ending 03/07/26.

🥳🎉🥳🎉🥳🎉🥳🎉 Congratulations @Mark Ponyboy Peters OAM. This story has reclaimed the top spot. #1 in the Most Read General Fiction genre for the month ending 04/09/26 (or 09/04/26 in American date format). Aussie, Aussie, Aussie, Oi, Oi, Oi. It is also your 54th top 10 placing and your 4th #1; the first time you have had a #1 placing for the same story more than once.

Bastien unknowingly found Lawrence's flash point or should that be his 'flesh' point. Lawrence does not need a little blue pill, a dose of horny goatweed or a "life affirming", or should that be a "life firming" steel ring, he just needs to witness his man wallop a thug in the face, single-handedly, without so much as raising a sweat. Woof. Not quiet an 80's hit @Laura S. Fox but mid-1979 is close. The song is about sex and fighting,

@Cane23 is not fond of disco (which I love), and particularly dislikes Boney M. (so he says) who I thought were wonderful. They were enormously popular here in Australia, the UK and much of Europe, even in the former Soviet Union, and possibly in your homeland too @Laura S. Fox. A little good natured ribbing from time to time, but if he ever dares to criticise Donna Summer's music or ABBA, it will be WAR. LOL.

Will this be this story's destiny tomorrow @Mark Ponyboy Peters, for the month ending 04/09/26? 🤞🤞🤞🤞

I don't have any sympathy for Dickoless at all. He is totally oblivious to his hurtful behaviour and judgment of others because nothing matters to him in the grand scheme of things, but Dickoless.

Darren, a closet case. It is possible, but I suspect he is possibly just parroting what he has heard from his parents or other family members. His father may be a hard arse, who labels his son a poofter or pansy if he shows any sign of what he considers "weakness". He could be a real misogynist too, which is why Darren treats females the way he does. Then again, he might naturally be just a total arsehole.

At least Levi dialled '000' and not '911'. I suspect many Aussie millennials would probably dial '911' as what they would be used to seeing this on American movies, TV shows etc.

Lack of hot showers is as close to roughing it as I would be comfortable with @centexhairysub; and if the temperature was below 22-23°C at night and I did not have my doona (comforter or duvet in USA), I would be a total sook, a real "princess". As for sleeping in a tent, not bloody likely. I don't mind sleeping in a caravan in a proper bed, albeit a single bed usually, but in a sleeping bag on the ground, no just no. I am more than happy to "converse" with nature, so long as it is not cold, but at the end of the day I want to be clean, well fed and have my creature comforts. I could probably chop firewood and collect wood, twigs or whatever to make a fire, but would not trust myself to start one and keep it under control.