Bill W

Hey, I'm doing my part by posting a bunch of stories for the season. I'm attempting to put everyone in the right frame of mind. And how appropriate, it's also time for the election and early voting. That should give everyone a good scare!

It sounds like a cooking term or a board game. 😁

Lugh, this is a very intriguing world that you've created and could easily be expanded. I know Ayreon's father disappeared after the conrontation with Ayreon, but what exactly happened to Kiref and Ayreon's brothers? Will Ayreon take them with him so he can continue to protect them or will he make sure that they are taken to the appropriate houses in which they are meant to be trained? Obviously, Kiref's father is a black and would rather see his son dead than going to another house, so I hope Ayreon takes those boys to live with him. Other than leaving me wanting to know the answer to these questions, I found this a very interesting and enjoyable story.

Ah, so the seven hills of Rome is a pleiad, as well as the Seven Sisters in Australia. .

We've lost many notable actors from the Harry Potter movie world. Alan Rickman (Snape), Elizabeth Spriggs (the fat lady in the portrait leading into the Gryffindor common room), Helen McCrory (Narcissa Malfoy), John Hurt (Garrick Ollivander), Richard Griffiths (Vernon Dursley), Richard Harris (the original Albus Dumbledore), Robert Hardy (Cornelius Fudge), Roger Lloyd Pack (Barty Crouch Sr.), Timothy Beteson (Kreacher), and now Roobie Coltrane (Rubeus Hagrid) to list the most recognizable names. They brought us many hours of pleasure on the big and little screens and we'll miss each and every one. May they all rest in peace knowing that they'll forever remain in our fondest memories.

An interesting universe you created, Carl. A world that sounded absolutely horrible and a race that destroys anything that is aggressive and war-like, as well as a federation that assimilates those who are pacifists and a race of pilots that are apparently all gay. The thing I enjoyed the most and wished was real was the ability to return to an earlier age. I could use that right now, because I'm in the body of an old man with the mind of someone much younger. I'd love to have the ability to make my body return to an age that would match my mind and how I feel. Thank you for taking me on a tour to eye-opening fantasy realm.

A truly utopian world, and as Elisa Doolittle might have said in "My Fair Lady", wouldn't it be loverly? If only everyone would allow people to enjoy their lives and live the way they want to, as long as it doesn't harm anyone. Not long ago I thought we were getting close to realizing that dream, but then the portion of society that doesn't want to see us happy took offense and started campaigning against the LGBTQ population again. I only hope it doesn't continue and the 'enlightened' viewpoint starts moving to the forefront again. Thank you for the wonderful and entertaining story.

David should have considered two expressions before he tried to steal Donny away from Alex. First, be careful what you with for, and second "Oh, what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive." It would have saved him a lot of wasted time, money, and pain. Thanks for the story, though, it was quite entertaining. I would have never guessed what Petey was when I first read the title of your story.

I think I heard about that in church - Sodden and Gomorrah. Since they were all wet, God nuked them. 😵

Thanks, Chris. I'm glad you enjoyed it.

Some people hold grudges and seek vengeance, but Giles took it to the extreme. Maybe we should be careful about who we piss off, because it seems that death might not stop their desire to get even. 😵

Yes, Al, this just empathized the foolishness of youth and their inherent belief that they are invincible, but the one that was most concerned was the one that ended up drawing the short straw. 😭

Yes, Al, Cade took it in stride better than I would have, but maybe that has to do with being young and not knowing any better. 😦

Thank you. I'm glad you enjoyed this little Halloween tale.

Thanks, Al. I'm glad I got your blood flowing in time for Halloween. 😄

I'm glad you enjoyed it and in a few days there will be one more Halloween short story for you to read. Thank you for taking time to give me some feedback and for reviewing this story.

What would it be called if you're able to work on two or more stories at the same time? 😵

Graeme, an incredible story and very realistic. I've known families where an older child took responsibility for raising the younger children for various reasons, but that was years ago. I'm not sure how often it happens any longer, but relating the story to those situations, I could definitely see those people trading places with the characters in your story. As soon as I read that Brat, Guy, and Sheila were being taken away from their mother, I was hoping they would end up with Stephen's family. I thought it might be possible because I remembered that Stephen had mentioned his parents fostering a girl, so I was hoping they would take in Brat and his siblings. Although there were many twists and turns, as well as highs and low, I'm glad you ended it as you did, although there's plenty of room for you to continue this story. Cheers.

I had a friend like John when I was in high school and college, but unfortunately we lost touch and I've been unable to reconnect with him. We were inseparable at the time and he did a lot of things to brighten my life or that he thought would be best for me, like trying to get me to quit smoking. It took a few years, but he finally succeeded. This helped me to identify with John and Alex's relationship and allowed me to appreciate what each was going through. I totally enjoyed this story.

Ok, I humbly accept your kind praise. I may be particularly good at the holiday stories because the holidays have always meant so much to me, and Halloween seem to bring out a much younger version of Stephen King in me, before he became so talented and popular. 😜

Thank you for the feedback and kind words, Paul, and I'm pleased that you've enjoyed some of the works I've produced.

Even though this comment is made years after you wrote this, I hope it makes it to your eyes. You chose your words very carefully and the effect was truly powerful. I could feel your pain, and to some extent share it with you. The poem was very powerful, yet sad, and it's a shame that a certain portion of society seems to enjoy torturing those different than themselves, but it's even worse when your parents turn their backs on you as well. I'm glad there were at least a few sensitive and caring people that came into your life and I wish I could have been one of them. Hugs.

I'm sorry to see that you received no comments to your story, so I hope this comment reaches your eyes. I enjoyed this story, especially the part where Anju let her son know that she was aware that he was gay. I thought the particular scene was very well handled. I was sad about what happened to Ajay and Rohan, but it's easy to see how a spoiled son in a well-connected family thought he could get away with whatever he did. I hope this makes you realize this story was not written in vain, because I enjoyed it and appreciate your effort. I'm just not sure the meaning behind the title of the story.

Flesco, once again thank you for your feedback and kind words, and maybe I can clear the situation up for you. I believe the iron coffin was placed in the basement because after unearthing it when building the nursing home and seeing what was inside, the owners decided to allow it to remain near its original interment location, rather than reinterring it. They may have researched why it was there, such as Royce had done, and realized the circumstances it was there. They may have also realized that they released something when they opened the coffin to see what was inside and felt the spirit would be less troublesome if it remained close to what remained of its former body. Another possibility is that they were too cheap to have it reinterred, and possibly no cemetery was accept a lead coffin for burial. As far as the little girl goes, as I mentioned above in my response to Danilo, I'm not sure if Royce would be able to learn any more about her from the newspapers, but who knows, maybe it will be one of my Halloween stories for next year. There's one more Halloween short story from this year's collection that I'll probably post on Tuesday. Who knows? Maybe I saved the best for last. 😎

I've come late to this dance, so I hope you'll see my comments. First of all, I enjoyed this story, although it was bittersweet, but it left me with a question. I may be thick skulled, but if this was something worth fighting for, why were they giving up? What was so terrible to cause them to split apart. I might have missed it, but I didn't get what the problem was, unless Hayden decided he was more interested in a female, rather than Darin.