Bondwriter

OK, the show so far: Justin is looking for his dad. He's experiencing some weird things, as seeing ghosts and being thrown into a parallel reality. He now has been told of his family tree. His father might have supernatural abilities. And there's a secret surrounding Justin. It may be linked to his family, but it might have to do just with him. One track that hasn't been explored yet is his mother's role in the whole business. Don't be shy to add something. It has worked well so far with people not going into plot elements that would be too definitive. Kay, I'll save my current readings for another sneaking in occasion.

"I remember when he was six and he painted Mrs Wilcox' barn purple. He did a good job at it, I'll tell ya, said it'd keep the ghosts away. And you wanna know the funniest part? Mrs Wilcox cattle never got sick again, her who'd have the vet over more often than she went to church; and she was quite the churchgoer." Ben Leiberman #1 went on and on unraveling Justin's father's r

I wouldn't be surprised the underlying message of this whole story is that coffee is evil. In the investigation of this rape attempt, I'm confident Max and Billy will turn out to be heavy coffee drinkers. And then, the wine drinkers will turn out to be the good guys. Like old 40s drama sponsored by Napa Valley grape growers...

Noun 1. frazzle - a state of extreme exhaustion; "he was worn to a frazzle" colloquialism - a colloquial expression; characteristic of spoken or written communication that seeks to imitate informal speech exhaustion - extreme fatigue The person below me likes how search engines can make us sound clever.

As a title, I'd suggest "Seeking the Truth". I think chapter 1 could finish in the middle of Bardeara's last post: Justin placed the photo back onto the desk as he reached down to open one of the drawers. It clearly hadn

Seconded. Spoiler:

This would make for a great song. I must say it's easier to comment this rather than your other very heavy, personal stuff. You've got a great sense of rhythm with words, which showed in your other poems. Actually it's semi-serious too, though it depicts a short event that's not overly dramatic. I'll keep on reading even when I don't comment because I am at a loss for words.

I'm more of a two in the bush person. Not necessarily a good thing. Agatha Christie or Patricia Cornwell?

Damn, I came to check out how CJames could have pulled one of his (in)famous cliff-hangers, and all he left was a penance post. And I wouldn't want to totally hijack the round robin, so let others get new adventures for Justin in search of an eluding paternity.

I'd phrase what Conner says as Andrew's being sentimentally unsure, rather than a slut, to be politically correct but that's what I've enjoyed since the beginning: he's not 100% likable. What I like in the first person narrative is that he comes across as sincere every time, whether he behaves like a jerk with his parents or ponders on whom he's going to have sex/ love next. It's quite unpredictable who he's going to end up with, if he ends up with someone. The character has evolved positively since the beginning, and we may just hope something shakes him into being more mature on all counts. Great read, we'll be back for the next episodes.

Uh, question: why do you all include your text in a quote, which makes it impossible to reply? End of question. I included Kevin's and Graeme's contribution (hence the quotes.) Could Justin really see his father in this balding, fiftyish small town official? It didn't take eons to find an answer. He could see perfectly well this was his father indeed. So Justin had more Leiberman than Coulson in him. The grey eyes were piercing right through him, yet a hint of realization started to burn in them. "Uh, do you remember Mary-Ann Coulson?" "Mary-Ann with the shaky hands? What they've done to his man, those hands?" He chuckled as a frat boy who's just tricked a new pledge into making a fool of himself. "Yes, I remember Mary-Ann. And I have the uncanny feeling you're about to start giving me some baloney about being your father. And I don't really need a fifth paternity suit, believe me..."

Justin got out of the truck. "There's a motel three blocks from here. It's over there," the old man said pointing to the south. "I hope you discover what you've been trying to find out, however scary." he added, without the least threat in his voice in spite of the strange words. Justin walked up the three steps leading into the county courthouse, a sturdy brick building. It smelled of old paper, cheap cleaning products and bee wax. The hall was black and white tiles, bare of any furniture. There was a glass on the right side, with stick-up letters spelling "reception". Justin had to get information about a Mr. Leiberman; it wouldn't be too difficult to find some. There was a lady behind the desk, but before he could even greet her and ask where and how he could look into the archives, she cut off any possible conversation. "We're closed, please come back tomorrow, at 9:30." Now, could Justin afford to waste time when the hours on the front door had said the public was welcome until 5:00 and it was only 4:50? (BTW, does viewing the whole subject in a new window increase the post count? If so, somebody'd better copy and paste the whole story so it travels from page 3 to page 4. An easy mission for the next poster.)

Damn! Now who's going to bearsit Barend while I go to Tiresias? And will I get his plane ticket refunded? I wish I'd known this before.

Yeah! A new poster! Welcome, James Albert! It would have been tempting to remain there and Justin just stared, fascinated. But the meat cleaver being all so subtly set into an upward motion got Justin not into meditation, but into action. He turned his heel and ran to the door. If he wanted to become a fiction hero, he'd better make it outside the greasy spoon diner alive. He opened the door, the frame which the butcher's tool damaged with a dull thump as it stuck into the wood a mere inches from Justin's skull. He slammed the door behind him, and headed where he came from. He almost got run over by a car, the angry driver of which honked before he yelled something quite nasty, that had to see with maternal love-making but that betrayed some deeply annoyed intent. As he reached the sidewalk, Justin realized that the street was full of noise and people. What was wrong with him? Or what was wrong with this town?

He came nearer, drawing no motion from what was a typical small town crowd at this time of the day, and for a good reason, as they were all made out of clay. Though the unsettling thing was the smell: where Justin came from, the coffee never was fresh by mid-afternoon. As he was now in sight of the grease table, he grew downright spooked: there was no bacon shivering over the hot metal. And the coffee pot was empty. Phantom smells? He'd heard about these, but to Justin these belonged to cheap TV shows for teenagers who had not imagination enough to make up scary stories gathering by a fire camp. He turned towards the guy who'd just talked to him. He just couldn't believe what he then saw. "If I get out of this alive, I'll become a screenwriter in LA, no doubt." But he had more pressing matters to deal with than his career plans.

He walked down the sidewalk. All stores seemed empty, as did the houses. The only signs of life could be seen in the sky, with a few birds hovering above the town, high in the sky; higher yet, the smoke trailing from an aircraft told him of people sitting patiently and waiting to reach their destination, their loved ones or their colleagues. Did he himself feel as if there was someone waiting for him somewhere? No, he didn't. As he crossed the street, he reached the corner where the Happy Joe's Diner stood. Though no one was in from what he could see, there was a dim light glowing somewhere in the back. He stepped forward, grabbed the handle and pushed the door open. The door opened quite easily, and he didn't hear the expected creaking sound rusty hinges produced.

I couldn't believe for a moment that the rape would go all the way through, though I thought it would be Billy who'd talk his thug of a friend out of it, in the nick of times maybe . At the same time, they were told over and over they were committing a heinous crime, so them getting caught without any doubt gets them out of the way, and unable to pursue any further any criminal behavior for a while.

Chapter 28 makes me feel the story is coming to a close, and that Aaron and Brian are eventually taking off to new heights in their lives. I still wonder if Brian is not going to suffer from liver problems, but only time will tell (well, this and the author ) It's nice to see them enjoy a vacation together, though it's a bit sad (and it gets you to thinking) they have to go to a resort like Disney World not because of a deliberate choice but because it's a wheelchair-friendly place.

The Show so Far

Same here, number 2. Wouldn't it be fun if we all were wrong?

Happy Birthday! (Hope you've recovered so you might enjoy)

I'm not too introverted. Being functional in a group depends also on the group. And your mood, too. I've always managed fairly well in socializing, though sometimes I do feel out of place. OK, I did my duty and posted something after coming curiously to see what had been added to the thread.

Two would-be rapists in the slammer! Yeah! They may be thankful Robert and pals used legal ways to get even, because they could have fallen on nastier people who'd have beaten the crap out of them in this shed. At the same time, such low-lives would have gone complaining and whined. Great chapter, once again. The shower scene at the beginning was really funny too.

Happy Birthday!