Mark Ponyboy Peters

Thank you @Summerabbacat Oh, and you better just make sure you have your meds and the Kleenex at hand when the final chapter gets posted Wednesday night!

-- Chapter Seven -- When Charlie stepped off the train that Friday evening – alone, as his father was staying in Sydney for business – I almost didn’t recognise him as he walked towards me, carrying his bag. He looked different, older somehow, especially with his hair specially styled for the role, his posture straighter. He looked, sharp, which was evident by the heads turning in his direction. ‘How’s life in the big smoke for the movie star?’ I asked, as I took his bag from him.

@dboggs9700 thank you, kind sir!

So, yeah, the old long distance relationship thing, eh? Do they work? Or don't they work? And more to the point ... can THIS one work? Let's work on the principal that it's only temporary, and that Charlie will be back home as soon as filming as finished? Or will he? Perhaps there is another role he is about to be snapped up for, that will keep him away for months and months and months? And as for Rachel Devine, maybe she was a TV game show girl back in the 70's ??? I'll have to check on that film company name though! Maybe I did use it previously . . . I'm not sure . . . 🤔 Oh ... and CharBray is ok by me. lol

Hmmm ... now that you've brought it up ... perhaps that is a slight error on my part then!?!? Might be a bit of an issue with them taking the long train ride into Central, if they only live in the 'outer' suburbs. Will have to try and figure out how to fix that. Thanks for the heads up! MP

@centexhairysub just two chapters to go, and all will be revealed!

-- Chapter Six -- After that first performance, everything changed, everything just blew up around us. That first Friday night show was sold out, of course – as every opening night always seems to do – but there were seats available for the remaining five shows. The first of these was to be the following night, Saturday, then the following Friday and Saturday, then the Friday and Saturday after that. Six shows in all. By the following morning, word was already spreading, and by M

-- Chapter Twenty-One -- The road grew steeper as Jamal and his band climbed into the mountains, winding through thick forest where the sunlight filtered down in narrow shafts between towering pines. Streams crossed the trail in cold silver ribbons. Once they even startled a stag that bounded away into the trees. And then, late in the afternoon, the pass opened suddenly onto a wide ridge, the mountains parting like a gateway, and beyond the pass there stretched a wide valley. Cradled b

@Summerabbacat ahhh ... the memories!

@Summerabbacat and wasn't he just The Bomb back then!!! lol

Thank you @Summerabbacat. After you've read the final chapter (epilogue) tell me then where we go! PS ... I do have ideas! Even a very rough draft!

I probably would have tried to put a poster over the offending spot! LOL MP

-- Chapter Five -- With summer rapidly approaching, so were the auditions for our school’s annual production, with Miss Carlton reminding Charlie every chance she got. Charlie’s dad came and went, due to his job, and we had settled back into our routine of spending afternoons at either his place or mine, or occasionally staying back after school for Charlie to receive some help from Miss Carlton with preparing for the upcoming auditions. To be perfectly honest

Oh, I WAS swearing like a banshee! LOL. Like I said, I was just lucky I had notes and scenes saved in other files! LOL

@Summerabbacat TBH I have no freakin' idea! This was over 20 years ago, you know! lol I suspect there must have been some reference to some similar kind of place name, but I can't recall. As for the character names, yes I know I was going for variations on 'regular' names we would be used to ... eg Willem / William. I also wanted to use some names that "might" sound like they come from different "cultures" so that there was no set region that people might associate the story setting with. Sorry there wasn't a new chapter tonight ... I was about 3,000 words in on Thursday, and on schedule, then when I opened it again Friday the whole file was corrupt. Lost the lot, despite trying various data recovery tools. Thankfully I had my notes and some bits and pieces written, so I typed out the chapter in dot point form and started writing it again, as close to what I had lost as possible. I'm back at 3000 words again now, so hopefully I'll get it finished tomorrow and can send it for editing! MP

-- Chapter Four -- ‘Brayden! Your mum is leaving,’ we heard a short while later, just as Charlie had finished changing out of his school clothes, so we both thundered down the stairs and outside to where the two women were still talking. They both looked at us and smiled as we pulled to a stop beside them. Mum put an arm around my shoulders and Charlie put his arm around his grandmother’s waist, before she then hugged him close. ‘They really haven’t been any trouble so far,’ Nan B

Great stuff! Congratulations @Jeff Burton

@drsawzall @weinerdog @Summerabbacat ... and anyone else who may me interested ... a possible future story idea ...

No, I did not know all that.

Fernando was my favourite ABBA song ... it had a story! (Swedish Country... who ever heard of such a thing? lol)

@Summerabbacat did I not send you the picture of the 'unholy Trinity' for a later story??? These lads are inseparable already, trust me! Maybe I should share that image? And yes . . . I remember Fernando very well . . . it and Bohemian Rhapsody swapped places a couple of times as I recall.

-- Chapter Twenty -- The land grew harder as they rode on. It wasn’t hostile, just less . . . forgiving. As they reached higher country, drawing closer and closer to Highshaw, the nights cooled and the ground offered fewer easy camps. As the roads narrowed, turning to tracks in places, it demanded more attention from the riders, and in ways it hadn’t previously. It was Enoch who remarked on it first. ‘This is where missions stop being stories, and become journeys that will be reme

I still won't be buying a ticket for the AFL pre-game show though ... just sayin! lol

If Nan stays there for Easter, she'll just throw a tea-towel over it!

@Summerabbacat have I said "keep reading" yet?