Palantir

Beautiful imagery.

HAVE A GREAT DAY!!!

Thanks Timothy, I'm so delighted the story has been enjoyable for you. Your comment about the original take of the story is particularly gratifying. It's wonderful for an author to hear that their story has resonated in a reader's mind in some personal way. Yes, thoughtful, sensitive young people do have a hard time and bullying is an ever-present scourge. It's great to know that my attempts at humor seem to have worked for you. This story was my first at making that such a feature. You surprised me with your comment about Peter's apparent cluelessness - In my author's mind I never looked at him that way and hearing a different take on a character is one of the special bonuses a reviewer gives. I offer a public apology for making such a late response.

LET THE CHEERS RING THROUGH THE VALLEY! HAVE A GREAT DAY!

Great to hear you're enjoying the story - I hope you get more laughs throughout.

HAVE A GREAT DAY!!

HAVE A GREAT DAY!!

HAVE A GREAT DAY!!

Wow! That's a lot of life you've lived recently with work and everything and it's great that you've come through with a positive outlook. That's a major responsibility to be looking after so many levels of schooling and a bucket-load of experience thrown at you in a short time frame. ( I kind of identify with you because early in my teaching career I taught all the maths for grades 7 to 11 in the Secondary level of a country school similar to yours with prep grades through to Year 11.) Stay happy!!

HAVE A GREAT DAY!!

Thanks for the thoughtful comments Steve. Yes I have left the possibility open for 'Semester Two', but there's a fantasy story I've just started and something for the 'Terran Diaspora' series with a higher priority. lol too many ideas and not enough time to work on them.

Welcome to the story, Jeffrey. I hope it continues to give you enjoyment.

Thanks, DD. Lol - I think you like to tackle completed stories more than those in progress?

There is another story in the works but it hasn't yet progressed far enough for me to make up my mind whether it's postable.

Thanks, Dathi, That's an interesting take on the characters - I think you have a soft spot for the more vulnerable ones.

Thanks again, Timothy. A yabby is like a mini-crayfish which lives in freshwater.

One Semester. For the first time in his life Joel felt the pressure of so many time demands getting to him. For nearly two weeks he'd been having a rushed breakfast at six o'clock in the morning so he could fit in two hours of work and study before he went to lectures, and then, while the afternoon swims continued there was always some reason to cut them short. Peter laughed at him one day when he was groaning in frustration at how much time it was taking to complete an assessment task which wa

Thanks Reader. That was delightful. - laughter is good for the soul.

Hmm. I don't think Scifi has to be be based on 'real' reality. Many of the great authors played with ideas that are definitely beyond the reality we currently perceive. I do think, however, that their story has to be developed with an internal consistency which the thoughtful reader can pick up on and then be carried along with. The well crafted scifi story can feel 'real' despite containing the most outlandish disregard for scientific fact. Even the name 'science fiction' indicates that the story is fiction about science. Otherwise it would be 'science fact', and more like an adventure using known science, which I think is pretty much a specialised genre of its own Can scifi be looked on as superior to other genres? Of course it can, as superiority is a subjective assessment and for some individuals there is no doubt on this score. With equal validity other genres have followers who can make the same claim. I absolutely agree with the idea that there are special 'protocols' for the scifi genre which readers and authors alike assimilate over time. - just as there are special protocols which apply to the other genres. How often do we say, 'Wow, that was a great book!' and have the person we're talking to say they just, 'couldn't get into it'. I think that is the protocol preference the person has developed. Is scifi better than other genres? Not really, but having read it for over 60 years (I pinched that line from James Gunn) I'll still say - LONG LIVE SCIFI !!!

Have a great day1

The semester end is rapidly approaching and true to most campuses the assignments/assessment tasks/study load really seem to be piling on. He certainly does call home - quite frequently - my bad for not mentioning it in the story.

One Semester. “I knew we shouldn't have gone away. Somehow I'll have to fit five extra days work in the next two weeks.” Joel didn't really mean it. The Melanesia trip had been just too good and he'd never forget it. “What's happened?” “Ken Parker dumped an extra test on us for two weeks from now, we have to finish our technical demonstrations Project before semester break instead of after, and worst of all we have to do the Cisco finals all over again because so many people cheated.” “Ever

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, CURTI!!!

It's great to know you're enjoying the story. - sounds like your scouting group sometimes got up to mischief?

I've tried to make it a fun kind of story. In real life the issues you talk about are never as easy to deal with.