Rilbur

What author isn't a comment whore? Seriously! Anyway, great chapter, and I hope it's just the first of many (And yes, I did just say 'chapter', not 'story'... hint hint )

A great story, amazing. You can't go back, but you can go forward... a wonderful interpretation of the theme. I love it.

Another great, if all-around weird, chapter. Worse yet, I think I may actually be partially adapting to the language.

A great story, poignant and touching and... words cannot express how great it is.

It was a truly interesting story. The 'twist' at the end was a tad bit predictable, but not so much as to be a let down.

And yet language is, to quote a professor of linguistics, 'rule governed behavior'. You ignore the rules, and the sentence becomes nonsensical and fails to communicate. You can bend the rules to a degree, but if you go too far, you fail to communicate. And 'too far' varies from person to person.

A great story! I was expecting the touch of magic / mysticism / whatever at the end there, but... it worked great. I could see more stories set in this universe...

A great story, nothing like what I was expecting, but very, very good.

A great story, and I love the way you told it.

One word: Wonderful. Thank you for this story. It was wonderful.

I'm not sure what to say about this piece, so I'll limit myself to this: This was a well-written, thoughtful story with a new take on the 'feel-good' coming out genre.

At the moment, I'm focusing on my rewrite of Trillion Dollar Family, and I suspect I'm about 2/3s of the way through the story has a whole. After that's done, Redemption is up next. However, I don't plan to release anything on GayAuthors until after the new E-Fiction system goes up. I'm not interested in putting something up, then repeating it for the new system. That said, one of the reasons I'm focusing on TFD is because I'm hoping to help 'inaugurate' the new system by making that one of the first stories to be published using it.

Well... if you guys REALLY want some information... we can play a little game. You get one point for every 'clue' you find, and another point if you can figure out the correct interpretation. For some interpretations, I'll award extra points, simply because they aren't easy to figure out. (E. g. if you can figure out why the condom wrapper is important, you earn yourself 5 points -- for being a very good guesser; the information isn't in the story). Benji has earned one point for bringing up the condom wrapper already. As the number of 'hints' are added up, their meaning will become increasingly apparent. I'll give it, oh, two weeks sound fair? At the end of that time period, the leader in points will, after swearing on their immortal soul not to divulge the information, being 'clued in' on the secret. To give you guys a starting place, the clues all indicate a set of very important information, which help reshape the entire meaning of the story. The information is in three parts, with the third part informing the other two. (I. e. once you have the third, the first two are obvious, implied by the third). Clues: Condom Wrapper: Unknown meaning Score: Benji: 1

Well, on the one hand 'thanks' as an author. On the other hand... Thank you, anthology team! I know full well that must be a lot of work, and you do not have enough help. Perhaps I'll be able to assist you next time; give me a shout if so!

YIKES! I wasn't expecting the anthology to go live early! Excuse me while I scamper around like I've had my head chopped-off and get all the content lined up for my personal website's grand-opening! Anyway I'm glad you guys liked the story. And you're completely right about it being a cliff-hanger; that one was major thing that held me back on the idea of posting it. But... I kinda liked the 'unresolved' ending, so I decided to keep it. I don't want to say too much, and potentially ruin the suspense of the next story, but there are a number of hints dropped here and there that tell you quite a bit about this story. I just don't come right out and say anything about them, I only hint around the edges. The condom line was one of them; there are a few others. Taken individually they don't say much, but if you look at the entire set, they really add up. And they add up to a great, big, 'not-guilty' -- which, I do believe, Zachary already mentioned for me Anyway, for those wanting to know the 'right choice', I think I can make a legitimate case for Zachary to be 'haunted' (showing emotional affliction or disquiet) over various things. And... the 2010 winter Anthology theme is haunted, I do believe. I seriously do not want to wait for 'people are strange' (2011 spring anthology) to do 'Decision'. My biggest concern is how big 'Decision' could get; there's a lot of possible story for it, and I may wind up deciding that, in order to do it justice, I have to do it as a full-up story rather than a short-story. Of course, 'People Are Strange' and "walk on the wild Side' both offer the chance to post additional 'chapters' to Decision... Anyway, the basic point is that while this story stands 'on its own' as a short, with an ending that lets the reader decide what happens from here, I do know what the canonical decision is. I'm not going to reveal it at this time, for reasons that will one day become obvious (I hope). Of course, as Benji states, his decision is obvious: he needs to save Robert's life. After all, saving his friends life is the 'right' thing to do! Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to get going before someone points out that the problem is how; going to the hospital will get the cops involved, and Robert has warned him that that would get him killed!

An interesting turn of events, but I agree that I hope the language clears up... soon! Edit: Woops! There was a chapter 5 to go with that serving of chapter 4! Still great, but the lingual barrier is driving me nuts!

Well, you definitely got my hopes up for some

Depends on the actions. In general, I'd view vampires, and possibly werewolves, as a necessary but not currently extant force: a human predator. Nothing, but nothing preys on humans. At least in part because we have made it cost too much. Starving wolves/lions/tigers might consider it, but otherwise they avoid us (unless we fail to avoid them in return). Look at our population; rapidly growing, with no end in sight. While we've managed to eek out one limit after another, sooner or later we will reach the 'limit' in terms of population the earth can support. That won't be a pleasant time.

I don't think you understood what I said. He is a cold-hearted bastard, end of sentence. Evil is something else entirely. He's a predator who feeds on human beings. You can't even say 'fellow' human beings anymore, because he isn't human. What does he do that's evil? He 'eats' living beings. Well, according to some schools of thought, so does everyone who has a steak! He does what he needs to, what he has 'evolved' to, to survive. He keeps his kills to a minimum -- yes, mostly because that's just good herding/hunting practice -- and, generally, isn't that cruel. Cold-hearted, ruthless, sure. Evil... I'm not prepared to go that far. Now, some of the other vampires... perhaps they are evil, or just insane, not sure which. Will be interesting to see...

That was hilarious!

I noticed... and wow. Jared sure is a cold-hearted bastard... and somehow, (I haven't read the original, didn't want to spoil the 'new' version) I suspect he's going to do some Great Things thanks to it.

Another great chapter, and I have to admit to being really curious with where this is all going.

Another great chapter, though I find my anger at the world the S's find themselves in rising.

Without access to the actual device, and basing myself on reviews, I don't think it's the best option for writing, but I suspect it is an option. I know that when I type, I NEED my tactile feedback; I simply couldn't type with the on screen keyboard. And if you add a keyboard peripheral, a lot of the advantages to the iPad (portability) start to fade. That said, for reading? I'd love one, yes I would.

Another great chapter, and I'm looking forward to 'what's next'!