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Thirteen

   (10 reviews)
Genres: General Fiction,
Sub-genres: Drama, Coming of Age

A young teenager meets a stranger in the street and almost against his better judgement and certainly opposite to the warnings he'd been brought up with, not to talk to strangers, he ignores the advice and his own apprehensions. At the stranger's house he accepts a somewhat peculiar proposition which allows him to liberate the secret he's been harbouring.

Please enjoy this story as part of the 2025 Secret Author Story Contest! 
Trigger warning: Abusive/coercive situation for teen character with non-related adult character.
Copyright © 2025 E K Stokes; All Rights Reserved.

Story Recommendations (3 members)

  • Action Packed 0
  • Addictive/Pacing 1
  • Characters 3
  • Chills 3
  • Cliffhanger 2
  • Compelling 2
  • Feel-Good 0
  • Humor 0
  • Smoldering 1
  • Tearjerker 0
  • Unique 1
  • World Building 0

Select Chapter
Table of Contents
  • 1. Chapter 1
    • 5,334 Words
    • 1,651 Views
    • 27 Comments

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astone2292

   6 of 7 members found this review helpful 6 / 7 members

This was a challenging read. I'm unashamed to admit I stepped away to compose my emotions on numerous occasions. Measure and bolster your emotional rationale before continuing into this story. If GA were to create a restricted section of the Story Archive, this should be one of the first entrants. It is not for the faint of heart. It is not your average story. It is not easy-going. It is dangerous. It is beyond unsettling. It will test your humanity.

If you have a single doubt as you read these words, I implore you to turn away and never look back. Trigger warning is not a strong enough phrase, in my personal opinion. Please. Read, analyze, and understand this story's main page and chapter page warning/note before moving forward. 

What I will say is this. The author is an artist. Daring, brave, and skilled. Throughout the centuries art has existed, some artists push boundaries. Sensitive topics have been tackled, but it must be done with grace and guile. Being an entry for the 2025 Secret Author contest, it is clear this author is unafraid. Artists test the line as to what stories need to be told, regardless of the medium and subject. Events that resemble this story's happens in our world. To tell this story, it serves as a reminder that these horrors-- these atrocities, do happen. It is one thing to hear about it in the news. It is another to experience it [by reading], and I believe that is the author's intention here. For this reason alone, I appreciate and thank the Secret Author. I am reminded that I must do whatever is necessary to help and protect those around me, whether they be family or stranger. 

As for my review, I want to hate this story. I desperately want to banish it from existence, but then I would be a hypocrite. This story's subject is something I, as an author, never intend to touch. I know I am not mentally strong enough, and I'm unsure if I ever will be. But, from an objective mind, I can't help but appreciate this tale at its core. I can't help but appreciate the author for their talent and bravery. I can, however, imagine the challenging struggle it must have taken to bring this story to life. I could never handle the ongoing and future critical feedback that will surely generate. The writing is very well done here. The ability to play with emotion and scenery is next to none.

Will I have trouble sleeping tonight? Probably, but I will become a stronger human for reading this story.

Response from the author:

When beginning this novel I did not regard the story plot and theme as challenging or dangerous, at least no more so than were it about a child kidnapping or murder, or a tale of a serial killer, a brutal bloody and scary horror story. It surprised me that readers found it emotionally challenging and that it ought to carry warnings.That said, thankfully warnings were added shortly after publication which addressed that issue.

The point I take away from this review is, "Events that resemble this story's happens in our world." and that is a theme of the story which is loosely based on a real event. The rest of the story I realise will not be for everyone and I shall ensure there are warnings because obviously some readers are deeply effected by the subject matter.

Thank you for your honest review and feedback.

  • Like 2
  • Love 5
Headstall

   4 of 5 members found this review helpful 4 / 5 members

I give five stars for the quality of writing. This is well worth a read, but it left me a bit unsettled. That's not necessarily a bad thing. Judge for yourself. :) 

Response from the author:

Thank you for your balanced review, the story was intended to be unsettling, to craft characters that cannot easily be classified and it would be good if readers judge for themselves, I hope they do.
 

  • Like 7
Thirdly

   4 of 5 members found this review helpful 4 / 5 members

I rarely disagree with Bennie, but I read Lucas fairly clearly. This story has so many layers, it IS a painting on a canvas to me, meant to be interpreted differently by whoever is reading. While I personally dislike reading stories that force you to think a little too hard, I have to give this story it's dues. 

Response from the author:

A little gem of a review that lifted my heart, because you got it, it is exactly that, certainly as far as this first chapter goes. Later the story follows through events which take us into another world. No, not magical or supernatural, but covert and underground.
 

  • Like 4
  • Love 3
BendtedWreath

   4 of 5 members found this review helpful 4 / 5 members

The writing style itself has poetic flair. The theme and content was a bold choice. But don't expect to leave this one with all of your questions well and truly answered (and that itself might have been an artistic choice). The only reason I gave it 4 out of 5 stars is because I didn't feel we understood enough while we were reading, we had more outer cues like the setting, atmosphere, the objects around the characters... but, we didn't spend enough time in Lucas's headspace and feelings to truly understand the choices he made, and that's why it didn't feel like he was the main character that the story description/summary led us to believe. It was like a detailed snapshot of photography from the surface instead of a hand-painted canvas baring a glimpse of the painter's soul.

Response from the author:

I appreciate a balanced review with reasoning and easily understand why you didn't give five stars. I take away from this your point about more detail of what the characters inner workings, their thoughts, might be. Thank you.
 

  • Like 6
  • Love 1
Darryl62

   3 of 4 members found this review helpful 3 / 4 members

Interesting comments on a story that I acknowledge could be seem as intimidating or even creepy. it was a momentous interlude in a persons life that resonated with me. Morris was wrong, no doubt but he helped a young man to crystallise his own inner turmoil. This story didn't bother me at all. Effect was not abhorrence,  more like both parties gained.  

Wonderful work and left the audience wondering where it was leading 

Response from the author:

This review reflects perfectly how I wrote this chapter. A "momentous " event, "Morris was wrong... but helped a young man," whether both parties gained is open to question, a question that may be answered as the story progresses. Thank you for your review.
 

  • Like 1
  • Love 4
Jeff Burton

   2 of 3 members found this review helpful 2 / 3 members

This story is uncomfortable, and it's very hard to read but I feel it serves as a warning to the venerable who aren't aware, and it's a warning that needs to be heard.

The story itself is very well written, with may layers, but it'll leave a bad taste in your mouth.  And it should, just for the simple fact some things shouldn't be kept secret.

  • Like 3
  • Love 2
chris191070

· Edited by chris191070

   2 of 3 members found this review helpful 2 / 3 members

Thanks Secret Author.

This is a well written story, but after reading it, i came away a little unsettled. Which given the topic isn't a bad thing.

A young teenager, brought up not to talk to strangers, ignores this advice and ends up at a strangers house.

Read on to discover more.

  • Like 4
  • Love 1
  • Wow 1
Bill W

   2 of 4 members found this review helpful 2 / 4 members

Unlike some of the other readers, I didn't see this story in quite the same negative light that they did.  Yes, the antagonist used some very deceptive methods, and the protagonist failed to heed many of the warnings that he'd been given while growing up, topics that were most likely discussed on multiple occasions.  Maybe those warnings had even been harped on prior to this encounter, but I didn't see the story in a completely negative light.  Since there was never any physical contact and no one was forced to do anything, I feel the antagonist only wanted to help a young gay boy accept who he is and to eliminate the feelings of shame about his attraction to other boys.  You, however, will have to judge for yourself, but I found the prose and descriptions wonderfully written, and it was merely the subject matter that made others uneasy, often, it seems, to the point of being overcome by an emotional reaction. 

Response from the author:

"...no one was forced to do anything," is a theme of this first chapter, behind which lies an important question and one which comes back throughout the story. Is anyone forced, manipulated perhaps is a better word. When choices involve a young teen and an adult the comparison is stark and it is this juxtaposition that forces the reader to confront the situation, to decide if, for example, Morris is good or evil. And what of Lucas, is he totally innocent, is he completely naive or perhaps situations simply spin out of control gaining a momentum of their own, taking people to places they never imagined they would find themselves. Then again, do you go through life saying no to everything?
 

  • Like 1
  • Love 3
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