All Comments on 'Another Love - Alternative Ending'

You forgot to burn the phrase "20 Years of Deceit" into the painting.

I was waiting this entire story for him to destroy that horrible painting, pity I could not reach through my laptop and do it for him. But having said that I liked your story, 5*

Someone mentioned "women haters"; this has got to be ironic and posted by someone who is a man hater. Most would probably agree with the fact that it is not about men or women hate issue rather it's a cheater hate issue.

One has no solid ground to stand on when they lie, cheat and deceive; they can no longer be trusted in any way shape or form which even the original story eluded to but, turned the husband into a tool. An open marriage is one thing; ALL the cards are on the table. Once you put a seducer and cheater in the mix there is no longer any trust which is a very corrosive force.

To describe someone as an "asshole" or "woman hater", because he doesn't accept "values" foreign to him and doesn't want to live a life on terms he never agreed to, is the epitome of fascism.

RG has men accept the unforgivable. Yep, his stories are pain inducing.

Bitch! You suck, Imma hate you.

I thought you did a good job of putting yourself in Rob's shoes and I totally understood what he was trying to achieve. Had he resorted to insults all he would have achieved is to make Karen defensive and as such she'd have dismissed his words out of hand. By being calm, rational, and reasonable he at least has a chance of penetrating her self-delusional bubble.

I hope you feel encouraged - I am a published writer and I was impressed with your first effort at writing (I am assuming this is your first as this is the only story listed in your profile) My apologies if that assumption is incorrect.

I gave you 5* for effort, for the sensitivity and intelligence you gave Rob, and for giving me an alternative ending to a story that rankled with me when I read it a few months ago.

Having despised the original two chapters and just having skimmed chs. 3-4 just before I am a little disappointed. For one, he should have not destroyed, but desecrated the painting mentioning her 13 years of infidelity. Also, instead of a soliloquy he should have confronted the cheating cunt and told her about herself and left her begging and crying, as all self-righteous cheating spouses do when they believe they were in the right. Lastly make this a public situation with all in the community and all public perception showing what a cheater and liar she really was and how she destroyed his entire family, at least what he thought it was. Left with a faithless wife, children with no respect for their father and no idea of his future, he was rendered obsolete.

Couldn't put all of that in a letter. Still worth four stars for the attempt.

Honestly, 2 pages of whining? No bloody wonder she cheated on you, she already has a pussy, why would she need another one. By the time this ended, i actually think she was justified in fucking another man.

I think this is a pretty good outcome of a most terrible betrayal . Nothing is going to get him back the years he wasted , but he has to do something . The three some angle of the original basically spit on Robs soul . At least here , he has a spine.

Thank you for sharing .

I doubt rob woukd have been in an emotional state to write such a long letter.

Whining and bitching becomes rob, not the direction i was expecting.

3*

Still better than RG's ending.

I think this guy should have got rid of, or destroyed absolutely everything ..... furniture, carpets. crockery, leaving an empty shell of a house . Taking just his personal bits and pieces and his final words to her stuck on her painting.

You suck,even an editor couldn't help

Where is the revenge? On anyone? The wife, of course. The wife of the lover. The sons. The dead body of the lover. Everyone else complicit.

That is it, that is all there is to do. She is dead. Now he is left with cleaning up the mess. His life and the lives of his two fucked up sons. The kids need therapy. They also need to get the fuck away from their selfish, crazy bitch mother and make sure they have their heads screwed on straight. What was not said was the dishonor the kids carry from all those years of lying to their father. That is about as bad as it gets for a boy/man. Women have no trouble justifying lying as is seen here. Men are not wired the same. A man who lies to his own father is a man who has not honor, no self respect, and will soon have no respect from his peers. He is a man with a bleak future. That is the legacy of this shitty wife/mother. She has damaged her sons chances are decent, healthy, and long lives.

To make karen feel any pain would be to destroy her lover's painting of her

DESTORY the painting ... take some of the parts and pieces so it cannot be reconsturcted.

this seems to be left open to a finishing chapter or two.

so please finish writing the ending.

how does this effect the kids, karens reaction to this and how he finally makes out are all loose ends.

He should have burned the canvas of her portrait until her picture was destroyed leaving just the frame. That way the gift from her lover would be destroyed so she could never look upon it with feelings of love. Place the burned frame on the mantel with the letter attached to it as a symbol of her destruction of the marriage to her husband.

A 20 year physical and emotional affair and he just walks away? Start with pouring acid/bleach all over that damn painting and leaving it for her to see. I know... we can't really go all BTB but in a fantasy story he might have at least attempted to burn down the Gallery displaying Phillipe's works... or something. Destroying his painting legacy would have been very satisfying. (As long as he didn't get caught!)

She stole 20 years of his life and he can't get those back. He does nothing???

This really needs a "Finish the Damn Story" followup. What happens after? Revenge? With his children? With his ex?

Is there going to be an end to this sorry tale or are we going to be left hanging ?

If his love for her really is dead and the painting is valuable then it is part of the divorce settlement, and 50% his. What it represents is nothing to him anymore.

It would hurt her more to lose the painting, and the house since she can't come up with enough money to keep them.

So much better than the original RAAC garbage.

better than the original but a bit to long.

He should have destroyed or permanently marred the painting in some way, so that the possibility of her actually feeling some of his pain could happen.

She doesn't and never gave a fuck for him at all, to have carried on like she die - she only loved Phillipe - she tolerated the protagonist at best.

Being an obnoxious, overbearing asshole is no way to go through life. The author of this story told the tale of a man in love with his wife. You tell the the story of a man in love with himself, probably because he's such a self-righteous dick that no one can stand to be around him very long.

Life, and love, are complicated. People are flawed. RichardGerald's story acknowledged that; yours does not, which makes it inferior.

Better than original wimp story, but a long winded letter to his cheater wife does nothing for me. What was her reaction? Did his words make her feel his pain? Does he find a new love and get the chance to throw it all back in her face and that of his two sons?

Just too much missing from this.

When we dont see the effects to the wife? How about the kids? Could be a powerful follow thru story if this was ended all the way thru the aftermaths. Sorry but the whinings are just that....

I truly enjoyed the original and yes, the not quite believable ending. Your well written segment in their lives is much more plausible. I would love to read a continuation of the story from this point. What happened with his sons?

Thank you!

But your ending of a long monologue letter is just as bad. He could have walked out the door... he could have smashed all the lies in the house and walked away... he could have sat and waited for her to come in and tell her face to face that she was a whore and he was done... he would probably not have just written a well thought out letter. The letter would make it easier to understand why he was second best in his wife's life for so long...

The comments about forgiveness make no sense. I think the first affair could be forgiven but the betrayal while he was in combat for 10 months...the destruction of his relationship with his kids. That can't be forgiven. He was just the paycheck that let her love her true lover Phillip.the fact that Avil was shocked that he didn't know says volumes.

The rejection of the threesome and a well deserved divorce on Christmas Eve would have been a fitting end....and told both wives of Phillip that he wasn't built to be an asshole.

I was also angry with the ending of the original but I am sorry to say that you missed the mark also. A better ending? Yes and no. Thanks for the effort.

These kind of stories should be in NON EROTIC.

I have never really considered a passive letter to be a story. It contains no action or dialogue. How many ways can a guy tell his cold, calculating bitch of a wife that's he's upset, and why would she really care? The original story was infuriating, which was its strength. It really made the juices flow.

In this letter, the man tells her that she doesn't really love him a dozen different ways. That means she doesn't give a shit a dozen different ways. Writing a letter does not make a riveting read, unless it tells a story of some kind. This guys just blubbers and feels sorry for himself. She knows she shit all over him and did not care. He has to adopt that same attitude.

the wife was obviously so selfishly delusional, that no mere words would ever get through to her and cause the hurt you, via him, wanted. If she could do what she did to him, what will mere words ever accomplish. Her conscience is so obviously shrouded, that nothing but a really big stick would penetrate it.

I think Mr. Gerald annointed this sequel because you didn't hurt his heroine. If you suggest a sequel to your own story that hurts her, i reckon he'll put his foot down. He denied me his blessing to publish mine because i wrote her in a world of pain and even found a way to destroy the dead artist.

Nicely written though, Old Boy.

All his words are wonderful and he most certainly believes them and feels the act of writing them in a letter is his full redemption. I feel that the story deminishes him even more as a man by him taking the cowards way out in not confronting her face to face. One could imagine many readers predict the next scene as Karen reads the letter, then after a dramatic pause, breaks out in howls of laughter that her husband actually thinks she's cares one iota about his opinions. Let's be honest, given her character from the original story, that would be her logical response and you did not address Karen in your rewrite so that's what we are left with. Think on this one,,,,,,A bullet is just a piece of metal until the hammer hits it. So once again he is a looser I feel that without her reaction in your story you have left the story in "same state" as the the original. Good writing as usual but a little of the mark in my personal and most uneducated opinion. 5*

Back in took the painting outside and burned it scooping up some ashes and left them inside

we get a letter from the wronged husband. what else? there is no period at the end of the sentence. there is no closing paragraph.

he has no closure. what about their sons? what is the lesson to prevent​future misbehaving?

more loose ends than a shag carpet.

Just words...I agree with the writer about the ending of the original story. But I don't think the husband would feel any better after writing those true words and disappear...why? for instance: Would he never contact his children? Because if he did, each time he saw them all the cheating, all the pain would come back. So this end is hollow, because he didn't solve nothing. And I totally agree with @Vandemonium1, without making her suffer as much as he did, and without knowing he had destroyed the dead artist, he could never go on with his life and look for a happy life. This was well written, with true words, but words are just words to someone so "selfishly delusional" (@Vandemonium1's words) as she was.

I don't know if @Vandemonium1 in his story made the lover's wife suffer too, but for sure she deserved her share of real pain. 2* for being well written...

His letter to Karen says things that I have commented on in many similar stories: If it was so good and noble why hide it? Of course it’s “free” and “fun” because it’s without the responsibilities of real life!

As many have said, “Show don’t tell!” Instead of having him write a letter, have him SAY those things to Karen, interspersed with her reactions!

She either told the boys to lie, or used the lame old, “he knows, but don’t talk to him about it" bullshit!

I wrote my own version, "A Portrait of Betrayal" which was unfortunately bounced for being "too derivative" of RG's story. It is still available on "the other site!"

This is a monologue. I want a story with actors and action. With drama. Not some guy saying the same thing for 2 Lit pages.

I know it's a sequel but i honestly feel like it's a letter you've written personally. That's not a bad thing but i don't think this feels like the source material at all and on a creative level, was too wordy and repetitive.

wrong category. this is a letter, NOT a story.

In both stories, he should have 'burned' the bitch, i.e.: burned the picture(s) and left!

I would have liked to see the wife and son's reaction to the letter. Also, he should have slashed the picture. Write a second one showing what happens after wife reads the letter.

anon.1

seek help annony!! no one in their right brain would read stories like these everyday and then bitch about them, unless they were insane. Seek help!!

I want to see the soon to be ex and the sons reaction to this letter.

Definitely a 5. I had the same misgivings with the original ending. This one seems much truer to each individual's character. Thank you.

As a former RG fan (it was this story that changed that status) I appreciate having Rob not give in to their disgusting lifestyle after such enormous betrayal. As a veteran, I was angry at the original story. Betraying someone while they are in harms way in a war zone is unforgiveable. Were it I, my new mission in life would be to destroy Phillipe's legacy where ever it could be found. I would start with that painting by shredding it. Then I would throw acid on every other painting known to be displayed publically. I don't think the anger could be soothed for a very long time.

I do hope RG will continue to write as some of his stories are among the best on this site. I hope he can find new heroes like he created in the past and not wimpy creatures like he turned Rob into.

I always enjoy Richard Gerald's stories but 'Another Love' irritated me a lot because the man of the first two parts simply would not have put up with the situation at the end.

So I thought this rewrite was definitely an improvement, although it was rather too long and self-indulgent.

However, it missed the potentially climactic moment when the wife realizes that her romantic dream was, in fact, a sordid betrayal and that she spoiled her life and her children's. Her reactions to that traumatic discovery could make a dramatic tale.

But I would have loved to see the whore and his deceitful kids suffer.

Maybe someone can write a better story where he actually mans up and destroys Phillippe's remaining whores and family..

He should have burned that painting before he left.

Where's the action bro? This should've been a speech calling the woman out on all her shit then leaving her ass behind. Yet with this monologue you've let us feeling hungry and empty.

If RG wants to please his readership he needs to understand how devastating the actions of the wife were in this story. This rebuttal is certainly not BTB, the husband has not sought any punishment or revenge, but allows him some self respect.

I would love a true BTB ending like FTDS could write.

Well Done!

I really liked it, but, where is the aftermath.

In this case theere really needs to be more.

Her reaction, the kids reaction.

And the poor guys counter response.

So please add to it.

he should at least have burned the painting of her in the yard before he left.

Than that other pile of shit. Still it could've been better. It really needed some consequences. It needed a conversation between him and his sons. It needed him to destroy the painting. It needed him to publicly divorce her for what she did. Normally I get a laugh out of some stories trying to publicly sham a cheating wife. There is no public sham for that anymore. Yet for her doing this to him while he was fighting a war, there would be a lot. Hell, Fox news would've run a 2 hour special just to condemn her. Still, this is much better than the absurd crap that the original author wrote. So 4* for at least trying to fix that garbage.

Your story need a sequel

WTF was this? Just another POS story, an alternate ending, bull shit, it's all crap. If you can't improve on the story then leave it alone.

I knew about halfway through page one, maybe even before, that this was going to be simply one sided. After that it was kind of a disappointing read. Cathartic for the husband (author too?) but knowing that a reaction of any kind wasn't in the mix meant that they were more words than meaning. It's been awhile since I read the original so I have to say the concept was more acceptable to many who read here but better, I'm not sure. Of course it would be your opinion as to her reaction, but wasn't it your reaction posted here? I'll give stars for doing a good job at representing the angst that most men would go through but will reserve some for what I consider unfinished business.

I understand your point of view with him not accepting what she did but you need to finish this and show what this has done to her and what his boys will do. This is just unfinished and if it stays this way it has not helped the story at all.

However, I do agree with the comments that this should have been an interactive event with Karen present. Perhaps one way to address that shortcoming is a third chapter which describes Karen's reaction to the letter.

I disagree with the comments that he should have destroyed the painting. I think that leaving the painting for Karen to destroy or not is more effective.

I already ripped the original to shreds, so my feelings about it are on-record. With all the "continuations" and "alternate ending" stories I see pop up around here, I'm astounded it took this long for someone to get around to this one. And I gotta say, I expected more, and I don't know why.

Considering the circumstances, there really aren't many ways things can turn out. The husband either accepts the status quo, as per the original, or he gets out of the crazy farm before he's tainted. And if he does get out, what then? He just found out he's been living a lie for 20 years, and literally everyone important to him has been in on it the whole time. How could he ever trust anyone again?

That is a man who will need therapy after such an ordeal, on top of the therapy he already needed for his deployment experiences. It would be a miracle for him to end up as anything other than a womanizer who wouldn't even entertain the idea of commitment, or a bitter old man who leads a pitiful and lonely existence because all he sees when he looks at people are potential backstabbers. Stories about such people are far from interesting, so like I said, I don't know why I expected anything.

But I still feel like an actual story would've been better than a two-page letter. Even though I agree with what's in it pretty much word-for-word, I came here for a story, to see someone actually attempt to improve upon the original(not a high bar to clear). You can still do that with a sequel to this, at least showing the fallout and how it affects the various characters involved.

This was so much better than the ending of the original - Richard Gerald is an excellent writer, but his stories always have and unrealistic and sick/sad end. This is how the vast majority of men would react - if there was no violence involved. Well done. Thanks

Too many words and not enough actions. This applies to this letter and to the story.

I like many thought the original ending was awful and left a bad taste in the mouth. This goes a long way to correct this ( although long winded) but what happens next? How does he move his life on? How does she react and act on receipt of the letter? Why does he not put his boot through the painting and piss all over it? Please please someone else pick up the baton and beat the bitch with it. Where was the confrontation with his children when he explained his feelings and changed relationship with them. God this is more frustrating than the awful finish of the original there was so much more to say. Thanks for having a go though.

This NEEDS to be completed. You given us his 'denouement', but NO CONCLUSION

Wheres the interaction? There's nothing!

The only sensible idea is to destroy the painting, at least the the half that showed her likeness. Destroying other paintings by the artist might subject him to legal consequences.

Boyd Percy

As several also suggested - destroy the painting.

Obviously you can't get back at good 'ol phillip, he's dead.

So burn his everlasting work.

Or at the very least - take half of that too as part of the 50/50 settlement.

But I'd lash out and ruin any tie Karen had to phillip.

He was scum and doesn't deserve a positive legacy.

deface that painting in front of her and tell the kids and all who will listen about what a duplicitous faithless available cunt she really is.

loved this so much more. 5 from me and hope there is a response of some type from karen so she knows of the damage she has done to not only herself but the family.

I mean, yeah, he gets his say, but with no reaction to this from her it's still not an ending. Based on what has been written about her, it's highly doubtful she'll be able to really understand this. As the letter pointed out, she doesn't think she did anything wrong, If so, all this would really do is make her think he just doesn't get it.

<P>

So, it this is all there is, it's not much, and the lack of a chapter number indicates that this all there is.

<P>

BTW, if you are posting something that requires people reading another story, it would be a good idea to include a link Don't presume people just automatically know something. Whether it is hard or easy is immaterial. If a work requires knowledge of a prior work, it is the writer's duty to provide more than the superficial information you provided. Luckily Richard Gerald posted a new story today.

However, you have posed more questions that require answering. How will Karen react? What of Avril?

And what of Karn and Rob's children?

I do hope you will bring us more chapters to further explore this tragic story.

The author could have saved a lot of our time by having our poor cheated husband just hang his wedding ring on a string around the painting and walking away.

No letter needed. The whore wife would have quickly gotten the details of being exposed from her sister wife anyway so she knows why he left.

We would have been saved from enduring a too lengthy rambling letter that few men would have written and still have the same unfinished story we have now.

There is no ending here. Better try next time.

You write well , but why waste time on this. The monologue implies a reply is needed but she evidently does not give a shit. So either you write a reaction or move on. I suggest the latter.

It was a monologue. There was no interaction between characters and no real resolution of the central conflict of the story. It was a nice beginning to something that might be a more satisfying ending with a lot more work, but nothing more.

Seek help? Yes, take your own advice and seek some immediately Bonnie. Your comments are not only stupid but absolutely worthless to anybody.

As to the story, the original sucked big time and this one is a close second. Harry spelled it out. Why would any man go to the trouble of writing a letter, shouldn't he just face her and tell her off, instead of hiding behind a letter and slinking away like a thief in the night.

And a MUCH better ending to Richard Gerald's original story. Much more believable. The one other thing I would have liked for him to do was burn the picture. That, along with his letter would have told his soon to be ex-wife all she needed to know.

Thanks for an excellent ending.

Please write a story about Karen's reaction to Rob's letter!

With a writing talent like this you simply MUST write a conclusion of Karen's response to this magnificent letter.

If you’re of a mind, this story has a lot of potential for continuation; Karen's reaction to Rob's letter, the interaction between Rob and his sons. The whole of the divorce proceedings, court ordered consoling. How Rob finds Karen's replacement & their eventual happiness.

Been through it (20 + years in the military) and came out with the best revenge possible; a beautiful second wife, 6+ figure retirement stream, Kids, Grandkids & Great grandkids that we see regularly and love her to death. The cheating ex recently died alone sitting next to a half empty wine bottle and was rarely included in family functions.

But it needs more. We need to see the wife suffer some. That was lacking in the original and now this one.

I would like to hear Karen's response - maybe in a dialogue with Avril. I would also like to get more into the boys' thoughts.

In the original, RG said that he was staying with Karen because she had always been a "good wife." I think he wanted us to take this on faith, but it is the inconsistency in the story that is never really explained.

A monologue is almost always unsatisfying, especially when it is directed to another person who might respond. There is plenty of reasons in justifications in the original to fuel the alibi's and bullshit excuses that Karen might use to explain, justify, absolve her actions. It would be a tremendous challenge, but that is why great writing is great. This was good. I hope you will consider making it great.

Coincidentally i had just finished rereading the original story. I skipped reading the ending because it troubled me how any man could just accept the wife's actions and wind up in a gangbang with those who hurt him. This ending is excellent. Congratulations.

I disagree with the comments that tell you it was a good beginning. It has it's ending and that is enough.

We know, from the original, that the wife believes that she loves her husband and so being without him and no lover to take up the slack leaves her empty … so, she has her punishment (not all stories need to end in a graphic description of the cheater's destruction).

I would've liked one last twist of the knife in the summary. I wanted him to remind the wife, again, that she damaged his relationship with his sons, at the same time as teaching them a life lesson that says it is OK, may be even honourable, to cheat. I feel that would be increasing the pain just a little bit more and, hopefully, dump more guilt onto the wife.

It is a far better ending than the original, which I felt stretched the suspension of disbelief too far.

Like others have said previously, the story reads more like a non-erotic or letters and transcript piece. All monologue, no real action.

Having said that, the 'letter' does do a serviceable job detailing the true feelings of the husband before the forced reconciliation provided in the original story. In that piece, he only forgave his wife after being trampled upon by her lover's family and told to suck it up and enjoy the rest of his life or be miserable and alone for his remaining days, with only Persephone the engine as his companion. Quite a poor ending, at least from an emotional standpoint, given the abject and complete betrayal visited upon him by his supposed loved ones. But, then again, RichardGerard did not feel particularly obligated to visit more pain on his female characters, so...ce la vie?

Personally, I am in the same boat as Van1 from several comments back: the only 'positive' way this ends is with a complete and total devastation of both females portrayed. In fact, I would not be entirely surprised if I could accurately guess what Van1 had in mind to eradicate Phillipe's legacy and introduce pain into his...harem's world. No spoilers, just in case another decided to take a crack at it.

Overall, serviceable monologue but perhaps in the wrong category for it's material. 3*

Not complete. This is how ch2 should have ended. It is very clear that Karen was a heartless Cunt and Rob's sons were as well. I believe that Karen will not really care that he is gone, as she truly has no heart. She used him only for her convenience and will find another sucker. Rob should have taken everything and left her nothing. It would make it more difficult for her for once.

Great effort and a reasonable wrap up. No chapter 2 required, who cares about the wife's response or POV - just keep walking and don't bother looking back. If a second part is explored, better from the kids POV, they were there, they lived it, they were the ones most personally abused by their mothers actions.

Oh, Harry, don't stop taking those meds, please remember that visions and delusions are not the same as perceptions or insight. And if the Trumpistas succeed in gutting Medicare, Medicaid, Obamacare, etc. consider becoming Harry in CA (as in Canada) they've got all kinds of good meds available.

And I vote for pissing on the painting.

Better than Richard's ending but hardly a fitting ending.

Less... the letter is repetitive in many aspects and would the reader better served with a shortened version.

More.... Since she grieved her lover's death while with her husband it is clear she feels less for him than her lover. She needs to feel real pain and hardship on her return. As far as the children are concerned, it could go several different ways but I lean toward their learning the truth of their mother's deceit and rejecting her and bonding with their father.

Karen has to pay, and feel the wrath that comes with scortched Earth.

She needs to feel the kind of pain that makes every waking second an unbearable agony, and every night nothing but remorseful dreams and wishful but in the end tragic nightmares.

IN SHORT, THE BITCH NEEDS TO BE UTTERLY DESTROYED.

This is a speck on the back of a piece of art. The original had some soul. This letter is just the dribblings of a self righteous delusioned man. I did not like the character of Karen and thought the way she was written fit the story but she was weak in handling life in the story. Loves dies in many ways but is formed and reformed in myriad ways also. As a study of the ways love can heal the story is fine. Some cannot accept how life can happen except in their prescribed way. It ain't like that bros. And one last thing. Which character will be happier. THe original one or the self righteous prig.

but it reads as a letter would, a listing of facts and opinions of the husband. Not real entertaining, no drama or tension, other than what would be said next. 3 *.

Richard Gerald should read this. I never was able to figure out the purpose of the original story. It started in loving wives then ended up somewhere in group sex. It was almost like he/she started on one story and then it warped into another.

I am sure that is the only reason why it was graded so badly. :-)

This, on the other hand, having re read the original stories as you described one should before reading this...it makes sense.

It is a good ending and I am sure that Richard's story would have received a much higher score.

I think RG really boxed himself into a corner and I'm glad you took a crack at an alternate ending. That said, it doesn't work for me. You should have presented it in the form of a confrontation instead of a letter. There's no drama in writing a letter.

Anyway, I hope you move onto writing some original stuff.

I gave RG's only a 3* BUT this one a 5*. RG got into the relationship equivalence and never saw the damage that Pen understands.

Also I'm biased towards Pen's viewpoint as I too did USN-10yrs going to Vietnam coming home to find my wife/HS-sweetheart ran off with my best friend. I endured inland combat, then a very short 4days as POW - in all my drive was to of getting back to my wife's arms and survive. Needless to say I was devastated on my return to find her missing - I came close to an intimate discussion with a 1911.

Worse I volunteered to go back, so some other married sailor would be spared, not caring in I lived or died, ya I know youth. RG never understood what it's like laying in your rack with death all around you and my only escape was to focus you life with your wife you utterly trusted. Then after the devastation lay in your rack with such hopelessness wanting death but being to much a coward to pull the trigger.

I have always loved the writings of RG, The Bridge is one of my favorite reads and I really enjoyed the beginning of Another Love that he wrote but never understood the ending. For being in the military he certainly came off in the end a week man.

Your ending was more in keeping with the man I thought he was or the actions I would expect. I do think there is the opportunity for a follow up, I would love to see how Karen handles this, hopefully feeling for the first time some of the pain she caused.

I am glad to see this better ending, more appropriate to the type of man the protagonist is. Like other commenters, I think there would be more drama if it was a face to face confrontation. I still think that this ending was a bit weak. On my way out I would have burned the painting. Chidoc

For the read.

I prefer it to be a face-to-face confrontation, not the letter approach which is just a one-way communication . . want to see how truly remorseful wifey gets to be at the end of the story