All Comments on 'Conversations 18'

Yet another classic

Your conversations are setting a daunting standard, SJ. You don't leave much wiggle room for those of us without your gift. In just a few words, you've painted an indelible picture of two people who would have to die to get better.

Great story, Sleepery. I'm already looking forward to your next. They can't come fast enough for me.

Brilliant but very sad. Would they be better together or apart? Was there no room for forgiveness here? Just a very sad story.

Wow, that was painful, realistic and very well done. Thanks for this interruption of the usual series of mindless btb and ridiculous cuckold stories.

Deserves a 6

It was a horrible story, so very well told that it sent shivers.

How can he ever recover from this? How can she?

10*, obviously.

Don’t know why I did it but some García Márquez vibes or just my ganja blunt made me feel the spirit of the time. Well done, mon

Well written, could be based on fact. My own wife while not a doctor,was/is on the front lines of the battle in the Va, nursing home she works at. While not coming home to our home, she has sheltered at home at her ex-husband's home. I guess besides keeping me virus free she is sharing her "virus" with another fav. man.WHOOPS.

I was Mike many decades ago -- not in a pandemic, of course, but married to an OR nurse who needed "stress relief" on the job, etc. It sucks, but you have to get through the anger & despair, let your love for that person die, and move on with your life.

Thanks SJ for another terrific Conversation!

Not quite sure there can't be reconciliation, but much like greater good and stories like that , relieving pressure in a war zone can kill a love. My friends who are doctors and nurses live with their spouses , so I don't really understand the setup. But it is a casualty of war.. wish it had a better ending. Now, to read it again...

At one part I thought this could be your best one ever, but with that ending, it was like a balloon that had let all it’s air out and just dropped. The intensity between them after his nap just killed it allowing her to regain her composure. Who cares if she throws Reg out she was still screwing Jill too! I get how you ended it, I just don’t agree with it. It’s too soon to let his anger dissipate. Still a great story

for developing his characters quickly. He makes them real, if not always likable. The husband made the most of his opportunity to tell the wife how he felt. He stated his position very clearly.

Only Slippery and a few other cucks would have his wife stolen by a guy in a dressing gown! Next time it will be a tutu. How many men have dressing gowns? (It is not the same as a bathrobe.) The word "gown" should be enough to make a guy not want to wear it.

It was so painfully sad to read and so close to reality. Two people who despite such a terrible betrayal were still very much in love. I totally agree with Steve2244s comments about how good it is to read something that does not give in to the BtB crowd or the cuckold crap. Given the circumstances, I have to wonder if there may be some chance of forgiveness in the future. Then again maybe not. I have to say that I do love your conversation series.

I can only hope that he infected himself and gave it to her to spread it to her lover.

Her lover being older is likely to kill him, or put him in ER.

Any way, I hope you will add more to the story, because it is good.

(please don't turn him into willing cuck)

Pretty damn good...

Softening at the end is fine. But offering up the money? If in the same predicament I think I would have said you keep yours and I’ll keep mine. Or I’ll burn you with the hospital. Sign here please.

Redo1984. 🤘

That's one sad story. Full of emotions.

Strong, gripping story! The best of the recent COVID-themed submissions. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Gut wrenching from the husband's point of view. These heroes go through so much pain of their own but still need to see what tomorrow may bring. Edge of my chair writing.

Simply great. After this series they should retire your membership number and double your pay (!)

Married to a former ER triage nurse, I understand better than most what it is like to see the stress of the job on your spouse. There is an “in this together that few comprehend” kind of thinking, that leads to these circumstances. When my wife was on a med surgical floor it was somewhat less stressful save for the in frequent “coding out”. It changed when she went to the ER as a horny newlywed. Let’s just say that during the latter part of the second year of marriage when she was working the 3-11 pm shift, there were a few too many 4am arrivals home (bars closed at 2am where we lived at the time).

So from the perspective of a non health sector spouse, this story was spot on, and probably reality for too many couples. Check the number of nurses flying into NY from other cities.

Thank you for your excellent story, such a tough story-line but brilliantly told.

She really is a piece of shit and quite frankly I would absolutely believe she intentionally isolated him. I have family that work in hospitals with covid patients. Its NOT a losing battle though. Yes, many die but most of those have preexisting conditions.

so very well done.

One really would have to think this was a planned affair.

And where did the 3some thing come from? thats not part of her stress excuse.

its so good it begs for a follow up.

please consider doing more on these characters

Excellent story.

I have never commented in years. This drove me to it. Excellent

you sure didn't sugarcoat anything did you. 5*

Excellent story. But it was a very emotional read.

I was confused by the timeline in the early part of the story, but nonetheless enjoyed it a lot. Well done.

Was a hard story in a hard time. There will be so many divorces with this virus and many will be because of people being separated during this time. Thanks for writing

Well written and told and probably going on more than we would want to know (stress relief in the time of “Corona”). Reminds me of the story by Richard Gerald “Faithful in her Fashion”. Living for the moment, be damn the consequences (worry about the guilt and how to lie out of it later). You gave a good example of a mindset that could develop in a set of circumstances like this. Your “Conversations” stories always give an interesting snapshot into the mindset of a situation. Thank You for a short diversion during these troubled times.

A lot of others have written Covid stories, this is the best so far.

Hard to imagine a sadder, more painful story about cheating and the death of a relationship than this one. Brilliantly done, and so vivid in its feelings that one almost can't read it.

Thanks, ohio

You rstory brought reality to the forefront. I'm sure this is happening all across America, maybe not this way but in many other ways that home bound folks like me that just can't get past. And the hospital staff fall into the situation of stress and emotion of the nature of the situation. Great story.

"Five minutes" - That's the thing that really struck me. The abandonment was bad, whether the cheating was already happening/planned or not. The cheating was obviously worse. But the fact that she couldn't delay her fucking to give him FIVE more fucking minutes of screen time before rutting is just a couple of bridges too far.

"Stress relief!" - Well, now that she's caught, she apparently CAN come home, so why not come home to HIM for "stress relief?"

She doesn't work 24/7 - As soon as her shift was over she could have come over.

"He hugged me and it felt good to have some human contact. It felt good!" - So go home to your husband! She's there NOW, so obviously not as impossible as she said at the start.

I'm SO glad he didn't take her back. Her betrayal was too big, and her rationalizations were so shallow and self-serving.

A LW story for adults. Real situations these days, intelligent wife who recognizes the inevitable, no super heroic guys, no dumb, unrealistic BTB nonsense or lovely, available replacements.

Well done! I sincerely hope that a lot of LW authors will read it carefully.

You pushed all the right buttons. Depressing and emotional.

5-star story.

Hooked

You don't have reading comprehension high enough to comment since you missed some important details.

He was somewhat wealthy. He was definitely better off financially than the dipshit she threw her marriage away for.

As to the rest of your comments, keep fucking your relatives you inbred, cumsucking bitch.

Oh, and have a nice day!😁

His emotional anguish was very well written. I could feel the anguish in me. But then he goes from the anguish and wanting to hit her several times to letting her hold his hand, allowing her to push him back down on the bed as he was getting up and then kissing her.

I couldn't bridge that gap. It didn't fit into the story at all and was too much of a juxtaposition.

I’m speechless. Six stars if I could.

Another terrific story. Well written and very emotional. She lost respect for her husband and her marriage. I can only imagine the pain she put him through. She is a bad person, maybe a good doctor, but a bad person. Thank you

And best conversation yet.

You had at least a half dozen ‘one liners’ that were among the best ever in a Lit story.

Outstanding!

Great Story, 5 stars. A fantasy? Of course.

Thank you for an excellent story. People in stressful jobs and/or that travel a lot need to realize that if they are in a relationship, they have to be committed to that relationship 24/7/365 - there are no break periods. I sincerely hope that Reg's wife takes him to the cleaners. Maybe Shana, Jill, and Reg will catch the virus and die - wouldn't be much of a loss.

Wow!!! This is by far the best of these Conversations stories that I've read so far and I believe I've read them all. Five stars without question. Absolutely brilliant story.

... Got problems understanding what you just read, don't you?

The man's rich now. 'Probably is worth more than his soon-to-be-ex-doctor-wife. He doesn't need to be reemploy by anyone.

As for sex happening 'because people need to reaffirm that they are alive', once again, the MC covered that pretty flawlessly:

"If that was an accepted strategy, the army would have been flying regiments of sluts and whores into Basra every week during the war. The hospitals treating PTSD would have all their nurses naked and slicked up, ready to fall on their backs at a moment's notice. Are you saying that you discovered a new cure for PTSD?"

Not the kind of truth you can face?

Well, too bad, so sad. Facts do not care about your feelings.

Listen... we get it. You're a degenerate that is more than OK with adultery. There's plenty of your mongroids around here, so your pathetic outburst here doesn't surprise me in the least. You sadlyd excusing everything the cheater did here, and vilifying everything her husband did turned you into a true caricature of an actual human being ('got to wonder, though: do you feel the same, exact way fort Reg and his wife? Does the gender reversal there bother you a little bit more? Probably not, but also been a hypocrite should be the least of your concern...) Still, a reminder: when it comes to justifying infidelity, you're in the minority. The smallest one. Here, and in the world at large. People do not like being cheated on. People do not like associating themselves with known cheaters. 'Cause cheaters are scums of the Earth, right next to rapists, pedophiles and politicians. Calling you a degenerate is on point, 'cause only someone with severe mental issues would waste time actually defending that type of individual.

Anyway... this is my reply to your nonsense. Hope you're doing well (as well as someone like you could be), in these uncertain times, and believe me that I feel no ill will towards you and yours, and honestly hope you take care of your people until the world get back to some level of normalcy...

But, from the bottom of my heart: go fuck yourself.

Awful story, my wife is an RN and has had to care for covid patients. For two months now we cannot touch, hug, kiss anything. Your story felt like a slap in the face.

It was a good story but not very well written.

I believed every word. That's the pain and doubt of betrayal done as perfectly as it can be done. Excellent job, just painful as hell to read.

A very good read. Something we seldom see; plot, characters, and emotion all very well done.

... How much of a cunt she truly is.

Not my favorite convo from you, author - your MC was, overall, WAY TOO NICE to his wife, at the end of it all. Bad enough that the weak bitch cheated on him, but for her to dare slapping him when he was calling her out for it!? Geezus Krist, the hubris... to have the balls to physically assault your spouse when you're supposedly trying to fix your relationship after you FUBARed it...

Only women can get away with such bullshit. All men would end up in jail for this.

Anyway, I appreciate the fact that Shana eventually acknowledged her direct responsibility in the destruction her marriage, and had enough dignity left to walk out of her husband's life, as he demanded. However, I do have a problem with him being so goddamn nice to her, towards the end, especially when he admitted his newfound good fortune online while she was literally fucking up their relationship - let her find out whether or not he got money, 'cause just divulging it makes him look dumb as all fucks.

No idea why this one bothers me more than most of the previous installments - probably because I'm also one of those 'essential workers' that is putting themselves and, sadly, their whole family in potential danger because of this shitshow every time we walk out of my house, and the mere idea to take that opportunity to fuck around is as repulsive as it gets. Honestly, fuck Shana and anyone else so depraved that their mind could start thinking this way, even when they know how fucking wrong they are, in a time like this.

It's good. Not gonna read it again though. Still, thanks for the share.

Dumbass " well shed " anon of 5/8 dwarfed them all with his rant. Please get a vasectomy if you're male or a tubaligation if you're female. Your gene pool needs to end now!

This story made me ask, what if the shoe was on the other foot? What if everything happened just like in the story but the doctor wife was the one to get to watch Mike have a pair of female arms come in and reach down ad grab his cock while she watched in horror. Would she have rushed home quicker then?

I did take note that when she explained why it took her three days to make it home, the first excuse was getting away from her patients and the second was a three day waiting period to make sure she wasn't a carrier.

Maybe Jim will give us a glimpse into what Reg and his wife's conversation was like.

Your writing and scripting of plot is flawless. I would never presume an ending to such an excellent story but, in all honesty, I could see it ending in no other way than she gets the virus ( intentionally or not ) and dies. Very sad!

An amazing, very emotional story! It was difficult for me to read, because it hit very close to home. So sad when people do terrible things to someone they love without thinking about the consequences ahead of time.

I've been binge-watching the all-news channels. CDC says 3,000 persons will die every day, starting June 1st. That's 90,000 a month; in a year, 1,080,000. How do doctors, nurses and EMTs emotionally cope with that? How do we?

We see the video clips of medical people telling us what's happening to them, and to be honest I want to look away. But how can you? Those terribly personal narrative were echoing when I read this. I have no doubt that something like this story has happened. I wonder how much emotional disaster C-19 has inflicted that we don't get to see.

So thanks for taking all of that on in a story that got deep fast, and desperate.

Perfect

Excellent story SJ. Well worth 5* even with the nod to the Red Devils on Reg's dressing gown. It was a moving and serious tale, but I did smile at Reg Varney, if he'd stayed "on the buses" this wouldn't have happened....you must be as old as me. Thank you for these extremely good conversation stories, first one was great and they just get better. Right...off to celebrate 75th anniversary of VE day, don t tell the yanks they think won it single handed.....according to Hollywood anyway☺

Amazing how much emotion you were able to convey to me.

Ha, I still feel raw from reading it.

Thank you for writing!

yep....deserves a sequal

Heartbreaking, beautiful, emotional wreckage. Excellent story and I loved the ending even though it broke my darn heart. 5*s and can't wait for the next one!

...never read such a delusional and self-serving comment as yours.

So all the other medical professionals in this crisis are capable of doing this heroic work and still remain good people who are able to do the right thing. If what you say is true, then it excuses soldiers who step out when overseas, or soldier's wives who take comfort in someone else because they've been left behind.

It excuses cops who work with stress and death. Even business people who are forced to work away from home for long hours.

What a load of crap. She just didn't have the strength in herself or her relationship to protect what they had, end of story. If others can do it, so can she. The fact is, her husband and her marriage didn't really mean enough to fight for, and she only had to fight her own basic nature. The work may have been hard and tragic, but the after-hours distractions were a holiday.

She lied and lied for weeks, she disrespected him on every level, and she isn't worth forgiving. He, on the other hand, has done nothing wrong, and is well within his rights to want an honest, faithful partner, just like most of us.

YOU don't get to decide for the rest of us that we should accept and forgive that kind of dishonesty and betrayal. If people wish to stand by their own principles and feelings, it's their choice.

And what's this christian thing? What a cheap out. If christian values came into this at all, then this story could not have been written this way. Her duty as a christian is to lead a virtuous life and protect what's right. From what you imply, a christian can misbehave solely on the basis that they can expect forgiveness.

Doesn't work that way.

I wouldn't want to be married to you, and if you are married, and it's survived, then the power you hold in it is imbalance, and your partner must be a doormat.

She traded her professed life choices for a cheap game, end of story. She's in the wrong, and he did what any truly balanced person would, including being entitled to some indignation and vitriol.

Please, please tell me you haven't had kids, so that your slanted values end with you.

Made my heart ache, what a haunting tale.A well crafted tale that achieves what the LW genre is all about which is the cerebral horror of finding out and being found out. I particularly liked how you focussed on the conversation and interaction between the two and very little on the graphics of the sex. I particularly likrd the very ending, didnt see that one coming as I thought he was perfecting his video game skills not becoming succesful at day trading. Thanks for your story!

It reminded me of Richard Gerald's two stories about the unfaithful doctor-wife in Africa. But your story is more immediate, visceral in nature since the husband can see the infidelity with his own eyes. Since he has a recording of it, the wife will never be able to explain it away. It raises two questions for me: why would the wife leave evidence of her wrongdoing and would this marriage have survived anyway?

Great story!

5

Well written story. But with so many people dying and the real fallout yet to come, this one was hurtful. With a lot of desperate people out there maybe you could have saved this one for happier days - if those days ever return. With over 70,000 people dead at this point and the number heading for 100,000, Covid is no joke. This belabored the point.

Sad very very sad, it was painful to read, but a very good story.

Quite the emotional story and while you wrote that the video link wasn't totally closed you waited to drop the hammer. Very stressful situation destroyed a loving marriage. I don't think that his wife was a cheating slut, just a overworked, dumb and tunnel vision person that couldn't see the forest through the trees.

I would love to see a few more chapters from the perspectives: Shana, Jill, and Reg “the cocksman”

Reminded me of RichardGerald Unfaithful and Faithful in her fashion, Another story along the lines of fidelity and love sacrificed on the altar of an overwhelmed and understaffed medical profession. You managed to get the husband the magic bullet in getting his finances going but the real clever part in this is how to catch someone cheating on you when you are quarantined? You figured it out and it worked really well. The reveal of the as of cheating is usually the high point in these type of stories, the place where the bomb goes off and we the readers get that adrenaline rush if the writer is doing his or he job well. Well in this case BOOM! Very clever. The meeting between the cheater and the cheated though got a little too wordy but like all good stories here that is a minor problem. You've made something that I'd like to see a part two of, I want to see where this goes, preferably 5 years down the road after a vaccine has arrived. We can all hope can't we?

Best conversations. Any thoughts for a revisit (assuming end of Covid days)

A couple years can change anything in theses strange times

Thanks

Wayne

what a fantastic story! well-written and developed, the best of the series... their gut-wrenching discussion, his questions and her deflections... the pain in his voice and anguish as it pours out of him... you can only feel for both of them... her bad and continuous acts and his lashing out at her for her actions to the closing act of some small payback against reg... and his day-trading trying to salve over some of the hurt... until the final chord is played and she walks out... again and for good. one of your best pieces of work.

Wow, well crafted and written, thank you. The pivot point of him asking for five more minutes, and denying that for her lover, was both well thought out and described. Thank you for writing.

I am completely drained and conflicted by the ending. Normally I would be happy for her to get the boot, yet somehow this ending left me empty. Well done

ever made an MD? The first rule of their own code is to do no harm... She purposedly killed her marriage and husband.

Awesome story Jim. Honestly all your stories are wonderful.

Maybe just maybe a sequel where he somehow forgives her

Just saying.

Strong stuff, well written! It deserved ten stars but I can only give it five.

Looking forward to your next submission.

One of the few times I kind of wished for a "maybe" for a couple. Well done.

Well written, very sad story. couldn't help but feel sorry for both. was hoping for a different ending but the pain you described was to much. 5 stars

The narrative starts drawing you into the story because it's completely relatable. Then the tension explodes and builds. Once it has peaked, the tension dissolves into sadness, regret, and a desire for redemption with none to follow. A true emotional roller coaster.

Great story. Very emotional. With the Rona still going on it gave a certain feel like credibility, like this just happened. I know these are one offs. But it would be great to see a follow up to this story. It could go so many ways.

Very powerful.

As others have said.what do threesomes have to do with "stress relief?"

She couldn't come home for three days to make sure she wasn't infected? Isn't the quarantine period 14 days?

@Boyd Percy, she didn't leave evidence, she forgot to actually end the session, just turned off her monitor, the camera was still running. Her husband saved the evidence.

Brillant...5*

I keep thinking about how long can you keep raising the bar with each new Conversations that you write. For sheer emotional impact, this can't possibly be topped. One of the best LW stories I've ever read.

Heavy!!

It was a good story and I could see it happening. Good people can do bad things for the wrong reason. I can feel sorry for both parties but cheating has its consequents' and the end results lay in the conscience of the one cheated on. Destroy or forgive?

5*****

This virus is killing people, marriages, socialization and wearing all of us out with fear, frustration, and changing our very soul. What a well written story.

Especially for these times. Hate to see hero warriors tarnished , and wish there could have been another end to this story.

I hated it! It was so incredibly harsh! My gosh! So powerful. So well done, ...

Thank you.

5* + Fav

I'd compare this to Jezzaz's Words... this one accomplishes what Jezzaz set out to do.

Green-something

Wow that was a hell of an emotional ride! Yeah I get the stress of providing medical aid ti sick people putting an incredible strain on medical personnel. But I have to say, my money was on the hubby who was cheated on by a person he should have been able to trust. Let's face it....apart from having DR in front of her name she is truly a cheating lying slut who deserves to feel retribution. Now that was the only weak point with your tale. So we are to believe her when she says she has sent dipshit's wife copies of the video and an email???!!!! Why should hubby or your readers believe anything she said?! The tale should have ended with more of a bang than the whimper ending. Blowing hubby a kiss seemed a little odd to my mind.

and trust me, it's not psuedo science. our species is one of three dozen mammals that regularly cheat. in fact, it's built into our genetics. but we're also a social animal, so the way we cheat on eachother is interesting.

men are more active about it, because we're a tournament species. men do the mating dances and all that. men compete the hardest for attention. women on the other hand become very good at selecting winners from losers. unfortunately, cheating is such an ugly thing that women may actually lower their cognition ONLY in this one area. because genetically speaking, it's better to cheat when even SHE doesn't understand why she did it. truth is her body told her to do it, and she followed along. it's why the statistics are so skewed. like how over 60% of women surveyed had some sort of rape fantasy. it's even higher when asked about consenting bdsm. and these are obviously JUST fantasies.

what we have here is more or less what the wife describes. she was stressed, and perhaps even ovulating. that's when a woman is most likely to cheat. she ALREADY has her husband, a winner, so she doesn't need to do any work. All she needs to do is keep him in the dark, so she rations out some bullshit that even she believes. So her genetics got him outta the way. Next step was to wait and see. Some alpha male presents himself, BINGO, new genetic material! At least her body is craving it. Her husband IS an alpha, let's not kid ourselves. And women are LESS likely to cheat when with an alpha. But a lot of women, and don't kid yourselves, would fantasize about TWO ALPHAS. Just like men, who love their wives, would love ANOTHER young woman. So her body pushed her to make babies with a physically satisfying pool of new genetics. I mean, it was pretty heavily implied she may be pregnant now.

but just like how men can be groomed as boys various ways to control their lust...women too can be given similar advice. Because being made aware of it is honestly more important than anything else. our society constantly warns of the male gaze or the man's lust. but nothing to help women. they are purposely left naive. i don't know if that's more intentional stupid to vary our gene pool, or genuinely a failing of our society. but we can do so many things to fight our instincts, and create more stable relationships.

With all the love, I can not understand why you let the slut get away so easily! You describe a whore who shows her husband in this hard corona time without showing mercy! Why should he show any mercy? Report to the hospital and information to the wife of the adulterer! Without these actions, this story, which is really very well written, is just a cheap cuckold story!

When did Reg Varney go from a bus driver to a doctor???

Ouch.

Well done.

Your writing simultaneously had me loathing and feeling sorry for the idiot wife.

That takes skill. This is definitely touching on a higher level of authorship than I have seen from you before.

My wife and I have been in the medical field for over 30 years on and off. We managed to avoid infidelity though certain environments were almost overwhelming with temptation. Most notably working in emergency situations.

Sick nasty story, Mr. Jim, as always. Write another, please. I hated it, of course, but it was a great story. Five stars, of course,

@mattenw, why you be like this? Have you no ability to just enjoy a good story? You just gotta throw around words like "whore," "slut," "cuckold," as if that makes you look like anything other than a jackass? I’m pretty sure no one gives a fuck, at this point.

And."science" guy, you may be controlled by animal instincts; the rest of us got brains, know how to use them and laugh at this "Alpha" bullshit. What, you belong to a dog pack? Most of us are humans. Even us women.

Well done, Mr. Jim. Randi.

First, we make the worst decisions when we are tired. There have been studies done that shoppers who were shopping all day were very selective and thoughtful at the start, end up making very poor purchasing decisions as time wore on because their minds were tired. I couldn't help think about that with the wife in this story. How with being faced with what she was faced with her mind being fatigued at the end of the day she could make poor choices. On top of that this was the relaxed time period (being home) when she could let her guard down she would be more susceptible to making a poor choice.

Second, you can't help but feel they are having two different conversations in the sense that it is very likely that the thing with Reg meant nothing to her. But to the husband it meant everything. And that is the primary reason I don't cheat on my wife. I can totally see fucking an attractive woman now and again and it would literally be nothing more to me than a momentary titillation that had nothing to do with my wife. But my wife would make it all about herself. Aren't her boobs big enough, do I find the other woman sexier, was she not enough. Damn women always make it about themselves, and won't let a man have a bit of fun.

A very sad story. If she purposely did the self-quarinteening to fuck Reg and Jill then I would have no empathy for the wife. But I believe her take on it. So, it's truly sad for the both of them. Yes, he had his heart broken and was rejected; however, she knows she broke the heart of the man she loves and she has to live with that guilt. On top of that they both lost one another.

I thought the line about the military sending prostitutes into Basra actually proved the point in the opposite. Throughout the world and throughout history militaries would give R&R to their soldiers so that they can let off some steam by fucking prostitutes. Often militaries brought prostitutes along with them. And in less civil times military leaders allowed/encouraged raping and pillaging as a reward and a way to ease of steam for their soldiers. How many US soldiers have gotten STD's from getting some strange during the war and brought it back to their wives?

Good story.

Wonderful story. Sad. Extremely well written. Not an extra word.