All Comments on 'Flowers in the Trash Can'

All wrapped around some flowers. The problem was that there wasn't much emotion in it, but there were some pretty unlikable characters. Maybe a little more detail? I'm not sure about this one, but it needed something else to be entertaining.

Quality inter crossing stories. Thank you

Would have been a better story had the first proposal been interrupted with a random police shooting making the flower disposal more poignant.

And a refreshing Story line

A fun serendipitous link between the two stories, and a sweet HEA. What I really like is that Matt and Michelle were ultimately sad and sympathetic characters rather than cardboard cutout forked tail and pitchfork antagonists. Maybe they could be the subjects of their own redemptive stories. As always, a pleasurable diversion that relegated my Sunday crossword into second status. Thanks much. *****

... a five star story. Thanks.

"Can't I keep the flowers?" - ROFL

"her nipples straining against the tee-shirt." - It was a wife beater.

Enjoyed the way you did this one.

Excellent story.

This yarn was spun with gold thread. Well done.

An imaginary snapshot ... or two.

Nice.

A story of two stories within a story. Two broken relationships. Well told.

Thank you.

We need more feel good stories.

Who knows what really happened that caused the bouquet to end up in the trash can, but I loved Katie’s daydreams about it.

I very much enjoyed this one. I felt it was quite realistic.

I really like your style and this story proved once again to me why I love your stories so much. Very good, thank you for sharing your writing creativity.

Enjoyed the story and will look forward to more in the future. Thanks.

I'm not sure that people get that the two stories are just the imaginings of Katie.

The idea of her sitting building story in her mind - well can't say I've seen it here before but it was very well done. Thank you for a good read.

Good story! You could ended it after John and his wife noticed his ex-girlfriend after concert.

5

Once again, an excellent story. 5*s

Full marks.

This was creative and flowed well for any length of story but more impressive for the shortness while having quality content.

It would be interesting if Matt and Michelle got together.😁

Great story from someone's imagination. Well thought out and beautifully presented. Had to be a Kate story though, Bill doesn't seem that sentimental.

At last, an actual story that I can relate to, a start, a middle and an ending. Excellent characters too. Well done as usual

OK - I'm a little slow up top but if Katies husband were named Bill instead of Anthony I would have caught on right away. Fun little story.

A bit sugary at the end,

but a good plot and entertaining.

Top ratings from me.

Thank you for another clever story. Well written. Well crafted. Good characters. Sad characters. Thanks again

That worked very well, weaving the image of the flowers like that. Nicely done.

Original take and well-written. Enjoyed.

Thanks.

Hooked

Kind of like an episode of Night Gallery with this format, would work really well on film or TV, I guess sort of a Red Shoe Diaries sort of thing.

Very realistic. Very humanistic. I loved it. *****

Nice. Thank you for the interesting/unique story.

Quite thought provoking. ;0)

Thank you for a very refreshing and original tale.

I loved the story. The only problem I had was the jumps from one scene to another were not smooth and it took a little reading to try to understand what was going on. I would love to know how Michelle is doing after 5 years and what her opinion on her prince charming is now (I know someone like that and even though she's 40+ I seriously doubt she will ever get married or have a long term relationship - the man she wants just doesn't exist).

that was good except for those damn () crap u guys should break that bad habit

So original and always well written. It's great what can be done by an observant writer with an imagination and wit.

This would make a great writing event. Get a bunch of people to follow up with short vignettes to explain the flowers in the trash can. Sounds fun.

Short, sweet, and tied together nicely for a 2-pager. I agree with KB it's a great writing prompt for exploration!

What was the point of stuffing all these people in a miserable 1½ page?

Haven't a clue what this junk is about.

Well crafted, and most enjoyable.

Unusual. Very nice story. Thanks for sharing.

Unusual way to kick a story off but you did a great job, as always.

hodgepodge. But at least the short guy came out ok.

Wilting flowers tossed aside are sad. They truly do represent romance, in some ways. Are long term happy marriages like a bouquet of artificial flowers??? Just kidding. Glad to see the happy endings here. I always wonder about proposals that meet the wrong answer- don’t people know each other? If you don’t have a good sense of it, you shouldn’t be proposing. It happens though, I guess. Love is complicated; my wife of 24 years is lying beside me reading a horror novel (It), while I sit here choking up on sappy happy endings. Looking at us, you’d think it’d be the other way around. Another great story- I got distracted and forgot to state the obvious.

Onethird - re:"IT"

Stephen King's "On Writing" was one of the 'how-to' books we read to try and write a decent story.

If I remember correctly in his book "On Writing" King mentioned something about always wanting a big desk to write on, being certain it would make him a great writer only to find out it didn't. So I assume (I know) that you didn't find a way to squeeze one into your trailer for the trip?

The prologue reminded me of a story Marty Robbins told about how he came up with the idea behind writing "A White Sport Coat". They were driving through Ohio on the way to a performance, his wife was driving the car, his son was in front in the passenger seat and Marty was in the back seat with his guitar. As they were passing by a high school Marty spotted a young man walking on his way to the prom wearing "a white sport coat with a pink carnation." It went to #1 on the Country/Western chart.

"Can't I keep the flowers?" Wow, how shallow can a person be? Did this take place in SW Michigan by chance? The reason I'm asking is I think I used to date her.

The change in vignettes threw me for a moment, I was expecting someone to pickup the flowers to give them to someone else, leading us into another relationship. What you did was something rare, something unique, I don't recall anyone doing it like that on Lit before. Signed: BTW

Gave it a five. Had a good time.

More important, this came across, at least to me, as something a little more mature than the usual stuff, more thoughtful.

I'm jealous.

Jedd Clampett (carvohi)

BandK I thoroughly enjoy your stories, and this one very much so. I enjoy stories most that are about real credible people doing real credible things and with emotional twists and turns along the way. This story is unique here. I do not recall any similar scenario.

Well done!

What a delightful way to tell a story! I really enjoyed that. Thank you.

i was wondering which of your stories i would add to my 'Lit Faves' folder on Waterfox. Looks like this is the one.

Terrific story! Unique!

I like her. An excellent sexy imagination.

A pinnacle of creativity.

It’s alway great to get a BillandKate story but to get 3 stories in 1 was fantabulous

Great story. 5 stars

So who is Anthony, Kate.?

Thanks for the story

One of your best.

Thanks

Alexis shitcanned Matt after the third affair became evident. And the tracking app on her phone was gratuitous.

Having the ‘Loving Wife’ be a story-in-the-story about a Loving Husband was a cheat!

3*

Nice

Excellent tale. The visual doesn't always have to be intact, it's the love inside which makes it work.

Five Stars

Who is Katie and Anthony? 2 stories mixed up? Ending makes absolutely no sense

Noice! ….very nice story! Very much enjoyed. The writing and story line is very good! This is my first story of yours to read. I am so much looking to reading the rest of your list. Thank-you!

I have to admit the story was confusing. I knew who John, Alexis, and their ex's but who are Katie and Anthony? The part after they had those children and lived happily ever after was confusing, before that it was a good story.

I guess people missed you relating different stories, and missed the transition at the end.

Great job, great stories. Quick, concise. Gonna go through your catalogue.

5*

A couple aborted beginnings... no middle... no end. I cannot score a story that never happened.

Sweet ending. Ouch for the reality check.

Um, no, had you quit after the first two, I'd have said a cute 5 star story. But adding the third reduced it to 2 stars. Why would a wife take off work to drink "alone"? Why would a husband think a wife playing hookie from work and drinking "alone" at a bar is normal? Too much doubt was introduced despite the cutesy dialogue. Was being caught by hubby a game changer from cheating to having a baby with him?

to kirei8 and others: Maybe Kate and I tried to be too clever on this one. The story is broken into five sections, each separated by the stars *****. The first, middle and last sections are in the first person - the narrator who, on her thirtieth birthday was given the afternoon off by her supervisor and sits in a cafe spinning the third person second and fourth sections in her imagination after seeing a flower arrangement in a city park trash can. At no time is the narrator even remotely interested in cheating - she adores her husband as much as he adores her (see banter in last section).

We used the female narrator to tell a story of how the guy in the second section, John Farnsworth, eventually found true love in the fourth section. We saw it as a way to convey how some of our own billandkate stories take flight after hearing a song, seeing a loving couple, or some object, etc.

Anyway, some readers caught it, others are still looking for clues that every woman is a cheater who can only be faithful if she's put on a short leash. Obviously, Kate and I don't advocate the leash approach.

Confused thr hell out of me jumping from one short story to another, the last one was well nothing, was this the writer, or a reader or just someone random

Great story. I really couldn't help but put myself in the protagonist's shoes. We've got the same name, same height, I'm only a few years younger but hardly any difference there. You guys really had me nailed down to a tee. 5* (mostly for the entertaining story, and also for the likeness of the MC).

Wonderful story. Glad John and Alexis found each other, even if it was in Katie's imagination...

I loved that this had more than one story in it, I like that you write well with good character design and have put a lot of thought into it

I guess.

You write nothing but great stories.

You are a 5 in my voting.

Heu ? Un peu déçu !

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Good story. Thank you.

Just right. Thanks.

That was an interesting way of writing a story as a mini-series of a story like a bunch of little pictures to make one big picture.

🙈🙉🙊

5* Quite superb, beautifully crafted and structured and believable - and with a happy ending. What's not to like!

Loved that John and Alexis ended up together.

Great story. I loved the plot twist with John and Alexis and how you brought everything together with the MC and her husband!!

Very imaginative and well done.