All Comments on 'Good Friends'

A point to ponder, mind over matter in kinship, TK U MLJ LV NV

your clearest offering to date watch your character names .You called everyone Elliot for a time at the start and it got really really confusing.

Another Stangday another story. I just love to see that name popup. But it is after 1 am, I got up at 5:30 yesterday with 5 hrs sleep and it is 11 pages. So I will see you later this afternoon. Looking forward to it as always. Jim

This always happens with authors who change midstream to chick editors. The stories get watered down with nothing in them other than two-dimensional insecurity about emotions.

And knew the multi-ending approach would be problematic. IMHO it would be better for this site to choose an ending and go with it rather than post both. Why?

Because the characters and story were strong to make either work; having both weakens the overall story which was good enough to support either ending you chose.

Hopefully your reputation and the inherent strength of the main story will make up for the dilution the double ending creates. Thanks for writing - SS06 stories are the only reason to visit LW here these days.

As a man who cheated on the woman of my dreams, I find myself empathising with Kathy so much it hurts. Well written, well thought out. Damn you for the emotional response I had. Maybe there's hope for my relationship, though. I've almost written us off.

liked it as it is.

with a lot of memorable, fucked up people.

I even cried when his asshole friend died, and I never do that!

another super story!!

because at least he moved on and with friends like his. I would hate to see enemies. Also after six years, it would be mad but I would be done Mark, the wife is a hard one, but I would have to figure that one out over time. 15 stars

To me it indicates the writer did not know where he wanted the story to go. Why not write two beginings and have just one ending? If you are, for whatever reason, going to have two endings, start the second ending just before the change occurs rather than repeating a page of the same story leading up to the altered ending. A paragraph lead in would be plenty. One has to love the imagination of Stang. I have noticed he not only likes Mustangs, but he favors death as a means of cleaning up relationships and uncomplicating the lives of his characters. It is a form of deus ex machina. A guy has two women on the line, so how does the writer resolve it? One of the women has a problem and dies in less than a paragraph. Problem solved.

I don't know how Stang can crank out such stories week after week.

I think this is one of the very, very few times where reconciliation is in my opinion a happy ending. It WAS a decision made out of drunkenness and anger. And Elliot did put Kathy on a pedestal like she was a god. So when she fell, she fell HARD.

There are some points though (ofcourse). I think, like in the second ending, Kathy would push too hard, and that would alienate Elliot. That didn't happen in the first ending.

Second, like Elliot mentioned himself, faith and trust. For 7 years after her cheating, Mark STILL came over all the time. Elliot can never know whether they laughed at him behind his back, or cheated again. Kathy and Mark's word wouldn't mean anything. The "distance" between Elliot and Kathy would be there. (Did that vanish after they remarried in the first ending?)

Anyway, for once I was for reconciliation, but the "after-cheating relationship" should've been there, instead of the fairytale romance, after they remarried.

And, did you guys catch that they named their third daughter Mark?

Er, third child. Not third daughter.

Nice job. Great story start to finish.

This was a quite positive reading experience. Both the endings are passable variations of stereotypes . To tell the truth , the story was most vibrant when Sally and Mark were front and center along with Kathy and Eliot. When their characters faded , the story lost definite effervescence. The line about Sally getting offended because " she was not a slut , she just had needs." A CLASSIC- 5 stars for that alone!

Bad people rarely think of themselves as "bad" . They just happen to have 'needs ' that MUST be met ... often on a illicit manner. Sally played Russian roulette with her marriage and lost- for whatever reason she...and to some degree Mark were a lot more of interest .

Eliot is straight out of Stang leading man casting- mechanically adept as he is socially awkward, handsome but unknowing of this quality. Perhaps no mirror in house when he was a child. Whatever. His best moment as a character came in explaining to kathy why it wasn't the same by quoting the Gordon Lightfoot lyrics. EVEN then those weren't his words- he never quite took the extra dimension-

I share Marks view of Kathy... Nice head of hair ... after that ... shrug.

Mark, himself , was more interesting. He was a aging lothario given to selfless gestures then bollocking it up. He craved intimacy then would reject it out of hand - it would have been very fair to see him die death of a thousand cuts as his physical appeal wanes.

I suppose his sudden termination for sexual harassment was quite plausible. He was never subtle which is the viable graceful level you want to fly at if you're a male ' if a certain age' and still like the dewy , young things,( think Cary Grant circa mid 1950's).

OK then! Thx to Stang for this fine story. It was enjoyed ! Though perhaps not exactly in manner author might have expected. Sometimes one goes to restaurant and the appetizers were fantastic! The entree well ... it was above average but not at level of the first course of meal. It's all in the game. Nice to see Thursday's back on aforementioned game schedule!

Great story and nice work once again. Thanks a lot for your effort and keep up the good work. ^__^

Lots of very interesting and very human characters. Kathy throwing everything away in a moment of pique is so typical of human nature and the simple fact that one betrayal is very hard to forgive and forget is played nicely.

For giving two endings. I personally liked A. My reason is that Kathy stopped Mark from consummating the nasty. Although drunk and mad, she pulled herself together and stopped it before he got his nuts off. For that reason, she deserved a good life. Again thank you for crafting two good endings, I wish more authors were like you.

I think the Key is Elliot. He is true Geek and social misfit who has no clue about the relationships between people in general and between men and women in particular . Not only does this make the character very endearing -- we all know someone like that-- are also makes is reaction to Kathy 1 time drunken indiscretion with Mark very understandable.

We all knew that eventually Mark was going to make a try or play for Kathy so the actual indiscretion/ 1 time fucking was in a way anti climatical.

With regard to the two endings... Personally I do not have a bias one way or another one offers offer multiple endings to stories. In this particular case the first ending or ending A was in my view clearly superior because this ending was filled with lot of symbolism.

As much as I am and Athiest and rationalist I do believe that there are a few instances where two people are "made for each other" (soulmates) and that they do better being around each other . So Kathy coming back from the dead was a niec touch adn well down.

But even impressive was the author's use of the car crash to show the physical injuries matching the injuries to her soul and their marriage .

Nice story

(A) was better since they got back together the quickest, but the part about (B) was in Claudia's letter after her death. She was right, he did put her on a pedestal that was the real problem. If it was me I would been able to end it quicker and would have forgiven here after hearing both Mark and Kathy's stories and how smiler they were. To have a love like they had you don't throw it away over a single mistake. She was drunk, she was mad but she stopped it before they finished it. All people make mistakes but its what you learn from them that really counts. Allot of people don't learn and repeat them over and over but Kathy did, hell even his lecherous ex-friend Mark did and cooled it with going after Kathy. Word of advice, when you or you mate are drunk don;t leave them along. If you have to leave take them with you whether they like it or not. Its better to fight about it then, then to go through a nasty divorce. When drunk people make fools of themselves, don't believe stay sober around a bunch that are drunk and you will see what I mean. When drunk people tend to do things they wound never do sober and if mad at there loved one they are prime targets for predators, so if you really love them then don't leave them along drunk and if they go out parting with friends and your not invited and they get drunk all the time with them then count your marriage over.

You sir are consistently good. I liked A much better and am glad they got back together. Elliot did put Kathy on a pedestal. She wrongfully got angry, then drunk. This allowed the bastard Mark the womanizing smooth talker to weave his evil spell and in my opinion rape her. Yet before this jerk pumps his seed into her, she came to her senses and threw him off. Although he penetrated, she redeemed herself by not allowing him to finish. Of course if she had told Elliot immediately, I believe based on the characters he would have forgiven. But then there wouldn't be this story. Thank you for A, most would say "torch the bitch", however; she did not and does not deserve that fate. Bless you Starstang! Forgiveness and redemption, and lifelong happiness can happen. Even B was good, because you knew the love. Thank you for a great story, and thank you for you.

I like both endings one perhaps a little wordey but worth the price . I was reminded of one slip and she didn't even slip. More immeadiate understanding.

The words seems to be so inadequate to describe the consummate skill of this writer. So is 5 stars. What can I say, except Thank you Stang.

In terms of plot, I had sympathy for Kathy and thought Eilliot was a schmuck. IRL Kathy would have given him some time to get over things and moved on if he didn't grow up. Her long suffering was out of balance relative to her indiscretion (and I'm usually in the torch the bitch crowd). Elliot should have gone to Nevada, got drunk, and boffed a pro to get even and then went home and moved forward.

Another great story from a great author. Nothing bad to say really, although I do kinda go along with the rereading mentioned in another comment. But that is neither hear nor there. Thank you again for the time and efforts to entertain us.

There's no need for another ending, both of these are great! Even though I'm not a "car guy" I always enjoy how you insert your love of Mustangs into each story. I don't envy your skill as a writer because I couldn't deal with having to make each story better than last one like you do. You've set a pretty high standard for yourself but I can't wait for you to top this one.

Anyway, keep up the excellent work!!

I read part one, i love a happy ending. we all make mistakes we a animals and human.. one mistake while drunk should not end a marriage that was a loving and happy home. forgive ,forget and move on with you life..how can you ever find a man or women like these two.a very hard to do in this day and age..

AFTER 54 YRS AND COUNTING THIS WAS A GOOD JOB

but ending A by about 5%.

This is an A+ story by an A+ author..thanks for another great story.

You once again wrote a masterpiece, a very convincing story with amazing characters and a lot of emotions. How do you do this every week again and never run out of ideas? I hope to read next weeks Stang-story here on Lit, but please leave it at less then 11 pages. It took me the whole afternoon & evening, because as soon as I start with one of these stories, I cannot stop before I reach the end (in this case: both). Both endings fit with the character and result in a fair solution - they deserved to get together again.

Of course: 5*

For last few weeks I have enjoyed the comments better than the stories. Nice to see you back in form Stang. I'm sure your not done twisting the haters so either way keep it up. I for one love it both ways!

Did the author fail to include EVERY stereotypical character known in this genre? Don't think so

Take Sally - when her character was used up she was disposed of in a single, unrealistic as all hell, paragraph That, friends, is not A+ writing. It is straight C

I'm not entirely sure what the author's point was - but the story would have been twice as good (4 stars) with a quarter as many words - you could develop all the relationships of two men and Kathy in ten thousand words (3 pages run over 11,000), one would hope. He would leave out the apparently compulsory revenge scene involving Sally - which scene is irrelevant to the story line, but somehow erotic to most of those who frequent this list.

11 pages? On and on? Just too much, sorry.

I agree with those who've stated that two endings is neither necessary nor desirable. That sort of thing reminds me of those books of years ago, where a reader (usually a child), could "write" their own story simply by flipping to the appropriate page to get the desired outcome.

Anyway, I did enjoy the story, and your already wonderful writing abilities are improving with each story.

Ignore the low reviewers. They only wish they could write with as much passion and depth as you do.

You have quickly become one of my favorite authors (and a fellow Mustang enthusiast to boot). I just hope you are able to continue coming up with tender emotion filled stories that touch the deepest parts of your readers hearts and minds. I find myself looking for your name when I browse through the "New" stories category.

not bad at all....ll....

I don't care much for the "two endings" presentation on this story, but I still appreciate your weekly efforts/submissions. In either case the reconciliation would have been a tough sell because she screwed his best friend. My preference would have been for her to be curb bait. But it was your story and I enjoyed reading it.

MissouriUSA

I have to say that this is the first story where I found myself skipping over the sex to keep going with the story. The characters were well developed but the plot was what really drew me on. I have to say that I loved both endings and probably not have enjoyed one where Elliot and Kathy didn't end up together. That is despite the fact that I normally hate the unrealistic romantic contrivances that most authors use. Those two seemed destined, and that means you really accomplished something.

Another great SS06 story. Not many likeable characters in the story though:

- Mark is a sexual predator with no respect for other people’s marriages. Even not for his so-called best friend’s. A true bastard who didn’t get the fate he so richly deserved too soon.

- Sally was a slut who hugely disrespected her husband by having a long term affair with Mark, both before and after her marriage. She thus had it coming when he divorced her. Both thus are very unsympathetic characters. She was written out of the story tayhe abruptly though.

- Kathy should have known better giving her previous bad experience with the minister. She threw away something good for a whim. Getting drunk and angry is no excuse for betraying her marriage vows, although most of the blame lies with Mark.

- Elliot’s reaction is thus more than understandable. Many men and women simply cannot forgive a cheating spouse for their aberration. For them after getting to know the betrayal and the broken trust, there is only the one option of divorce. Kathy wanted Elliot to fight for their marriage, but given the broken trust he probably thought it wasn’t worth fighting for. But that doesn’t mean the love is gone. The fact that he simply could not live with her anymore, doesn’t mean he wasn’t heartbroken after her accident when she was presumed dead. As to Elliot reconciling with Mark on his death bed in Story A, I wouldn’t be that merciful. If I were Elliot, Mark would have died alone.

Story B should have been the opposite of Story A. Elliot ultimately wanting Kathy back, but she having finally moved on, leaving him empty handed because he again waited too long. Now both story endings were reconciliation stories, the B story just had it take longer.

I presume daughter Mark is short for Marcella? A girl with the name Mark is as weir as a boy named Sue.

You mixed up the names here and there.

you know i did'nt even read the rest of your story the first ending was enough why did you even write the rest? one of your better ones

Really one of THE best I've read in this medium (for lack of a better term). Both endings are good. I look now for authors names in the "New Stories" index, ie: DG Hear, Ohio, Curious, StangStar06, to name a few. Cheers! Connoisseur29

I liked both endings but probably the second one the best.

She deserved forgiveness and he deserved to be happy. How to do this? You offered two ways. I guess I liked the second best, but the other had a closing of the door on Mark, so I liked the first best...LOL.

See the problem? Great story.

"A" is my choice all the way. You sure know how to finish a story, wish more authors would follow your lead. Great, great job!

SS06, you have developed very well as a writer, with this being one of your better stories. Matter of fact, I'd rank it as a very close second to O.I.N.D., which I have bookmarked and am trying to figure out how to download so i can keep it permanently.

Great job 'stang, loved it. I preferred A over B, but both were well written. I doubt very much anyone can top your two endings. Especially Kathy's well deserved redemption. I thought she was a tragic yet loving person. Again great job!

SS, well what to say other than you did it again, you are such a talent and there is no way i`d tarnish anything you have written on here,i have read and enjoyed every thing you`ve entered on this site, your stories have become longer and more detailed it seems since the new editor has come along and i thank him as well,i`d just say thanks for your time, hard work, and talent and like i said at the start Thanks again, nathan/ga

Well Stang you got me again! I don't care whitch ending is used as I read them both and couldn't decide which is best. Man you are the best, I promise to keep readin'em if you keep writin'em. You are one of my favorite authors Thank you for sharing with us.

Dry. Awkward. Amateurish. I'm providing multiple one word reviews, in recognition of your multi-ending story. I only wish you had kept your story as brief as this review.

I start at the review of Kathy's time with James. While no one deserves abuse and assault, Kathy took up with a married man. Everyone told her she was out of line and she did it anyway. Young and stupid is NOT a get out of jail free card. My reaction to this is that Kathy is trouble, despite the original setup as a nice, quiet girl. She whines about life not being fair to her but SHE is the one who put herself in the situation.

But Eliot and Kathy build a good life with each other. They strengthen and compliment each other.

Now we get into the incident and Kathy's explanation 7 years later. Eliot is a high level manager and gets called in to a work emergency. This is NOT a voluntary thing. First, his "loving wife" gets super pissed at him. Next, his "loving wife" decides she has to "get back at him" for something that is not his fault and is completely reasonable behavior. A true loving wife would know her husband well enough to appreciate his responsibilities and would understand that he wasn't doing anything to hurt her, even if she was unhappy with the situation. Instead, Kathy is out for revenge. She got what she was looking for. It wasn't just the sex. She set out to HURT her husband. If I were Eliot I'd be wondering who this woman was that wanted to get such revenge over such a stupid thing.

In the end, I think Eliot got it exactly right, they had a magical level of trust and love and Kathy broke it. I have no empathy that Mark's death would magically put things right for the two of them. Mark didn't say anything different than what Eliot already knew. It also bothers me that he dumped Belinda. Maybe she deserved it but that's not the kind of person that Eliot was.

I preferred the second ending because I think Kathy more completely accepted what she had done and the impact of it. Claudia helped them both to heal and then conveniently died to let them get back together. I never had a problem with them reconciling. She had half a drunken fumble and stopped it in the middle. That's possible to recover from although maybe not completely. I have one significant complaint. Claudia writes "The only thing that stopped it from happening before I came along was your pride". Bullshit!!! He was deeply in love and Kathy betrayed him. That hurt him terribly and broke his trust. He wasn't walking around with his ego on the ground. First, that's not the kind of person he was. Second, it wasn't how he behaved. Having enough self esteem to not accept hurtful behavior is NOT pride. It is self worth. I HATE it a person with self worth and values is accused of being prideful.

I liked the story overall but felt a little more time should have been spent on the endings. They were rushed and not well integrated into the rest of the story.

OK - I read ending "A" and never even bothered with the other one. Elliot is a bit of a strange dude, but so was kathy. Now having read your comment at the end of "B", I will go ahead and read that one since it seems to have ended well.

As a footnote, I have never quite understood men who get all bent out of shape to the point of irrationality and then consider remarrying their ex who has been screwed hundreds of times by another husband. I guess it is OK as long as they marry the man, but pity the tramp that puts it about while single. Yeah, I know she cheated (sort of) but Elliot is just a bit too focused on some things to see the big picture. But, your story and the characters were at least interesting and not boring.

When a long story full of detail is able to hold my interest from beginning to end, then I know that it was well written. I almost didn't read ending B, but when I did, I found it to be just as good, if not even a bit better than your first ending. You have a flare for writing, and I really like your character development. Up to this point I have not been familiar with your work, but after viewing this story I plan to go back and read some of your other postings. I can only hope that I find them equally enjoyable.

I loved this story, good very good. I read ending A, because if they had ture love for one another, then forgiveness was not impossable at all. ture love cover over a lot of wrongs, and true never dies, I should know, I've lived it.

And thought it was very good.

I like happy endings, because there's so much gloom in the real world, that it's nice to live in the fantasy world for a little bit of time.

Thanks for the great read.

SS06 used to write stories with punch in them and nowadays they are merely stale stories with over the top characterization and too much deus ex machina.

1. He came to know of it after 7 years - he would never know that they didn't do it more than once or that they didn't laugh behind his back.

Why should he believe them now? It is as easy for a couple who cheated to ensure that their stories match when confronted.

Sure you as the reader knows what happened - but the cheated upon husband doesn't know it.

Ending A - Can't see them going back to the same old relationship - too much has happened and too much trust lost. Unlike other feelings/emotions - trust once broken can only be repaired to work and not be like the original. It is a broken marble statue - you can glue it up or even cover it with a golden sheath on top but the split exists regardless.

Ending B - two women - both agree to be companions to him. Except one fucks him and the other who used to be the wife who fucked him and then fucked up by cheating him is now prepared to be without sex for the next decade. then the new one dies and he moves back to the old one in the very next scene.

Yeah right! - This is too much for even the regular Deus Ex Machina he does in his stories.

All in all a poor attempt.

Get a new non-chick(like) editor and stick to your guns.

but luckily this time it didn't spoil my read of a good story. I think the two endings have many similarities and could have been weaved together somehow to form one definitive ending.

The story, like most of your others, deserves 5 stars. I don't get hung up on formats and typos, the substance is excellent and the way the story is told just flows. Always interesting characters, I was particularly surprised by how you managed to give Mark a certain decency despite the ugly person that he is. I guess we all have in us a bit of everything, good, bad, and whatever is in between. I also liked your description of the behaviour of shy Elliott and his transformation. There is a certain liveliness in all your characters, no matter how likeable or not they are.

I wish some of the commentators can edit their own comments before criticising your editor. Thanks to both of you for giving us good stories to read.

Again, to both, as always, Thanks!

He came to know of it by overhearing them talk: a conversation they had no idea he heard and made clear it was a one-time thing that she regretted. How anyone could get something else out of that plot element means they are on drugs.

Go for a single ending: use the second ending for a new story.

thanks for writing

Only read part A just couldn't go through part B as said before I like happy endings if only in a read story, life is so different.

and a mustang?

gag me

Then you continued it... cheap cheats, love that's not love, forgiveness that's not forgiveness - god i'm glad i don't live in your world.

Nice story. Didn't mind the two endings, basically he was able to be mad and let her deal with his anger and loss so not a true wimp husband story as some that are written. 1) I felt that both endings wound down too quickly. With all the preceding story to get to the point is kind of "happily ever after'd" all of a sudden. So the ending didn't do justice to there rest of the writing. 2) Why did you think it was important in ending A to have Mark basically cut and paste his confession from before the "commercial?" It was written pretty well in initial hospital scene but was fully unnecessary in its entirety. A brief confession would have been just fine. Don't sell the endings short, remember it is the last thing people will remember about your story.

a comment from you at the close of 2010. I can't remember exactly what you said but basically you compared yourself to some of the authors on this site that you were really impressed with but you felt that you weren't in their league. I remember this because I too, felt that those authors you cited were very good but it made me reflect on your work and how it compared to some of the legends. At the time I came to the conclusion that even though I enjoyed your stories I had to agree with you that their stories had a quality that yours lacked. Of course, I'm thinking of their best stories because we all know, no author hits a home run everytime (except Josephus). But this story, is right up there with the greats. I haven't been able to read as much as I would like, lately and I still have some of your stories earmarked to read but I'm really impressed with your writing of this story. Except, I never liked when the author wrote two endings. I always felt like they were just trying to placate both camps of "what to do with a cheating spouse". You know, playing it safe or hedging their bets. Now, I have to go back and see when your writing skills jumped a class. I also want to read the comments from some of the legends and see what they think. Nice work, I really enjoyed it. Thank you

"I did warn you in the beginning that this was one of those stories"

Ummm...No, you didn't!

I wish you'd stick to just writing the story as you want it, I've enjoyed a lot of them, but these alternative endings are just a writer's cop out!

I think the wide response says it all. The story definitely stirred the reader's emotions and kept this reader's attention through both endings. Just some constructive criticism: First, there were some times when "to" and "too" were

improperly used. Second, near the beginning, Elliot's name was used instead of Mark's, and others have remarked on this as well. It creates some confusion in the story. Both problems should have been caught by your editor.

Last, the scene in the hospital was not realistic (I've worked in hospitals and know this subject). If Kathy had cardiac arrested, and then her heart restarted itself, she would have had a breathing tube down her thoat and thus, would not have been able to speak (the tube interferes with the vocal cords). Further, a patient who is essentially DOA and barely clinging to life would not be taken to surgery for a pin to be put in her arm -- as the arm is not a life-threatening problem and could wait a week or so, until she is more stable.

Despite the above, I enjoyed the story, felt it had a lot of originality (except for the Mustang, LOL), and it was well put together. Both endings were good to read. Thanks for writing.

I have gone over the story 2 more times and can not see any place that the names were messed up - so pleace - tell me where you see it so I cna figure out how it happened. Thanks from the "chick editor" - LOL

The storyline was captivating...had a fight with the wifey over reading this, cos i ignored her meal....more of this!!!

I didn't care for ending A very much maybe 3 stars. Ending B is much better. Bye the way how long did her hair get? (I know it's only a story). Thank you for sharing this story with me/us. Bye the way I gave it a 5 stars.

Stang, From another 54 years and counting, thanks for a great job, Both endings were quite apt, the story doesn't need any more, it could be well noted that the strength of Elliots and Kathy's feeling would put then together again eventually. It was really neat that Mark was eventually blown away by Sally's ex, after being caught again with his second wife. Just beautiful, Bob should have done it the first time he caught them and should have been given the keys to the city not jailed.

If you are taking a vote then I vote for A. As both stories end up at the same place ending A allows them more time together and less pain for the wife. And the departure of Mark was a bit funny. My idea of the ultimate way to go; shot to death by a jealous husband when I am 90.

Just a few points that I would like to comment upon:

1.) Sallys Split Personality Disorder. She is so caring and loving towards Elliot and Kathy, yet she turns into a selfish, evil monster(!) when it comes to her own husband ? (Its not that that she is just unfaithful, she celebrates it and humiliates her husband in an extremely malevolent way) I think it was unneccessary to portray her in that extreme way. It just robs your story a huge chunk of credibility.

2.) I did not like your endings, because they where neither here nor there. Especially ending B where he was supposed to leave her, did not deliver. He only tormented himself. I don't say its unrealistic, because he is a gamma male, if there is such a thing and it is just like him to never make a clear decision and suffer for it. It is just that it was not polarized enough for a multiple ending story in my opinion.

Also I find it highly unrealistic how forgiving he was towards Mark. Lets face it, Mark is an evil person. Elliot would never befriend someone like that in the first place and after it all comes out he even attends his funeral and fucking cries? If the police in this fucked up world would do their fucking job they should have put Mark down, or locked away years ago. Some people just need killing in a FAIR judicial system (which we do NOT have). No Bob, who had every god given right to destroy his enemy goes to jail for righting a wrong which the system itself should have taken care of years ago.

3.) You mentioned, that the world was unfair to Kathy when she was abused by that 'priest'. As long as women go out of their way to fall for the 'bad boys' thay fucking DESERVE to suffer for it. Its just not right that in this Fucked up world the good guys go home alone every night while the women fall all over themselves to populate the beds of all those assholes out there. And then when the inevitable happens and they discover that, suprise, the asshole acts like an asshole, hurts them, and leave them broken that is unfair? No its not! What is unfair that then the good guys in their thirties have to pick up the pieces and have damaged goods for wifes after those finaly come to their senses. Sorry every single one of those girls who give their virginities to the Jocks and the bad boys, because 'they are soo cute' or 'soo hot' DESERVE to suffer for it, a great deal.

I did like both endings for the most part -

Elliot was/is too black and white for his own good the pedestal analogy in B was right on, a personally I am convinced we are all fallible - she was her response was the best possible one a person could hope for. Exactly as Mark noted on his death bed in A.

I enjoy the way you tend to find good in most people - it is NOT totally unrealistic nor are any of your characters - they all represent people I have met anyway. For those who doubt Elliot and Mark could ever be friends they may just have led a more sheltered life than me and my acquaintances - they are a very varied crowd and you learn to take them for who they are warts and all heh.

So,it is 5***** and I,for the first time,have regrets that there is not another way to express the joy of reading this Author !

Prefer forgiveness this time 1 time drunken indiscretion with tons of guilt. Also I prefer ending A because that slimy rat got what he deserved fired and shot.

you did good again!

the commenters confirm this. I'm not that enthralled with the longer stories, and much prefer the shorter versions without all the descriptive writing in between subjects.

Everything was fine till the authors comments. Shut the fuck up, no apologies, no explanations...I've read every fucking story you've written and they are all top shelf. They aren't too long, too short, or fucked up in any way, they are perfect just as they are. You get the job done and then some...so let it be, if you must write anything, let it be another story.

I love your stories except for this thing for multiple endings. You tell a great story. Why do you do the multiple endings? You don' t need them.

I only continued to read this story because it said that they didnt end up back together and that was a story i was looking for. I am annoyed because you lied in your author note and i wasted my time by reading this...thanks alot.

I know how hard it is as a writer to get ideas that spark your imagination- I know a little bit about the creative process, I've written things that got published (for the sake of anonymity I won't tell you anything about my work). What bothers me most about this story, is the fact that I'm noticing similarities between this and every other story written by you. It's not just small things either. It seems like you're writing about the same characters, just with different names, jobs, backgrounds, etc. The theme is always the same too, wife cheats on a loving husband once or twice, husband finds out, leaves her, wive gets injured, husband nurses her back to health, husband and wife reconcile after the husband spends 20-30% of the story prognosticate about the situation, all while the wife does an inordinately large ammount of work to win him back against his will. Others may not notice this, but I thought you might want to know about the rut you seem to have fallen in with this plot, and these devices. It helps the creative process to get out of one's comfort zone once in a while. If you need any help with writing exercises, or any advice from someone who actually knows what they're talking and is interested only in helping a tallented writer achieve his full potential, you can e-mail me at shadowthrone99@yahoo.com

and I can't fix it. In my version, Elliot doesn't bother to come to the ER and the unfaithful slut dies! Too bad about the Cadillac.

wouldn't have wasted my time in an hospital with a cheating slut would have divorced her right when i found out. 6 yrs ago or 1 day doesn't matter a cheating wife is a cheating wife. There is no forgiveness for spreading your legs for someone else other than your husband.

I loved both endings. Really great story. I really hope more stories will be like this one. Definitely one of your best. Keep up the amazing work.

-G

Out of all the stories I've read on here, this one had me going thru every emotion. So pissed at Kathy and Mark.

I liked ending A better. Just glad they got back together.

I did not read the second ending because I am growing to be a pushover for happy endings instead of being a cynic like I used to be. Please quit giving us more than one ending, I will gladly go along with what you give us. I know these types of endings allow you to show your versatility but I don't like it. I am going right down your page of stories written, I have you as a favoirite author and all that but I swear that I will stop reading your stuff if there is another story below this one with more than one ending. I will still leave you as a favorite author, of course, I just won't read any more of your writings. Thank you for all your writings that don't have two endings.

This was a great story besides having two endings. I am curious about the other ending but I refuse to read it.

I've read this probably 5 times and I get tears in my eyes every time I read it. Ending B is much better than ending A.

You write some good tales. Ones like this portray the man as a simpering waffling moronic idiot. The man in the beginning, middle and end do not match; in character nor evolutionarily. Highly emotional drunken semi-slip that is 7 years old causes this? Ruined the tale for me.

you can feel the female hand in this story, mainly squeezing the balls out of it and making a great story a fucking sissy one,everything male and good becomes womanly and weak. The more i read the more diluted it became, its sexist but what women know about male ego and love would fill a bottled coke cap and this is a prime example, everything became a we can all be friends crap story-weak no balls.

1

I tend to agree with Bfreetorun (11/19/12). To me, it feels like a story with a choice of endings really doesn't have an ending. I reckon I read these stories for the emotional experience, be it pleasant or otherwise. Well written stories (as yours generally are) build tension. Alternate endings dilute the impact of the denouement.

And as usual,you did it so well.Awesome writing!

Though more time passed in the second ending during which they aren't together and there was likely more sadness involved in it it FELT more realistic...

That first ending felt so rushed, as if just one moment he was unforgiving and the next he was peachy...

While it might seem unrealistic to some that a woman like Claudia could exist - one who would be willing to be friendly to the woman she felt the man SHE was with loved more than her - it fit with the concept of two people who could love each other in a sort of fairytale fashion...

I feel that Kathy suffered too much physical and emotional pain for such little mistake. Elliot should have forgiven his wife after hearing Mark's confession.

Nonetheless, I enjoyed the story. I'm also happy that in both endings Kathy got her husband back.

Thank you SS06 for another good story.

I don't usually like multiple endings because I think they change the whole story. I liked both in this instance with no decided preference but leaning toward the 2nd.

This truly was a story of a shy man who turned stupid. Considering the explanations from Mark and Kathy, a man supposedely as intelligent as him should have be able to understand and work things out.

I definitely understand the alternate endings, both versions were justifiable. Five stars.

Okay, I just read Story A, and before going on I have a couple of comments.

First of all, I'm glad for the happy ending, one thing that somewhat puzzles me is how much Elliot fights against reconciliation. It just seems so out of character for him to be so unbending, knowing the facts of the case.

Having said that, part of Kathy's explanation confuses me. Her anger at Elliot going into work, her drinking and Mark's seduction I can understand. What confuses me is her worries about her parents and whether they'll like Elliot. It was Elliot who got them to come to the wedding, and now they were coming to the barbeque, so it seems that things were ok on that front.

Okay, happy again for the happy ending, but like A better.

My problems with B:

Her admitting that part of the hook up with Mark was her curiosity about him. I don't buy that for a second! Totally out of character for her.

Claudia too good to be true. NOBODY is that selfless - at some point, if Elliot couldn't get over Kathy she would have walked away.

Too long for them to get back together.

The last four or five comments have been some of the most inane statements that I have ever heard. Infidelity is infidelity whether it is once or half of once. It doesn't matter if she has a temper, is having PMS or has been drinking. Not an excuse. If she had gotten mad at someone while she was drinking and stabbed them a little the law would not have considered that a small mistake.

Accountability people! Being human doesn't mean you aren't liable for you actions. It just means that you can mess up. If being untrue to someone can be just giving you allegiance to someone other than your spouse, or failing to take their side against others, then actually sex has to be that much more.

Pappy knows

I read somewhat farther down the comments list and I read time after time that what she did wasn't really all that bad and even though she devastated Elliot and completely destroyed his trust in her that he should forgive her, yada, yada.

With her temper and absolute mean spirit when crossed, do any of you "small mistake" people think that she would have forgiven "him" if he had done Sally? I think not, but the man is supposed to forgive the woman for deliberately screwing his friend to hurt him for going into work and doing what he was paid for?

I liked the story, warts and all. I just wonder about some of the comments.

to much love, to deep, to confused to make any rational comment.

can only say this story totaly wiped me out mentaly & emotionaly.

well deserved 5 star vote , even if i cannot explain why.

xxxhugsxxx

TwistedOliver.

In addition to griping about you leaving two endings will make a complaint that I usually don't make about your writings. I thought that you dragged ending A way too long once you started in with it. Sorry, I usually think you are perfect. Way too much angst in this story. More sex and violence, LOL. Thank you for writing. I know about that unforgiving holiness from your parents, well acquainted.

Unusual for me, but I go with both endings. I'm a BTB sort, but this story was good enough to blot out that scenario. Seven years after a drunken mistake that should have been settled in complete silence by both the offending parties. Stupid asses! Crap, now you have me going. Cheers!