All Comments on 'Reabled'

Wonderful writing. Five star quality.

thank you author.

An old joke, but accurate: Houston really only has two seasons. Summer and January.

Most years, people are still mowing their yards through Thanksgiving, right up to Christmas some years. In the summer, day after day of 98°F and 95% humidity are all too common. Houston is sub-tropical, so it's hot and damp.

Texas may not have been thrilled with Obama, but it wasn't because he was black. Sure, bigots are everywhere and Texas has it's share, but it wasn't the color of his skin that gave us heartburn. I never once heard anyone disparage Obama because he's black. Not even in the Hogsbreath Saloon, a good place for an ice cold beer.

Oil will always be big in Texas, but Technology is, by far, where the big money originates, and it's been that way for well over 30 years. The folks in that area are good people: down to earth, and friendly.

Good story, Fredoberto. Well done.

People in Texas were still getting used to the idea of having a black president and she avoided getting drawn into any conversations about politics.

So ignorantly untrue....

Some of the transitions really threw me, and for that I gave it 4*. It took me a second to figure out the "scotish girl" was named Maggie. There was the part about her being a blonde later with no previous explanation of the transition until much later. Finally, the readers were informed about her breaking it off with Tom in a round about, after the fact, narrative with Maggie's mom. Again, very awkward...

As a Native Texan, we do have a hard time admitting when we're wrong. There are always rationalizations as to why racist behavior really isn't. And most (> 50%) of Texans really have no major beef with Obama. So, yeah, some Texans will never be ok with a black anything. But maybe that brush stroke you painted us with is a bit broad...

You did get political there. Maybe a counterpoint to saddletramp (et al). But still every much as political as them.

Otherwise, nice story!

Can't say it was very exciting, but it was a well put together piece of work.

5****** It ended in a nice tight bow!

Enjoyed it quite a lot.

I liked it. It was largely a simple love story, well told.

Thank you, sir.

Splendid story!

5

Liked tne happy ending.....but there was just no “angst” in tne relationship between Brooks and Maggie.

But 4**** for the excellent writing.

Unusually nice people in this story with so much cheating going on. I thought Brooks was the villain here, but he bowed out so gracefully that you couldn't hate him. Maggie and Tom cheated too, but they were ever so nice to everyone. Old Granny was a good old gal,n but her machinations were behind the Maggie and Tom affair. That leaves Katie as the only truly innocent heroine in the story. Great story here leaves no one to truly dislike.

Well, that was a feelgood story. Even the cheater isn't treated like a pariah. Good stuff.

You are growing as a writer it seems though I've only read a couple previous works. Thanks to Randi's project I just found another writer to follow. 5 stars.

somewhere east of Omaha

Thank you!

Just did not grab me. Quite surprisingly pedestrian in plot and outlook.

Everybody’s a winner, no pain at all.

It just did not grab me at all.

Scores 3/5, for being a solid enough tale.

The writing was choppy and uneven. It was hard keeping everything in focus.

What is a ""pneumatic bleached blonde"? "Pneumatic" means use of air or gas.

That was different, a cheater that did a good deed, Maggie got a new husband,the daughter a new hand.

A divorce without anger and recriminations and they stayed friends. Rare in the LW category.

Texans getting used to a black President- never been to Texas or Houston have you? Twenty years ago Houston elected a black mayor - who prior to that was police chief. Likewise the Texas oilman stereotype generally does not fit well for the large majority in the oil business. Relying on stereotypes is both poor and lazy writing- and not very readable.

Started well ...

but ended average.

Tom was considered a good man.

And a sole parent to a young child.

Such a man doesn't start an affair

with a married woman!

That was a big crack in the plot.

3 out of 5 from me.

Lovely story thank you. Nice but believable characters, interesting story line and yes hopefully the ANDI hand isn't too far away. Well done.

Let's see - the ACA (Obamacare for those of you who don't look at the original but rely on other peoples' interpretations) had the intent of decreasing the burden on hospitals - since the poor people it was intended to serve would get preventative medicine before they have to show up at emergency rooms to deal with the exacerbated problem. As well, the hospitals get paid under ACA, which they may not under the previous system.

The element of the sense of entitlement of wealthy businessmen - in high tech or energy or oil or whatnot - is in some sense true in my experience, for the people who it is true of. I have met some sincere and considerate business people... but they don't want to have sex with me.

The decision by Tom to switch to an affair with Maggie was a bit quick and jarring. The sense of mercantile attitude of Maggie with Brooks in their initial attraction led to later cognitive dissonance, if I were looking for easy moral judgments. A first person treatment would have been more emotionally engaging, I think... but then the bits to hide who Maggie was wouldn't have worked as well... though I found that part a touch annoying.

But, even so, a much better than average submission, and thank you for your time and talent.

Green-something

Excellent story. Thanks for sharing your talent.

This is the first of your stories that I've read and it will not be the last. Good work and thank you.

Woodmanone

Good story

guessing the vamp did have an influence on this one.

Being from SE Texas I didn't see not one howdy y'all lol

Very nice story, Mr. Berto. Hope to see another from you soon. I was especially pleased to learn that no cute little goats were harmed in the making of this story. Thank you for writing, Randi.

i might be a bit jaded here but how did she get even with buck rogers? and yes thats how i read that name couldnt help it lol. enjoyed the zak and barbie names as well. that freeze storm week was painful but that snow was nice to see not having seen it in 25 years when i lived in ohio

I loved it. I have a friend who is an expert in prosthetics. Every year he and his team go to Belize and provide free prosthetics for the children there who could not afford one otherwise. It is very rewarding for him. We all should give some of our time to help others like that. Thank you for the sweet story.

Good story. My only criticism is that you never actually mentioned Brook's wife's name for the entirety of page 1. When I read "Maggie" I had to go back and figure out who that person was. This interrupted the flow of the story and detracted from the writing. I'm not sure if you have any editor but that should have been caught before publishing.

Well done! What a civilized tale, where everyone wins and the good guy gets the girl! Thanks for writing!

Good story, I Liked it.

Thank you Fredoberto. I'll look in on your other stories.

@someoneother, I believe "pneumatic bleached blonde" would be a bleach blonde with man made boobs.

What a beautiful , very well written story! It’s very touching and serene. The author is very talented and writes a compelling story with excellent ability ! I’m quite impressed!

I'm not sure what that was all about. The husband has at least two affairs and the wife goes off to have one of her own. One wrinkle is that her lover thinks he was being paid for sex (his daughter's prosthetic) but they marry once that is cleared up. So, the point is . . . what?

An interesting story; stupid men (both husbands) and manipulative women (the wife and her mother). At least it was well written.

Page 1

Texans didn’t have trouble getting used to a black president (who wasn’t majority black anyway). Texans had trouble getting used to a Marxist president.

A bloodless tale. No passion, no drama. Coasted through it.

That was really good

Nice story, and totally believable cause Texas is filled with assholes like Brooks.

5* I really liked to progression of the story and how, in the end, all is well that ends well.

I would really like to see this story but fleshed with a bit more history and character development. If handled the same was as the original it would easily garner 6* :)

Interesting. Another story where a potentially explosive situation - the end of a marriage - is handled with a mellow conversation and all but a shoulder shrug.

Neither spouse was shown to be too upset when they learned of their partners infedilty.

5 stars and Alberta is filled with just as many petroleum company assholes as Texas.

Good story

That was a good calm story , made such a change that it was the man who was a barstead and a good “ loving wife “ . Nice one

Cute and interesting story.

It’s a credit to Maggie’s intelligence how she handled Brooks in a civilized manner. She led that interaction spectacularly. Well written.

Good story. Glad Maggie found happiness. Brooks was the typical entitled rich asshole. His affair the Barbie cost him a lot of money.