All Comments on 'Shadows of the Past'

Too little action and no drama. A hohum story, not a word said in anger, no one even raised their voice.

That's what I intended it to be.

Great. You painted realistic but beautiful word pictures in this, as well as your other stories. Loss rarely makes one glad or happy, so stories shouldn't make you happy. I take pleasure in reading well-written stories that allow me to "see" the scene and feel the emotions of the characters. This is a well-written story.

Thank you.

detroitdave

Loved it! Very well written. How many stars to rate it? Hows 10 stars? lol

Great story!! Sometimes you need a good anonymous friend to have your back!!!

OUT-FUCKING-STANDING!! loved the friend narration.

Good story. In this situation I think I would have taken the opportunity to end the suit rather than just beat him it would have left Cheryl with nobody and nothing. Giving him a beating would have just driven Cheryl more into his arms.

Fabulous! Very thoughtful. Write more please. This is the first of your stories that I've read an I'm now off to read the others. Best wishes.

I hate mercenary birches. They give decent women a bad name. They have always been about but society has changed. With more women at work and social media taking over as as dominant medium for communication, access to others is at an all time high. Becoming infatuated with another person, with a different lifestyle is far easier today. This in turn makes it easier for the internal hamsters to rationalize away guilt thereby ignoring responsibility and one's own honor. Don't get me wrong, men do it too. Men can be just as mercenary. This isn't about them. Men have always had trouble keeping it in their pants. Women have matched their male counterparts because of access and opportunity. Equality. Woo-hoo.

So yeah, fuck cheating birches. Fuck douch bag men who are so immature that they get a rush out of bullying other men (fucking married women IS bullying. The wife's pussy is the playground)

Very different path from the usual LW fare. Intriguing to say the least

One more swing... a full swing for the fences right to the suit's skull.

Good story from a very different perspective.

Raspberry Pi, huh? The author must be a geek too. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. ;-). Pretty entertaining story, J_W. Thanks.

I remember being in the movie house watching the first Jurassic Park, everyone cheered when the lawyer was eaten by T-Rex, lol!

WAIT FOR THE NEXT BF. I THINK HE MIGHT BE A CEO

I hated the way the storyline went with Cheryl cheating on Craig with a lawyer where she worked. It should have had Craig suing the law firm for alienation of affection and I would wager that they had a personal policy that would allow Craig to extract revenge on Cheryl and the lawyer plus get a shit load of money suing the law firm. 3 stars

Interesting story. Glad to see the revenge revenge he could not take out on the dead guy, done for his friend.

Too much open. No real closure. No payback on ex. Just a disappointment!

I second the motion for brilliant.

The story focused on Henry, with enough spillover to Craig and no more than the necessary minimal fringe look at Cheryl (Claire was a passing shadow). The theme was the friendship and healing of two men who lost their life partners. The message was the joy of rebirth, both of the natural world (crocuses and daffodils conquering the temporary death of winter's snow) and of the wounded men who returned to their creative roots (the balloon project, which they shared with fertile young minds) and who started fulfilling their romantic needs (rejoining the dating game). The story was virtually perfect; it had a beginning, middle, and end, it left the reader with a hopeful view of the future. There were no loose ends to tie up—details about minor characters would have detracted from the theme and been superfluous.

Good for them.

Great story. Cannot add anything useful to what was perfectly said by A_Bierce.

A Brice is a pretty smart dude with a very good vocabulary.

Very nicely done.

Thanks for writing

Good friends doing what good friends do.

Not your usual style, a bit verbose and way too slow

Spectacularly good. Interesting, patient, poignant view of men recovering from loss. No whining, just: shit happens, deal with it, and move on. Touching, beautiful portrait of souls dealing with loss and emerging into a land of hope.

A most excellent well-paced classic short story

When he mugged the lawyer, he really should have first confirmed that Craig had an airtight alibi 😎

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5 easy *****

I love your work, I really do and this one is up there with the best but one alarming and recurring feature in your stories is that the male MC always believes that the only way a man can show his wife how much he loves her is by caving in to her every demand.

This is, in fact a highly dangerous trait and tends to breed the very kind of disrespect and contempt that led Cheryl to start cheating on Craig. No one, male or female can respect a person who always rolls over and it's human nature to take advantage of such practice.

Who knows what might have been in store for this MC who accepted living in a ghastly environment simply because his wanted that if she hadn't been T boned by a drunk driver?

This one seemed odd but enjoyable. Thanks.

I never have done this before, but I am doing it now

I 100 percent with avidfa six months ago. A perfect story. Five stars.

JPB

I suppose a bit of vicarious justice (or revenge) could be good for the soul too. Very good story, J_W, thanks.

5 stars.

The suit got his. Now Cheryl needs a similar beat-down. Four stars ⭐️ for this one.

bit too much build up at the start but great revenge.

what happened to Cheryl after the suit got his ass kicked? She stayed with him?

An excellent yarn which appears to cover many of the thoughts and feelings a man (or woman) might go through in this situation. Well done

This story was almost a downer, but it did pick up after a bit. I thought it was stellar when the MC pissed on Harris's grave, even if it didn't bring the satisfaction he was looking for. Thought the telling of how the MC wanted to tell his friend somethings about the cheating wife, but held back because of their friendship, was well done. Four stars and thanks.

One had his wife taken away because someone decided to drink and drive ( I never have and never will drink even one if I'm driving I've seen what can happen up close) the other had his wife give herself away because she was shallow. Both women met a bloke who felt entitled to ignore doing the right thing. One had a choice not to be involved One didn't. Both husbands suffered a lot of pain. The lawyer got off lightly for dipping his wick (unless the ball shot broke them so he became no good in the sack) the cheating wife didn't suffer any consequences which leaves a bad taste in the mouth but her husband is better off with her out of his life. The drunk driver paid a very heavy price but he chose to drink he chose to drive and he paid for his choices. Not a happy tale at all but very well written and it leaves hope for the future. I guess that's all any of us can ask for when things go badly wrong to have hope that our lives will get better. Really worth a read for the way it shows about life moving on. BardnotBard

Well written. To a prior commenter, who lamented the lack of punishment on thr lawyer, his hand was broken, his knee torn, and a full swing of a baseball bat, if remotely gard enough probably burst at least one testicle. But that wasn't thr point of the story. He transferred his hatred of Harris who killed his wife to the lawyer who stole his friend's wife. And regardless, both are helping each other out and slowly returning to the human race. Good story. Bit sad, but rays of light at the end.

Ok story, but Luke warm at best. What was the aftermath with the cheaters? Would have been cooler for the guy's inventions to make them rich post Craig's divorce. Thus, giving Cheryl the bird.