All Comments on 'The Birthday Present'

The threesome sex is perfect — intensely erotic while so revealing of characters and the relationship between Sara and Alex. So glad that you returned to them and brought closure that felt real — not real in sense of “over”, yes it is, but more that there will always be feelings; how could there not be. The other aspect to this story that resonates you might say is Sara and her nameless girlfriend. How will Sara “handle” that less than amorous relationship. “Sara hadn't felt particularly invested in her relationship of the past two months. She didn't want to hurt her, but she also doubted she'd miss her. If Sara had met her current girlfriend before meeting Alex they might have had a beautifully loving, mutually supportive, and somewhat stultifying relationship.” So telling; almost angst like. Not sure if you intend more around Sara, but she is an intriguing, believable character. So, too, the other characters you create. Thanks for this piece. Goodness, my comment is almost as long as your story :)

Thank you re: believable characters! Without banging readers over the head with it, I also wanted to subtly point out that Alex isn't "bad"/selfish for wanting to be with multiple partners. She's actually much more generous in bed with her lovers than Sara. Sara is brooding in her head a great deal but a lot of it is about how Alex feels about *her,* and that was my intended point about Sara's serial monogamy and it not ultimately being so different from Alex's ENM. In media and friends' relationships, so many times we hear about the Alex character as being a player/"dog" and think of Sara's character as being like their victim. Alex is clear about who she is and what she wants. Sara is the one hiding and misrepresenting her feelings and spinning romantic notions in her head about what/who she should want or should be, which don't ultimately ring true. For me, Sara is on the line between being sympathetic and just being frustrating/annoying. :-)

Yes, perfect last line of your response — which makes her real, but do too Alex. You’ve created something here. Enjoy in variety of ways while thought provoking.