All Comments on 'The House Pt. 02'

Not lightning; Karma. 5 stars, great story, well told. The Bear loved it. More, please.

The BEAR

Great story. 5stars

5*

Your story promises hope for a strung-out world. We need that. 5 more stars.

So, where is this house? D

@demander - where is this house - very clever

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ good one!

HA drugs, nailed it!

Also if this house was on the west coast some developers would have torn it down and built 2 super narrow homes on the lot selling each for the same price as the first home even though each house would only be half as lucky.

Great story. I still don't like the ex wife though.

This was a very compelling story for me. I don't remember if it was 1987 or 88, but I sobered up on October 28 (which I just remembered this morning while reading this). My story is far, far different from this one, but much the same at the same time. In short, I loved it and happily gave it five glowing stars and ten if I could.

Nice job. My corny brain had me thinking a storm could mask the noise of Henry sneaking onto the back porch and just as he was prying the door open, an electrical wire would slip loose and fall into a puddle, frying his nasty ass and giving the house credit for taking him out. (ha). Seriously, I think attitude and belief can have a profound effect on what happens in our lives, both good and bad. Sadly, mental illness can distort ones perception of reality so profoundly that "normal" becomes an impossibility. Thanks for sharing, 012Say.

The thing that bothered me throughout is why nobody notified the police. Elaine was taken to the hospital overdosing. She had illegal drugs in her system. She goes to rehab and nobody there in therapy gets the story of her being a prostitute out of her? That she both feared and wanted Henry? AND nobody thought to let the cops know a potentially dangerous man was stalking her?

As Wilder’s Willy Wonka said at the end, “Ah, a good deed in a weary world…”

Thank you for a fun read. Sometimes, it is good to have a story where you know things are going to work out for people.

Giving voice to the demons crawling around in Elaine’s deluded psyche. What a wholly twisted reality she has manufactured for herself. A compelling and disturbing portrait. Nicely done.

Nice story - really liked Elaine's inner dialog.

.

@Wavedave45 - I don't share your final thought. Sure, maybe I didn't care much for the Elaine before she met up with Henry, and certainly disliked Elaine-as-prostitute, but the new Elaine? Yeah, she's a different, much better, and very likable person, and I'm pulling for her going forward. The author did a fine job taking her, and us, on that journey.

Really well done. Thank you. 5*

Wonderful. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

And good humor as well.

Ha, that was the strangest "Loving Wives" story I've read here! I would say it was fun to read, but the truth is that reading about someone's struggles in addiction and recovery is not fun, nor easy. Even so, it was a really good story to read. THANK YOU

I likje it. I think that I would have had the house turn on the lights that revealed Henry.

The house swap for chapter 2 was nothing short of brilliant. I pride myself (falsely most of the time) for having a knack for whare a stories going. I did NOT see the house swap, despite how much sense it made once you revealed it. 4.8*

It's a shame that the protagonist and her husband didn't step over the threshold of the house together before everything went to shit.

This is stupid period no, it is beyond stupid period the main character, the drug-addicted x, y, and mother is trying to get better and is being stopped by a drug terrorist .

So the decision is made character to move back into the house because it's magical?

.

I will simpaly say that this was an awful story. The writing was barely okay and the premise was bad. This wasn't entertaining at all.

Good stuff. Well done. The Moebius strip is complete.

Thanks for the good read. It seemed chopiper than the first part.

It is the house, mechanism unknown, but there us definitely a correlation there.

Correlation is not causality, but the stronger correlation is, the greater probability that SOMETHING is affecting things, even when no 'scientific' reason is there. People sometimes say "acts of diety" to explain.

Please keep your stories coming. I like your world very much.

I feel you! 13 years, 4 months and 1 day. You told the tale perfectly. It took me back. The house was a very creative vehicle. It didn’t hurt that your characters, even with flaws, were mature enough to be believable. 5*

Cookingwithgas

I find it hard to believe that her ex husband would be dating AND moving in with a woman within 28 days.

This isn’t a Hallmark story

Better ending: Henry grabbed Elaine, hooked her back on drugs and sold her to a brothel in Mexico. She ended up exactly where she deserved. Everyone else lived happily ever after. Her... not so much.

I like it! Thank you.

Thank you for posting part 2 so quickly. Although your reflections of rehab were very sanitized, I appreciated all of Elaine's inner and outer dialogue. Thought provoking. 5 stars.

A good ending, but frankly I think I disliked Elaine more after this chapter than before. She truly was nuts. Gets out of rehab after nearly killing herself, and instead of dropping a dime on Henry she is polite to him? WTF?

.

It is clear tne her and Don never should have married. In both of their cases when the end of the marriage became clear, neither was very upset. More like relieved.

.

At the end of the day, all I could feel for Elaine was sadness. What a waste.

.

4 ****

I wanna rent that house😆

Boy I skipped to much...

I don't know if I understood the story or not.

Question: why was Elaine is still nice to Henry??

I am giving your story 5 stars for the content. You need to find a good editor however. It seems Henry takes on many different lives including the ex and also the drug supplier. At times it was hard to keep the characters straight. Hope you have some luck finding an editor as you have some good ideas for further stories.

Great house! We need more neighborhoods with such homes.

Just another unbelievable RAAC in progress, with the usual whore wife and a monkey husband. Disliked.

Really enjoyed this. I liked that the whole "house" thing wasn't overt. They believed in the house story, so good things materialized. Too bad they didn't end up a throuple, they seemed to really get along.

I'm usually BTB fan but I liked this story gave it a 5

Good follow up to the first part!

5

Interesting concept, but the behaviour of the wife in the first instance is never really explored and this weakens the story overall. Why the sudden, uncaring slut persona? Had no empathy for her character and hence no oncern as to whether Henry killed her or not.

Another strong part. I am glad that I read them together. This is just the right side of spooky to allow for co-incidence. It seems to be ending happily for all (except, reasonably enough, for Henry). Thank you for posting it.

When you ended the first chapter with the note that the second chapter would be from the wife's point of view, my first thought was "What point of view?" I was VERY happily surprised.

/

Creating an entire alternate life for the wife was a great approach, and the fact that you dovetailed it with her later admission that she didn't want to get back together with her husband was a really nice twist. There's a nice exploration of the fact that, as much as we may want to think that we're sharing our lives with our spouses, we each have our own independent worlds that we occupy. While we may hope that they fit together perfectly, there are always gaps. I think you covered that really well. Her acknowledgment of the fact that she needed a more controlling husband was particularly well done.

/

I was frustrated by the vagueness of the early section. Her reasons for straying seem flimsy, and her perspective prior to moving into the house feels fuzzy. Later, I was able to square that with the idea that the house was helping to clarify her thinking, but before I got that far, it was somewhat difficult to absorb. In that context, this story benefits from a second reading. That said, a few more signposts and a bit more development early on could have made that clearer and a bit more effective, without losing the punch of the transition she experiences when she moves into the house.

/

All that having been said, this is a creative, original, and outstanding take on divorce and haunted houses. I loved it, and I can't wait to see what you come up with next! 5*

My sister was on drugs. You name it she took. Her life was much like you described The can really tear your life up. Finally beat it in her late forties. She started when she was twelve

Interesting story

Maybe a follow up story on the houses history? Really liked this starry, unique and compelling.

Good story. But in this day and age of cellphones and caller ID, why did she even answer when he called. I never answer unless i know who’s calling and want to talk.

You need help. People who think like you need help. People who think like you enable and encourage people like Henry Marten.

\

Henry Marten is a predator. No, I don't mean that metaphorically, I mean that literally. People like Henry Marten live off the lives and bodies of other people; they feed on them, consume them, and enjoy the meal. As does the lion, eating the lamb, or the villager's child, or the unarmed villager. Henry Marten didn't hate Elaine, in fact he probably really really enjoyed having Elaine in his life: she made him money and fucked his brains out. Elaine was one of Henry's meal tickets, she helped feed him using her body. Elaine submitted herself to being Henry's whore, one of his food sources, so why shouldn't he take advantage of her? Why shouldn't the lion eat the neglected villager's child allowed to walk in the bush? Henry Marten was simply being who and what Henry Marten was, a predator, a lion.

\

If you are in the lion's territory, and the lion comes to eat you or your loved one, you have only two options: be eaten, or kill the lion. The lamb and the child and the unarmed villager get eaten. Blame Darwin, not me. If the lion is real and part of your life then you have to make some choices.

\

The author chose to make Elaine and Grace and Don and their children sheep, who HOPED the shepherd would save them from the lion, Henry Marten. Such help is so unlikely and undependable that the author had to contrive a magic house to save the sheep by alerting the police. Pathetic. There are many Henry Martens, and sooner or later those who choose to remain sheep will be used for food. That's life. Anyone who is that timid or stupid or lacking in self respect deserves to be eaten. Its called Natural Selection. Kyle Rittenhouse and Chrystul Kizer chose not to be eaten. I think any intelligent person should think really long and hard about the supposed virtue of hiding in the dark and hoping the police get there in time. We know what Jesus would do, he died. What would Darwin do?

\

Thank you for a Very thought provoking story.

I enjoyed this a lot.

Part 2 was a continuation not a rehash. The outcome was not totally predictable.

The schizophrenia of the recovering addict was well portrayed.

The characters were two dimensional and emotionally mature-an all-too-rare feature of LW stories.

It's notable that, as so often, many of the comments reveal a complete misunderstanding of the complexities of real life. And then, of course, there's the anon who obviously didn't read it and another who couldn't spell correctly! These people reveal a lot about themselves and it isn't positive.

I love a different basic story in this section and you filled the bill. Well done, thanks for sharing it.

The author claims this isn’t a BTB story. In fact, it is. Henry was the ultimate bitch.

It is a really good story except there is a huge hole. Where did Henry get all his info from? Did he have a mole in the police department? A real twist would have been if Grace turned out to be Henry's sister or cousin and she was the information leak. Still a 5-star story.

The area I live in is being devastated by the meth trade. I absolutely despise methheads. Too much experience with them. If I were the king they would all get a bullet to the back of the head. So glad the wife got off that trash and so glad the dealer got shot.

I don't see this as a RAAC. The husband got a new nicer wife. The old wife finally got her life back with the new wife as a best friend. An awkward situation turned out the best for all.

What a great story! You developed the three main characters well and kept a bit of mystery about the house, which I enjoyed. Thanks for a good read.

Wonderful series, 10 stars. Please keep going, Elaine may get to be a good person, then be a good wife and mother, with help from her friend/sister, Grace!

We don't change our past, we can change our behavior! We can even forgive, but letting go of feeling not so much. Good story

The lighting strike isn't that far of a stretch, a human with now tech could do it

Was everybody on Valium for the entire story? This was even worse than the first chapter, at least what I managed to read before giving up.

A very good and original story, but I wondered why the wife thought that her life was full of losers yet the dregs in the alley were not losers but interesting and exciting and worth getting to know. The ending had that feel-good redemption and satisfaction that the bad guy got what he so righteously deserved. Don't you wish that happens in real life? 5 stars and that you for your story.

Liked this story a lot 5 stars from Xluckylee

This was very well done. It takes some plot patience to read, but well worth it in the end.

Bravo.

Excellent story. Could certainly haves done without @predator/Darein’s dissertation below, the jist of which was clear (apparently) only to him. All we learned from his screed is that he’s heard of Darwin, and has about a 6th grade understanding of Darwinism. Point is, if his bilge was actually true, he’d have been eaten long before boring us with his comment.

Good story.

The influence of aliens or enchantments is well beyond my all too limited experience, but sadly interpersonal conflict is not. Anger is a normal and healthy emotion in response to some stressors. It serves protective and motivational roles in our psychic structure. The breakdown and ending of a marriage is filled with stressors that would appropriately and invariably induce anger. The personalities and circumstances involved might lead to more anger in some cases and less in others, but some would be present in all cases. There is an unnatural lack of anger, and of sadness, in the emotional states of both the husband and the wife here given the events taking place in their lives. Would the influence of an alien or a magical blessing so drastically change our basic nature? I suspect not.

Although the occurrence of anger is at times unavoidable, how we react, or preferably respond, to anger is a choice. That choice can prove to be helpful or unhelpful - functional or dysfunctional. Our chosen response to anger seems a much more likely vehicle by which an outside entity, or perhaps non-sentient energy, could exert considerable influence over our lives. These same caveats set forth for anger, btw, would also apply to sadness and grief in this construct.

In any event, just my two cents on the matter. Many thanks to the author for an enjoyable and thought provoking series.

God works in mysterious ways.

An excellent series! The characters were well developed and the emotion & reactions to situations were believable. I enjoyed the plots and especially the way it concluded. Very nicely written.

This was a great 2nd part. I was worried at the end of the first part would be Elaine’s story. I was thinking it would be a re-hash blah, blah, blah. I was surprised it was a continuation. I like how it was Elaine’s turn to get her life on track again. How things seemed to fall into place. There was one big typo in the story that made me stop and reread a couple of times. “ Grace had been silent. She sat almost obscured from my view, with Henry in between us.” How did Henry show up in the between Grace and Elaine? LOL……

I like to think the house did have a helping spirit / alien. An enjoyable read. Thanks for writing.

Based on the way the wife treated me and her indifference to both me and the divorce, no way in hell wld i give her access to a magic house, she deserves to pay for her actions. also had i been the one to find her at the bottom of the stairs, and no kids anywhere, i wld have closed the door and walked away. so sad, too bad, yahoo, totally free. rk

Sort of a bit like a Mills and Boone (i have never read one ) but my ex used to Keep up the good work (jaybee186)

All I can say is thank you. I enjoyed this story vary much.

Magnificent. One of the most entertaining and original stories that I have read here. Thank you.

1 star - nope - not my kind of Loving Wives tale. This should probably be in fetish, bdsm or fantasy.

I did really enjoy the premise of the story and maybe a little more back story with the house as the MC would have been better. But then would it have been in the Loving Wives group?

Really enjoyed the story series ... despite being part silly it was a good read

Enjoyed this part of the story. Thanks for your writing.

Henry was perfect for Elaine their a similar type of shit.

Very good story but someone should have won that third lottery? *5*

After reading LW for many years it isn’t often something truly original comes along. The plot could have been better, the storytelling more polished, but you certainly pulled off originality.

Whimsical, powerful, and charming, all at once. Thank you very much.

Good one. You finished your story very well . I enjoyed both chapters.

Another strong one. Thank you. 5

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Good stuff.

Very interesting. Still, she is not on an anti addictive medication and her underlying psychiatric disorder is, at best, in remission.

I feel she is still a risk to her children, and herself. No ex would be so altruistic and magnanimous. Also, a new wife would have to be nuts to include her HER new family. Helpful, yes. But nothing more than that.

Henry, who was a humanoid biped and NOT a human being needed to be terminated with extreme prejudice. Doing so saved others. Not everyone deserves humane consideration. Truly they are no better than a dead dog.

Loved this!

Why doesn’t Elaine change her phone number?

I was thinking that either Don or Grace would come up with a plan to get Henry locked up, just didn't think the "house" would take care of him. I liked this chapter a lot. True it isn't a BTB, but it does deal with how shitty life can be and may look like there isn't a way out of the stinking pile.

Rehab can work if the person is willing for it to work on it. My daughter luckily agreed to go into rehab for her problems. She had dropped out of high school and was into things she shouldn't have been into. During rehab, we as a family, learned what was needed to become a family again. She went on to get her GED, got married, went to collage and has two boys that are almost all grown up now. It is possible but it takes commitment. Good story

Great chapter. I wasn’t expecting that Elaine would have turned out to be a drug addicted call girl. Then the overdose in front of the kids was another surprise. She’s recovering quickly, so that house must be magic.

Reread this since the latest installment was published. Raised the score to 5.

I really liked the story. My only problem was the name mistake when Don and Grace visited Elaine at The House. During the their talk Henry is talking with Elaine for one sentence and then Don is back talking. Your editor should have caught that. 5*

detroitdave