All Comments on 'Those Healing Hands of Time'

Great story!

5

The only grouch i have is good things happen to people who can afford them. Sometimes poor people like me also need some good fortune!!!

I stopped at the line about the country going to hell and the environment being ruined. Why did you think the story had to become political?

Great story, brought back a few distant memories from many many many years ago. Great fantasy and you, Sir, are a 5 star yarn spinner! Is it the Texas air or is it in the water?

Cheers

SAGE

Well done!

I have appreciated the writer's skill in he past and eagerly started reading the story. It was everything I hoped for and then more.

I respect your writing a lot and have read all of your stuff on Lit. I thought that this one had the same quality plot and flow, but the writing wasn’t as crisp and economical as your other stories. To be clear, this story was solid, but I believe your previous works were better edited. That said, you’re a more creative writer than I’ll ever be, and I applaud your courage in putting your creativity out there. Thank you for sharing your ideas with us.

Lovely story!

5 stars

Good story but I had several issues. Although I dont know the cultural background so I might be wrong in my assumptions. In todays world, atleast my part of the world, there are only a few steps in terms of relationship. You start to date, if you are attracted to each other you start to have sex. At some point you decide if you are girlfriend and boyfriend or just friends with benefits. If GF and BF, you will be a couple, not only known to you but also known to the outside world. So after that there will be the usual stuff, meeting the parents and extended family. Meeting friends, if not met before and also telling friends that you are in a relationship. At some point comes sharing the same place. And after some time, a few years actually, there might be marriage. But that would be just a symbolic gesture because you were already commited to each other at the 'being a couple' stage. And thats my issue, why did Bryan assume he had to propose to Christina if he wanted commitment? He told us in the beginning that she was his girlfriend for a year and their friends knew they were a couple. They were firmly in the couple stage. But to be honest, most people would say no to marriage after only a year. I personally dont have any couples in my circle of friends who married after only a year. The few that married were atleast together for 5-6 years. Its just a stupid move, no matter how 'in love' you are. First you test your relationship against time and the ups and downs of every relationship, then if you are sure that it can last, you marry. Hoping that marriage glues your relationship together just leads to the divorce statistic we have nowadays. So why am I explaining all this? Well, I think Bryan was way too harsh and out of line with Christina and him saying that she betrayed him and comparing the situation with Dianas ex cheating on her is just over the top. Bryan had unreasonable expectations of marriage after only a year and he broke up with her, not the other way around. Christina didnt cheat on him and didnt say she would in the future. She just had the outlook of many young people who are coming from homes where the parents divorced. Didnt mean she wasnt commited, just that she wasnt sure what the future brings and rightfully so. Life isnt a fairy tale.

Another good story, but I completely have to agree with Thorlol about your portrayal of Christina and their relationship, as well as how it was handled/ discussed/ reacted to by every character in the story- ESPECIALLY Bryan; I was hoping that was going to be a moment of character growth as it was borderline abusive to me, but I never got that. This really didn't sit well with me, and it almost made me stop reading the story altogether, and definitely impacted my rating of it. Also agree about the timing part- there are serious red flags there as well, in my opinion.

I've enjoyed most of your writing so far, but this one....just, be better.

A well-written story of a person’s journey to love. The characters were all interesting to me though I couldn’t fully understand their motivations in some cases. But the author sure had me guessing…”Oh, so his is the one! Nope! Oh, so this is the one! Nope!” It was a fun ride with the requisite happy ending. Thanks for the story, which I didn’t find the least bit political.

Five stars! So glad to see your name pop up on the new stories list. Please keep writing more like this!

Absolutely fabulous!!!

Other than the fact that I felt Bryan's dumping of Christina was over the top and uncalled for, I really enjoyed this story. I'm really looking forward to reading your other submissions.

I agree with Thorlol. Bryan was way too offended and harsh with Christina. He seems a bit dense in my opinion. They were friends for a while and then FWB/dating for at least a year. Surely as in tuned with each other as he thought they were they would have had marriage conversations before. Especially after his repeated asking her to move in. After their friendship and relationship, chemistry, and all around vibes they had, he was so shocked by her refusal and gentle let down he lashed out. That could be understandable. Flare of emotions and such. But then to not only not try and see things from her point of view (keep in mind he loves her and wants to give her the moon) but to then double down and remain thick skulled, barbaric, and stubborn about it really makes the reader question how decent he is. This is his actions to a woman he loves who was completely open and honest with him and he not only yelled and screamed at her (understandable) he also threatened her with police (It's a stretch but emotions are fickle things) but then he pig headedly refuses to even talk to her or apologize for his harsh reaction to something which shouldn't have blind-sided him in the first place. Even when she offered the olive branch in the shoe store and told him she realized how good he was with her. He instead triple downed and would rather put in the effort to lure a escort that he spent one weekend with, to quit a job that probably was a nice portion of her income, then to try and see if his long time friend and woman he loved had changed her stance any. Instead he'd rather just burn that bridge completely. To make it a little bit worse he talks himself into apathy in Christina's regard at the wedding. She obviously still cared enough for friendship to go to it and he brushed it off his shoulder with no fucks given. I'm glad he found his wife he was after but his whole demeanor and actions kind of put me into the team Christina group. I'd like to see a little part 2 where he realizes (Probably with his wife's help cause he seems too stubborn) he was a bit more harsh with Christina then need be and perhaps they could be friends. A real plot twist would be if Di kept in touch with Heather and went out for a girls night only to find that Christina has become an escort at Heather's agency. They all meet for drinks and realize it's a small world and Di realizes Chris isn't/ wasn't the whore he perceived her to be and just figures if she's gonna date and such with different guys because now her heart is completely closed off now, she might as well get paid for it. Imagine Bryan's face and shock when all 3 come stumbling in slightly tipsy and they are now good friends. That should bust through his thick skull.

The situation with Heather ended up being a distraction that was never properly explained. You could have saved us some time be having him meet Di in NY and connecting then.

Loved it. I think he handled the Christina thing extremely well. She was honest and upfront and his reaction is expected as he was really thrown off guard. Getting together as friends would hurt him in the long run. Being with DI was great but quick. Marriage after such a short time and no real longterm learning of each other? Both being professional as they were and devoted to work doesn't give much together time. Her relationship with her parents had tone experience by him longer.

Lastly, I know if it were my real life situation and my now wife learned that I hired an escort she would not be my now wife. It would be over. She would view that as me nothing the same morals as her. Having prior girlfriends or even a fiancé is one thing but hiring for what she would feel is sex is entirely different.

As always, good work! You kept us guessing at times - will it be Heather? Di? Christina? I was kind of cheering on the Heather thread (aka Pretty Woman), but you went a different path. Look forward to you next outing. Don’t be such a stranger! 5*

Aww this was a really sweet story with a happy ending. I'll be checking out that Willie Nelson song!

I disagree with Thorlol and the others who disagree with how Bryan reacted with Christina's refusal. You fooled me with Heather, but you did foreshadow his relationship with Di. 5 stars!

Very nicely done. Thank you. A little less straightforward than some love stories with enough uncertainty to keep us guessing. Well written, well crafted and enjoyable.

I really enjoyed the story and liked the format. Dumping Christina seemed a bit abrupt at first; I was surprised Bryan didn’t at least try to resolve the issue but perhaps there were underlying doubts from this or a past relationship that caused him to leave as he did. I really like Heather and suspected we’d see more of her before the story ended. I was right but wrong about that. The relationship with Di was sweet and hopeful, bringing the story to a very nice closure.

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I mentioned the format in response to someone’s comment about people not marrying so soon. The time format gave the readers little windows into Bryan’s development after the breakup, and let us see where he was in his life and his overall recovery. Lots of people know fairly soon after a relationship begins whether it’s worth pursuing and they don’t want to take five or six years to move to the next step. Perhaps that’s why so many marriages fail these days but many others last even with what some might call a shorter engagement period.

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Great job, 4.7*, rounded up to 5.

I guess I didn't see this story like several others did. He wanted to get serious, she didn't and pretty much might never want to. Cut your losses, move on and find some one that shares your desires. Maybe a little rough with how he did it, but a lot of emotions involved.

As for the 'process', maybe it was a different time for me. Met this 'girl' in November for the first time, saw her in a group setting about a dozen times over the next 6 months. Went on our first date in April, started having sex 2 weeks later (third date rule?). I proposed at 10 weeks, we got married exactly a year after our first date. No living together (except for weekends) before the wedding. Forty one and a half years later, we are still together...

Well written, great characters, and a very nice pace for a terrific love story. You have my sincere thanks a solid 5 stars from me.

I seriously disliked Di's attitude and nosiness. Her attitude and jealousy ruined the story.

She has every right to ask "is it over with Heather?" But that's the end of that road.

Honestly, if she kept digging, like the control freak she exposed herself as, my answer would have been "Exactly how many men have you had sex with ? How old were you when you lost your virginity? Since you seem determined to not simply take 'Heather and I are over' I feel perfectly justified in diving into your own sex life, and reserve the right to not believe you."

It was time to leave right then and not return.

But until that female troll showed her true colors, I really liked it.

Wonderful healing and love story well done. I noticed you used many of the 'alternate' words, kudos. Ah, Willy one of my favorite country artists. Did Bryan have Blue Eyes, must have had Spanish Angels.

A fiver for sure.

I may strike a middle-of-the-road approach, contrasted with some other posters here.

It seemed Bryan and Christina were well-matched, as you only indicated she "accepted" to do some of the things he did, which implied she ranked highly in agreeableness--plus she wanted to learn and accepted those challenges he threw her way. Throw in the regular sex and mutual liking of same and it makes it appear things are going VERY well--at least to the guy--and I know this from a similar experience. The story causes us to assume Bryan wasn't terribly experienced before this and 2) he was really head-over-heels in love. Christina's doing ZERO to make him think otherwise, and so I discard some believing Bryan "thickheaded" when he's shown to be a tad inexperienced in relationships/love and he's just so wrapped up in the experience that he's thinking like a typical guy--linearly, from point A to B--while we really don't see much of Christina's thinking, which aside from the implications, is well-hidden until their poisonous "pow-wow." I did not think Bryan's reaction excessively "over the top," as he was so smitten that Christina's seemingly blasé reaction just escalated his, and therefore his more extreme reaction and "crash." Where we can perhaps quibble is over how Christina's portrayed here: I never got the impression she was angling for "slutty," although she is most definitely FAR more daft for a female than Bryan is for a male (he's actually on target to be clueless). I fall to the side of it would have been better to draw Christina's final interaction with him differently, or for her "claim" against getting married to be far stronger. Another item is that we could argue they should have discussed their feelings long before this, and Christina could have revealed to Bryan why she didn't want to move in with him--as far more females would have "come out" with it by the second offer from the male (at least). She could have dropped at least a FEW more hints marriage wasn't her cup of tea and why. At the same time, I'm not saying we should only feel badly for Bryan; both made relatively serious mistakes in engaging in the sex and activity without having serious discussions about how they would move forward and why.

We could also argue about why even having Heather as an escort was necessary for the story: I say she never was needed, although I'm sure some might say Bryan needed the "ego stroking"--even if he paid for it--in order to heal. I loved how you drew Heather and she was indeed as engaging, sexy, pretty and witty as the owner billed her...but the fact the companies were partners or at least associates of some kind tells me you could have redesigned the scenario to meet Diane first and totally leave Heather out; it would have made more sense, given the distance separating Bryan and her would have given them time to think over things as they progressed.

I'll leave it there, only adding I found your dialogue efficient, without being too short nor leaving out necessary details. I thought for a bit you might, but it all fit neatly and nothing seemed written as too "convenient." Di certainly knew how to handle Bryan (being direct or even being obvious), given she had at least one bad relationship before too. Except for how you detailed Christina's reacions to his first, anguished and tortured one, and for using Heather in what possibly could have been omitted (and not needed to develop the story), it seemed to me all the rest was well thought-out and pretty much to the point. 5

Many thanks for the votes and the comments. It is interesting to read peoples' viewpoints particularly on the characters and their personalities. I do like to write about 'real' people, that is, people with personal quirks, problems and issues. (I must add these are figments of my imagination and any resemblance to actual people is purely by chance.) In this story we had over-the-top anger, heavy drinking, inappropriate lashing out at innocent parties and more, stuff one can see or hear about in every day life.

I have to agree with those who commented about Bryan's behavior at the beginning. Although he had an inkling of her relationship hesitancy, he completely blew up when he realized she was turning him down, though in his defense, the fact she'd leave him at some point to sleep with others could be off-putting to most people.

I thought there would be more comments about Christina's life choices than there were. I do not feel her comments about the country and climate were 'political' as one anon commenter suggested, and certainly that was the literary justification for her to not want to have kids.

I was interested in reading the one comment about Di's nosiness into Bryan's previous relationship with Heather. I personally didn't feel it was that over the top, though I could see how some would.

Again, thanks for the feedback.

Well done again. You have a great talent for characters and developing situations that make those characters unique and interesting. Truly love your work!

Good story but can’t help but feel sorry for Heather

The whole romance after that kinda felt flat to me

Eh, the MC is kind of an ass. He was too quick to go nuclear on Christina and then the women he ended up with afterwards weren't very interesting or three dimensional.

Unfortunately not all painful happenings healing in time or even ever ….. but truthfully a broken heart can be put together again with a trusted lovely being ….. trust sympathy soulmates are rare to find and if it happen we should hold it tight to our heart and soul ….. great tale

💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝🌟🌹

Still wonder why Christina refused the MC especially with the subsequent attempt to get together later.

Christina was scarred by her experiences. She has to overcome her mental issues before she can actually love someone. She knew she screwed up but knowing she has a problem and what she gave up, is only a part of the process. Her sneaking into and then fleeing his wedding shows she is still hung up on him.

Outstanding! 5+

Another Very Good Creation !

THANK YOU !

It was good. I thought Christina had it a bit rough. It's not like she lied to him.

She had problems and it was more like a cultural difference because of it.