The Question

[Cole Parker]

I'm usually the last one to the table, and imagine everyone else has read this, but I found The Question on IOMFATS recently, a story written by Kit, and eminent author. I've read the first four chapters and found it very good.

Here's the link: http://iomfats.org/storyshelf/hosted/kit/the-question/01.html

C

[The Pecman]

Yes, I agree, an excellent, memorable tale. I had a few cases myself where I had very close friendships that were torn apart due to families moving, fathers getting stationed in different air bases, changing schools and so on. It's interesting than an author could use that as a basis for an entire character: a man who was so traumatized by the loss of two close friendships that he was unable to commit later on in life in adult relationships. Kit manages to capture the emotional pain at that age ver well.

I generally prefer to see closure in fictional stories like these, where the friendship breaks up at one age, then the protagonists get thrown back together again several years later under different circumstances. But the truth is, I can think of times from my childhood where I had a handful of close friends, moved four blocks away, and barely ever saw those kids again for various reasons. Somehow, children kind of accept these things better than adults; maybe it's different nowadays, with email and texts and Facebook and all that crap.