Breaking Ground (A Shifting Sands Fanfic) Chapter 5

[Andyman3]

Uh can't wait 

[Alutheria]

On 9/20/2023 at 11:43 PM, Andyman3 said:

Uh can't wait 

Happy to say chapter 3 is finished writing. Just the editing to do now

[Alutheria]

Chapter 3 - Pit Stop

 

George dragged the last bite of fried chicken through the pool of ketchup on his tray, coating it with a generous amount of the sauce before popping it into his mouth. He savoured the last bite, then licked his fingers. Almost automatically he moved to give them a quick wipe on the side of his jeans, before a cough from Alice stopped him. With a look of mild disapproval, she nodded towards the pile of thin paper napkins she’d grabbed from the food hall. He quickly took the hint and wiped himself clean with one. before balling it up and dropping it into the brown paper bag their meals had come packed in, which was now serving as a makeshift bin. 

“Those jeans are brand new mister.” She tutted. “I don’t expect you to keep everything looking pristine this summer, but I’d appreciate it if you didn’t go getting things dirty unnecessarily.” 

“Oh, sorry.” George mumbled. He rested one hand under his chin whilst the other idly picked away at the remaining chips.  

Alice wasn’t quite sure what to make of George just yet. He was a shy boy. That was for certain. The last time she’d met him in person he’d been half his current age, and she mostly remembered him as being rather quiet and polite. Not too keen on talking with people he saw as strangers, even if his mother vouched for them. 

That explained his muted engagement with her these last few days, but she had hoped that he would have opened up a bit more by now. If they were going to be spending the summer together, they were going to have to get to know one another.  

“So, how's the jetlag?” She broke the silence with a question. The bags under Georges eyes gave the answer.  

“Uh, a bit better. I think.” He spoke. “Is it always gonna be this bad? I thought Jet lag only lasted a day.”  

“It can last a lot longer actually. Depends on how severe the difference is.” She explained as she resumed eating her own chicken salad. “I was on a business trip to London a few years back and it took half a week to get out of it. I don’t know how I got anything done those days.” She tried a smile of sympathy, but he didn’t return it. 

He just sighed and went back to his food. Biting his lip, as if there was something he was thinking about intently.  

“Cat got your tongue?” 

“Huh? No, just... Just thinking.” He shook his head. 

“Well, I’m here to listen if you want to tell me something. I’m looking after you, so don’t feel like you need to keep things wrapped up. I want you to be able to trust me.”  

George looked up at the woman he was still unfamiliar with and gave a weak smile. “How do you know my mum then?” If he didn’t know his guardian very well, there was only one way to fix that.  

Alice finished a mouthful of chicken before replying. “We were friends as kids. My father was in the Airforce, got posted to Britian during the cold war, working with the Royal Airforce. He and my mother had to move over to Britain you see, but not before they had me. I spent a lot of time back here with my grandparents, but they wanted me to stay settled and with them when it came time for me to start school, so we ended up spending the Summers back in America but the rest of the school year in Britain.” 

“Sounds familiar.” George said pointedly.  

Alice nodded.  “Well, who knows. If you like it, maybe you could come over again next summer.” The look on her face became more serious and she leaned in over her tray. “But right now, we’ve got this summer to think about. So let's try and focus on making sure you have a good time, alright? We’ve not had the greatest of starts the last couple of days, have we?”  

George looked down, feeling slightly embarrassed. It was true though. He’d spent the last two days in the doldrums of jet-lagged sleep, not feeling up for doing much beyond eating and sleeping. For a summer holiday spent in America, he didn’t have much to write home about so far. 

 Alice continued. “You are a lot like your mother you know. She was the shy girl at school, always rather nervous. Afraid of big changes. I remember I was the centre of attention for a bit, being the American kid, and she must have been the only one in the class who didn’t have a hundred questions for me about living abroad.” 

“How’d you end up as friends then?” George turned his head. 

Alice reminisced for a second before giving an answer. “We were given some class assignment. Something to do with local history. I didn’t know a thing, obviously, but the teacher had divided us up into pairs for it and me and your mom were put together.” She smirked. “It was a group project, but your mom ended up doing all the work. I think my biggest contribution was helping with the highlighter and glue sticks.” 

“So, you were friends after that?” 

“We were friends after that.” She nodded. “Not the most exciting story, but I was glad I managed to make a friend when I was alone and somewhere new.” She looked knowingly at George. “Maybe you can try and make some friends whilst you’re here as well.” 

“Yeah, sounds good.” He pushed a smile onto his face and nodded slightly. He was always the shy kid. The awkward kid. He knew that. Never the centre of attention. But his parents and now his godmother were prodding him to try and put himself out there, and he wanted to. It was just a lot easier to say it than do it. 

“Well, you’ve got a big summer ahead of you. I’m not just going to let you waste the weeks away playing on your Gameboy inside.”  

George resisted the urge to tell her that it was a 3DS and not a Gameboy, and simply nodded again. “It's nice.” He admitted. “Washington, I mean.”  

“You’ve seen nothing yet. Wait until we get out into the woods in a few weeks. I’ve already rented us places at a lodge. You'll have a whole week up there to explore and play and have fun. Have you ever been kayaking before?” 

George shook his head. 

“I think you’re going to like it.” She said with confidence. “They do windsurfing out on a big lake where the lodge is as well. They do a lot of sports and games out there. You can give them all a try and see what you like.” 

“Yeah, that sounds pretty cool.” George admitted. He wasn’t normally the sporty type, but the prospect of trying a lot of cool and exotic sounding stuff like windsurfing had his attention.   

“That's all in a few weeks though. Tomorrow, we’re gonna go to a place in town and get you kitted out with some of the clothes you'll need. Swimming trunks for the lake, and when we spend days at the beach. Plus, a uniform for baseball. There’s a local team that meets twice a week I’d like you to go to. I already cleared it with the coach, they said they’re happy to have a new boy join.” 

That sounded less appealing that the kayaking and windsurfing to George. Bad memories of school P.E. lessons and sports day screwups rose uneasily in the back of his mind.  

“I uh, don’t really know how to play.” He shrugged. 

“Don’t worry about it, you'll learn. Everyone on the team had to at some point.” Alice pointed out. She reached down into her purse and pulled out a dark green looking notebook. It looked well used. Multitudes of coloured tags protruding from it like little bookmarks. Alice glanced at one of them and opened it to that page, then turned it to show George. 

Seeing the pages himself, George realised that it wasn’t a notebook but a diary, with each page numbered with a date at the top and various section underneath filled with writing. Unfortunately, none of it seemed legible to him. It was written in thin black ink, in the way a lot of grown-ups did that made their writing impossible to read. What was it called again? Cyrillic? No, Cursive. Something like that. 

“What's with all the tags?” He asked. 

 “I like to keep myself organised.” Alice replied. “I put this together to plan out our summer vacation together. It's organised by date, and it's all color coded. Green is for outdoor activities, blue for water-based ones, dark green for sport, and so on. See?” She flicked through a few more pages to demonstrate. “The day after tomorrow is baseball practice.” She flicked a few pages forward to one with a dark green tag and more unreadable writing in it.  

“I can’t really read it.” George admitted after trying for a few seconds. 

“Oh, do they not teach you cursive over there?” She asked. 

So that’s what it's called 

“Not really, no.” George said. “Is that an American thing?” 

“More of an old thing.” Alice snapped the diary shut and tucked it away in her purse again. “Me and your mother both learned it at school together. But it’s a dying form.” She sighed.  

George didn’t really see what there was to be annoyed about. What was the point of learning a way of writing if no one could read it without squinting? 

“Well, enough reminiscing, if you’re finished, lets head out.” She nodded to his empty tray of refuse as they both stood up from the bench. George had been about to leave it without a second thought, and he turned to pick it up, feeling slightly guilty. 

There was a series of bins and a section to put dirty trays just inside the building, and George was careful not to get any more grease or sauce on his hands as he slid the collection of cardboard and slimy paper into the rubbish bin. 

“George, why don’t you try and go potty before we leave, it's just over there.” She pointed over to a set of hanging signs just outside a small side passageway about 20 feet away. The little white symbol for the bathroom unmistakable on the blue background. 

“I don’t really have to go.” George replied. 

“Well, we’ve got a drive back remember. We'll be in the car for a couple of hours at least, and I’d rather not have to worry about finding somewhere to pull over. So could you please go and try?”  

Her tone of voice was friendly, but George recognised a mix of condescension in there as well. The sort you heard when a grown up makes up their mind about you doing something.  

“Uh, yeah, ok then.” Feeling a little awkward, he turned around and idled towards the sign pointing the way.  

Why do you care so much lady? It’s not like I’m gonna pee on the car seats or something. 

Alice watched him go, one hand fiddling with her necklace as she found herself in thought. George was a good kid. It was a shame that he seemed to be troubled. Some of that must be expected, she knew. The split between his parents and its effects on a young boy like him were obvious: The shyness, the moodiness, the fights at school. Now the bedwetting, which she suspected was not entirely the result of extensive jetlag. 

Mary had never mentioned any issue with bedwetting before she’d seen George off on his summer adventure though. Alice knew her old friend would never have been deliberately misleading about such matters, so perhaps the poor boy had been covering it up at home?  

She frowned. Then again, he’d seemed genuinely shocked the previous day when she’d come to wake him up and found a profoundly embarrassed godson trying to strip his bed in panic. If these accidents were a new development, that meant things were getting even worse, and then she would need to act. Not just for the sake of saving a holiday, but for his general wellbeing. 

She rubbed her fingers along the tiny golden links off her neckwear, as the other hand made its way to her pocket and her phone, Mary’s number already in her head.  She had always taken a proactive approach to problem solving. It was what had enabled much of her career success. Issues and setbacks couldn’t be allowed to be neglected and fester. She feared that might be happening now with George. 

She’d never doubted that Mary would make a good mother, of course. There had never been any question of that. But the poor woman had a lot to deal with now. Alice had taken George for the summer in part because she wanted to give the two of them a reprieve for their problems.  No, it wasn’t fair to think that Mary was at fault for this. No, this was something she should be dealing with. Besides, if George was telling the truth – and she felt inclined to believe that he was – then calling in the cavalry wasn’t needed just yet. They’d gotten his diapers without too much of a fuss, and that would head off any further threat of wet beds and ruined nights.  

Let's see how things go tonight, then make a move from there, if we need to. 

Her hand let go of the phone and re-emerged from her pocket. But even as it did so, gears were already turning in her head. Her experience with looking after kids was rather limited, and a bedwetting, moody youngster wasn’t her area of expertise. She would need to do some work. Find someone who was an expert, get appropriate advice on the matter. That would have to wait until they got home though. 

She idly shifted in place and tapped her foot on the floor as she glanced over at the sign for the toilets. What was taking George so long? 

[Pierry Louys]

Great chapter , like the way you are introducing some things in the story ! Especially the parts with the diapers envolve , and I think we gonna see Kelly or zack very soon rsrs 

[A_Pale_Spirit]

Happy to see you continuing this story!

Great writing! I'm looking forward to more

[Alutheria]

4 hours ago, Pierry Louys said:

Great chapter , like the way you are introducing some things in the story ! Especially the parts with the diapers envolve , and I think we gonna see Kelly or zack very soon rsrs 

Well, with how I've set things up Kelly and Zach and Maddy are off on their trip to see their grandmother and cousins. So probably not appearing too soon unfortunately. But we shall see what happens down the line.

[Andyman3]

Oh I love it. A lot of information, wooo this is going to be good. 

So much suspense, making friends, having fun moments, and dealing with the bedwetting and having to wear diapers. 

I love how it's written. Can't wait for more. 😄

[Little Sherri]

I like the way you write. I'm looking forward to seeing where this goes from here!

[CDfm]

Wonderful chapter.  I was very happily to see the new chapter. I think finding out more about George and Alice now and having that understanding on how they think makes things much clearer farther on. Like, we know Alice is going to seek the advice of an expert in dealing with bedwetting children.  Let’s just hope for George’s sake she doesn’t use the phone in her pocket to contact Kelly.  Kelly would be immediately directing her to Zach’s doctor and George’s summer would be one he would want to forget and definitely not repeat. 
I am definitely looking forward to seeing how this progresses. You are doing a fantastic job so please keep it up. 

[Alutheria]

On 9/25/2023 at 4:47 PM, Little Sherri said:

I like the way you write. I'm looking forward to seeing where this goes from here!

Thanks! Happy to see people enjoying my writing!

[Andyman3]

Can't wait to see what happens next 

[Alutheria]

On 10/14/2023 at 8:49 PM, Andyman3 said:

Can't wait to see what happens next 

Well it won't be long now. Chapter 4 is written, now I just need to edit it.

[Alutheria]

Chapter 4 - The Girl Next Door

 

George expelled air through his nose and blinked slowly as he tried to get his bladder to respond to his commands. The men's room was typical of public restrooms in that it had an abundance of urinals and a lack of stalls. He’d counted a dozen of the former but only two of the latter in the white tiled room. 

He hated using urinals, especially if it was busy. He simply didn’t like anyone being able to see him pee. He’d once heard someone call him shy for it, but he’d rolled his eyes. 

Yeah, I’m shy cause I don’t like going to the toilet in public. Sure thing. 

Now, after waiting for ages outside the two engaged stalls he’d finally gotten into one and tried to make himself relax in front of the white bowl that dominated the cramped compartment. He didn’t need to go all that much, but he knew that the coke he’d had with lunch would be changing that rather soon. It was stupid timing really. He’d go now, only to have to really go once they were back on the road. So dumb. 

After a few seconds his bladder got the message and drained unceremoniously into the toilet. He cleaned himself up and waved his hand in front of the little black motion sensor to trigger the flush, then walked out to wash his hands. 

After spending too long trying to figure out how to work the strange looking soap container, he realised it was another motion sensor. Irritated, he waved his hand under it impatiently. The sensor activated and a small dribble of lukewarm pink gel fell into his open palm. Hastily, he rubbed it around his palms and fingers, then washed it off before grabbing a pile of towels from a wall mounted container and dried his hands. 

 Stepping back out into the hallway, he jumped back suddenly as one of the other bathroom doors flung out suddenly and almost hit him. He could see a blue symbol on that door indicating that it was a baby changing area. As he sidestepped the wooden obstacle, he caught sight of the woman who had almost hit him. An older lady with grey hair, in faded jeans and a light orange top, holding the hand of a younger girl who looked about five or six, and his eyes widened slightly as he caught the crescent of crinkled white peeking out of the latter's dark blue shorts, and realised she was wearing a nappy. 

Under normal circumstances he wouldn’t have even noticed it – though it was a bit strange for a girl that old to not be toilet trained. But now it brought last night's accident rushing to the front of his mind, and he felt a fresh wave of shame and anger come over him. 

The older woman stopped her for a second to adjust the girl's purple cardigan and fix her peaking underwear, and George took the opportunity to quickly get past them and back towards his godmother. 

“Did you fall in?” She smirked at him as he got close to her, and he rolled his eyes.  

“There was a queue.” He muttered. “Can we go now?”  

She nodded. “Just waiting on you.” She reminded him, as they began to walk back towards the entrance then back out into the car park. He quickly opened the door to his side and hopped into the front, shutting the door with a bit more force than he needed to. 

“George, don’t slam the door like that please!” Alice exclaimed.  

“Sorry. Didn’t mean to.” He huffed. 

Alice looked like she was about to say something else for a second, but then shook her head and started the engine. George waited until it was clear he wasn’t about to be spoken too, then pulled out his 3DS and resumed his Pokémon game. He looked up briefly, catching sight of their shopping in the back seat. The packs of nappies sitting out in the open, mocking him. He quickly went back to his game. 

By the time they were most of the way home, the power sign on his Nintendo was flashing red, and George found himself hurrying through a battle so he could save his progress. With nothing else to do, he began looking out the windows, trying to spot anything interesting. The entire drive so far had been done in silence, and now it was getting to him. Giving up on his solitary staring he reluctantly turned back to his guardian.  

“I’m sorry I slammed the door.” He tried to sound sincere, but his words still seemed to exit his mouth as a sulking huff. 

“That’s ok.” Alice nodded as she looked at him from behind her sunglasses.  

He couldn’t discern her expression. She didn’t look mad, but she didn’t look happy with him either. If he’d been with his mum, he wouldn’t have cared. But he was Alice’s guest, and besides feeling a little guilty about his stropping, he was now also worried about what his mum would say if Alice decided to report back to her. His heart sank further as he realised that if she did speak to him mum soon, she’d probably mention the bedwetting.  

The silence hung in the air between them. Thick and unwelcome. George returned to staring out of the window and wonder why it had to take forever to drive anyplace over here. At some point Alice put the radio on and he tried to let the familiar roster of pop music push his worries away. 

After what felt like forever, they found themselves on a stretch of suburban road that felt slightly familiar, and his feeling was confirmed as he started to recognise the large, luxurious looking homes that now flanked them on both sides as Alice slowed to a stop outside of the large luxury suburban house that was now his home for the next seven weeks.  

He eyed the dashboard, waiting until the little seatbelt light turned off before unclicking his and opening the door and stepping out onto the carved stone driveway. As he did, he caught Alice looking at him, and she wordlessly motioned towards the backseat, and he nodded.  

He opened the door to the back of the car, and picked up the bag of chocolate and crisps, sliding the handles over his wrist as he looked at the pack of Easy-Ups and Goodnites. Reluctantly he reached forward and grabbed those as well, managing to balance one in each hand against his sides as the weight of his candy haul caused the plastic handles on that bag to dig into his arm slightly.  

So focused on balancing the shopping he was that he didn’t notice the girl standing on the pavement watching him. She had short blond hair and was wearing a set of mud-stained clothes. A light blue shirt with a black number 11 on the front, and elasticated grey shorts. Their eyes met, and there was an awkward pause before she decided to speak first. 

“Oh. Uh, hi. I’m Jane. I live just next door.” She motioned with her hand back behind her, towards the house next to Alice’s. “Are you staying with Ms Moore? She said she had someone staying over this week.” 

It took George a second to figure out that she was talking about Alice. 

“Yeah, I’m staying for the summer with her. She’s my godmother.” He explained, trying his level best to keep his focus on Jane, and not on the two packs of nappies he was holding on to. As if by not drawing any attention she might somehow miss them. Standing here, out in the open with them, in front of a girl his own age, it felt like was holding something radioactive. His heartbeat drummed faster. 

“Cool. I didn’t know Ms Moor had family in England.” She picked up on his accent right away. “Uh, welcome to America I guess!” She gave a warm, if slightly awkward smile, and George did his best to force one back at her. 

“Thanks. I think I like it here. I just wish the jetlag would end so I can do stuff.” He shrugged, regretting it instantly as the infantile packages crinkled deafeningly as his arms moved. Jane glanced down, and any hope George had of making It though this conversation without his new neighbour noticing them vaporised. She looked at them for a few seconds then glanced back up at George, the look on her face inscrutable. She didn’t say anything, and his heartbeat into overdrive as he waited for her to cast judgement. 

“I uh, I just got back from soccer practice.” She motioned to the dirty state of her clothes. “But we can hang out later if you want. Once I get changed, I mean.”  

A cold, sinking feeling overtook him as he assumed she was simply fishing for an excuse to get away from him. This was going great. He’d been here not even 72 hours and already he was gonna be the weird kid with the nappies to the girl next door.  

Why the hell did I agree to come here 

The two stood there in silence for a moment more, before a man’s voice broke them both out of it. 

“Jane, come and help me please!”  

“Coming dad!” Jane called back, then turned to face George again. “Sorry, I’d better go. I'll come see you later, yeah?” 

“Yeah, sounds good.” He said quietly.  

Jane smiled at him again, then turned and ran off to where her father stood by the red SUV sitting in their driveway. George sighed once she was out of earshot, then turned and walked morosely back towards Alice. 

“Why the long face buddy?” She frowned. Stood by the unlocked front door, she must have been waiting for him. 

“Nothing.” He sighed and stomped his way inside. Lazily wiping his feet on the mat before taking his shoes off and shoving them to the side of the entryway.  

Alice gave him a look that clearly said she didn’t believe that, and George felt a fresh pang of frustration and anger sweep over him as he set off upstairs at speed. The soft carpet on the steps still unfamiliar compared to the solid wooden ones back home, as he ascended under the shadows of expensive looking watercolour portraits and along the large landing towards the second door on the left.  

Whilst he was still unfamiliar with his new habitat, it was easy to remember which of the soft white doors led to the room was his. It was the only one with a stupid name sign on it. A rectangular block of sanded oak wood, suspended in place by a thin wire that hung from a tiny nail in the middle of the door frame, which came down to loop under two metal rings built into the top of the wooden block, forming a triangle. It reminded George of those “Sorry we’re closed/open” signs you saw in smaller shops, and he found himself wishing that he could turn this sign over as well and sulk for the rest of the day. 

He shoved the handle down and barged inside, sweeping the door closed again with his feet. The two bags off nappies dropped from underneath his arms and landed softly on the ground with a muffed thud. In anger, he swung his foot forward and punted them both underneath the large double bed in the middle of his room. There was a slightly louder thud as they hit the skirting board one after the other. 

Good. Maybe They'll be stuck all the way back there and I won’t have to wear the stupid things. 

George sighed audibly, the resigned himself to sitting on the edge of the bed. The soft blue duvet wasn’t the one he’d gone to bed with. That one had been red and race car themed. Whilst this one had pictures of spaceships and asteroids embraided all over it.  

He found his eyes wandering around as he sulked. Everything in the room seemed brand new. The digital alarm clock and phone charging station, the large wooden chest of drawers packed with assorted clothes, the sliding mirrored wardrobe that took up most of one of the shorter side walls. Even the rather empty bookshelves and whiteboard pinned to the wall beside it. Alice had gotten all of this made for him, and he knew, once again, that he should be more grateful. So why was he stuck in such foul moods lately? This place was miles bigger than back home, and everything was new. No second-hand stuff picked up at Primark.  

He knew the reason. Two of them in fact, and right now they were hidden away underneath the bed he was sitting on. A small part of him wanted to retrieve them and lob them out of the window as hard as he could. But they’d only end up landing in the large backyard his room faced. 

He felt a twinge from his bladder. In all his sulking moodiness, he’d not noticed it. But now his earlier prediction had come true, and he needed to pee. His first instinct was to head back downstairs and use the bathroom just off the front door, before he remembered the second door in his new bedroom.  

Sliding off the bed, he walked over and opened the door that led to the en-suite bathroom. Between this and the sterile newness of everything, it felt like he was living in a hotel. The bathroom itself was large, and he reckoned it was only a bit smaller than his actual bedroom was back in England. He undid his fly and, double checking that he’d shut the lock properly on the door, started peeing into the toilet bowl. The sound of his stream hitting the resting water echoing around the white chamber. Much like the bedroom, it was mostly empty of any of his personal affects. Just the toothbrush and tube of paste he’d brought with him, and a nearly new bar of soap sitting in a dish just to the side of the sink. The shelves and cupboards underneath the sink were all empty for now as was the large marble worktop that ran the entire length of the wall. 

There was a large bath and shower setup that took up the back third of the room, and he felt faded memories surfacing of a much younger George being washed by his mum after a long and dirty day of playing outside.  

He washed himself up, and for once remembered to wash his face as well. Then struggled for a second to pick out which towel to dry with. The chrome rack on the wall directly opposite the sink had a half dozen of them, plus bath towels and some in sizes in between. Alice must have ordered them in bulk or something. 

He took a second to look at the dour looking eleven-year-old staring back at him in the huge mirror that covered half of the wall above the sink and worktop. He raked his hand through the fringe of his hair to straighten it out and poked at an annoying spot that had reared its head in the last week. Satisfied, he turned and left the bathroom. 

His angst had dissipated slightly, and with nothing better to do in his room he made his way back down the stairs, as he heard voices floating up to him from the kitchen. Alice was leaning against the island in the middle, a cup of coffee nestled in her hands as she spoke to someone. As he got into her line of sight her eyes caught his movement and she smiled. 

“Ah, there he is. The bear emerges from his slumber at last.” She joked. “You didn’t tell me you’d already met Jane.”  

George felt like a deer in headlights as he saw the girl from earlier sitting at one of the kitchen bar stools, who now turned and smiled at him as well. 

[A_Pale_Spirit]

Loved the chapter, great writing!

[Pierry Louys]

Good chapter! I think Jane share some resemblance with night issues like him

[CDfm]

Wonderful chapter!  I was very happy to see a new chapter. 
I think George needs to relax a little bit. He doesn’t know that the wetting accident wasn’t just because of the jet lag and will go away in a day or so. I think Jane could become a good friend and just what George needs to make him more comfortable in the States. 
 I am looking forward to seeing more. 

[Andyman3]

Ooooo I love it. Wow the possibilities. Looks like he's going to have fun and all the fun moments possibilities with Jane. 😄

[Alutheria]

On 10/22/2023 at 2:19 AM, Pierry Louys said:

Good chapter! I think Jane share some resemblance with night issues like him

I couldn't possibly say. 😉

 

On 10/22/2023 at 3:44 AM, CDfm said:

Wonderful chapter!  I was very happy to see a new chapter. 
I think George needs to relax a little bit. He doesn’t know that the wetting accident wasn’t just because of the jet lag and will go away in a day or so. I think Jane could become a good friend and just what George needs to make him more comfortable in the States. 
 I am looking forward to seeing more. 

He's rather emotional and vulnerable at the moment. Cut off entirely from familiarity and his usual support structure, plus the home life issues I've hinted at. He probably is over-reacting to a degree, but he's also an 11 year old boy who's under stress from multiple issues in his life at the moment. I hope his reactions can be read as reasonably realistic given that. 

 

As always, the comments & feedback are greatly appreciated!

[Andyman3]

On 10/25/2023 at 7:43 PM, Alutheria said:

I couldn't possibly say. 😉

 

He's rather emotional and vulnerable at the moment. Cut off entirely from familiarity and his usual support structure, plus the home life issues I've hinted at. He probably is over-reacting to a degree, but he's also an 11 year old boy who's under stress from multiple issues in his life at the moment. I hope his reactions can be read as reasonably realistic given that. 

 

As always, the comments & feedback are greatly appreciated!

Yes definitely want his reactions realistic. Don't want things forced. 😄

[Andyman3]

Oooo the suspense 😄

[Andyman3]

Can't wait for next part😄

[Andyman3]

Awww don't stop

[Alutheria]

On 11/29/2023 at 6:32 PM, Andyman3 said:

Awww don't stop

I'm not stopping, I promise. Life's just been rather busy of late. I'll aim to try and get a new chapter up soon :).

[Andyman3]

12 hours ago, Alutheria said:

I'm not stopping, I promise. Life's just been rather busy of late. I'll aim to try and get a new chapter up soon :).

Woooo great just worried. I've seen some horror stories of people bullied out of art, from people or just life. 😊

[Andyman3]

Wooo busy holidays. Now we can see more chapters from you. 😊