Oh, my kind and gentle (and talented!) friend! You are a man of high standard who would fight for anyone but yourself... The tale was a bit 'dark' as you say, but completely riviting! And, unlike most short stories, it was 'whole' with beginning, middle and resolution. It's been quite a while since I've written anything literary too (most of my writing these days is technical) but I've never lost my passion for reading fiction and, knowing the ins and outs of writing, I'm an excellent critic! You, kind sir, are an excellent writer! I will use the argument I used with my ex-husband. Gary is a fine musician and a singer without equal. For years he sat by himself and played guitar better than anyone and sang with a voice better than any I've ever heard (a voice of an angel!). That's how we got together, in fact, when I found out he played. "Oh, I'm not very good," he said, believing it, "but I can mostly keep up." Imagine my surprise when he blew my socks off and I spent the rest of our relationship trying to get good enough just to 'keep up' with him! The thing is, only a close circle of friends and myself and my family were the only ones who ever heard him. I told him that talent of this type is very rare, that it's what seperates us regular artists from the 'masters' and, in a way, people who have that kind of talent are 'obligated' to share it. He tried but could never get over his 'stage-fright' enough to make a go of it, regardless of how much I (truthfully) praised him. The thing is, even with tension tightening his throat and making his fingers feel 'stumbley', he was better on stage than anyone else! I will not pressure you, my friend, but yours is a talent that would be almost 'wrong' to keep to yourself! And if you promise (PLEASE promise!) to write another, I'll stop sending you sad faces!
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