Awestruck Comments - Open 16th Sept 2013 - Closed 13th June 2014

Let it never be said I don't obey the word of the board maitresse

Bored mattress?

Board madness  

Maz - What a fun story of the boys changing where they get to sit and someone getting the best of them.  Heyes is going to learn about quilting... snicker!  Wonder Ranch story and take of the prompt!

Very funny, story Maz.

Uh huh: Mrs Bunderson, the town clerk’s wife and from what he had overheard, lover of cats:scratch: methinks there are a few lovers of cats on this board, being gently teased.

Love the nice yucky bit: “I am so sorry, Mrs Douglas, but my Uncle had a boil to lance and he needed my help to hold the patient down. After that I sure hope we’re not having cream cheese.”  

And a clever ending.  

Maz: Yay, a ranch days tale! Loved the visuals in this one, each of them sneaking around the others back and both of them getting skunked. Very funny last line, too. 

First, I want to apologize for not commenting on stories in a while. This summer has turned out to be quite hectic! I've been trying to catch up on my reading the last couple of weeks. Anyway, I'm going to start anew with September and try to keep up this time! So...

Maz - Love a Ranch Days story! And this one was especially cute with the boys changing the cards and trying to get a better seating position. Loved how it ended with neither getting to sit beside Clem. How fitting to have Jed next to the mayor's daughter! Great last line!

Christina ASJ - I'm loving your story in the overspill area! You've built the tension well and I'm real interested in reading the completed version. Hope you'll post when it's finished :)

Maz, I am inventing a new word for stories that find an imaginative way to use the prompt and include snappy banter and fun character development, and that is MazTastic. I could very easily see some proper town matrons who want to introduce the young people of the town to each other and to proper society in a "safe" environment, and the young people dreading almost every minute of it. Bjorn outsmarted our boys, and ended up with a more agreeable companion than an expert on quilts.

Christina ASJ - What an intriguing story you have posted in the overspill area! I envy your ability to write about the boys playing cards - I don't know much about cards games to feel comfortable writing them playing. So Ralph and Jake are the boys playing cards with the Kid and they have Heyes & Curry at the beginning tied up at the house, it sounds like, with the sheriff coming tomorrow. But the sheriff was around while the card playing was on. I'd love to know what happened in that week when the boys are captured. Very good story.

Maztastic! (I love the new word, RosieAnnie!)

And I love me some Ranch Days stories! Keep 'em coming, Maz. You always get the characters just perfect at any age, but there's something extra special about young Kid and young Heyes. (And young Clem too, with her deliciously disgusting analogy.) Really enjoyed this story!

BeeJay - I absolutely loved the two letters to the folks and to friend Bucky.  You wouldn't know it's the same guy and the same trip.  Bet William was entertaining to his employees, Smith and Jones.  sigh... Oh to hire the boys to take you around the West.  I'm jealous!  Hilarious story - thanks for the laughs!

BeeJay, I like using the letter to home device, having used it myself a couple times. I think it can be an effective way to convey first-person stories, and you certainly proved it here. The letters to different people show the different faces your protagonist presents to the world. He's a bit of a bad boy, isn't he? And he found just the right companions to lead him into a little bit of fun, away from his controlling parents. He's not exactly stupid, either, because he observes nervous reactions from Heyes and Curry but, in the end, can't quite convince himself he was with some notorious outlaws. Good stuff.

BeeJay: Yes, what are the odds?  Very clever and entertaining tale.  Rufus has the heart of a criminal and, who knows, a few more weeks with Smith and Jones and he might have found his true calling.  Great story!

Beejay absolutely brilliant!! Love the letters home from William/Rufus to Mater, Pater and Bucky. Could imagine it all.
Bravo!!!

Ghislaine - Another clever one!  I love that song and was humming away while reading it.  Favorite lines...

Ghislaine, outstanding. I can't think of the melody right now, so I read it as poetry. Nice adaptation, and as Penski says -very clever. 

Ghislaine I could hear the gravelly voice of Kenny Rogers as I sang the song :)
Clever!! 

Maz:  What a clever use of the prompt!  Really liked how the boys tried but failed to stand up to Jeff.  The switching of the name cards was fun--poor Jed thought he'd finally gotten one over on Heyes, only to be upstaged by someone completely different.  So…that's where the mayor's daughter story came from, huh?!!!

BeeJay: Great use of the prompt.  Loved how the letter-writer (I was kinda confused by all the different names he used--talk about aliases, huh?!--because for a while, I kept thinking he would turn out to be Teddy Roosevelt, who'd gone West for his health) spun his tales all different ways, depending on whom he was writing.  The sheriff incidents were lots of fun!

BeeJay
How could I not enjoy such a great opening line when I only recently added it to my own personal dictionary." I hired two most able men as guides, and factotum"
Love this I never thought of the guys as "They are a 'two-for-one' package, "but I do believe I shall giggle over this image for some time.
So enjoy our gents many voices as he speaks to various family and friends back home. It is a fun, energetic pace you have set and I like it along with this perfect Heyes line,"which Smith assured me was done for 'show' to keep Riff-Raff from bothering them." I am finding Rufus' adventures as entertaining as reading a true journal but the added insight of being able to envision the boys makes it twice as charmimg -- like this-- I truly snorted " I would like to meet some Indians as well. Jones thinks the idea is 'weird" because I could out and out see Kid. Well written. Is it me or is there many weekly challenge words in the tale? What would be the odds ,heh? I did really enjoy this little farce,thank you 

gislaine Emory's
Well done on the rewrite. Such a. Known song it was easy to hear your words aloud. So did Heyes pass in his sleep too at the end like the gambler in the original or do you see a different view for your dark haired gambler? Thank you for sharing

Calico - Only for "cats" in lurve with Alex?  What about... what about those of us NOT cats in lurve with Alex?  Is there really such a game?  A wonderful story like only Calico can write.  I miss the Heyes/Curry family series with Alex, Samuel, David, and what's her name, Louisa.  And the Curry clan, too.  Jed's "calling the kettle black" was great.  Too bad no adventure in sleeping in the barn that night.  Love how you pointed out an injustice back in those days with men and women and what they "own".  Excellent story.