36 Comments

Another achingly beautiful story, Meg. I love the ambitious sweeping arc over time in this story. The love and tension between brother and sister is so real. I’ve always been fascinated with twins. I have a trunk novel that I may release one day that’s based on twins.

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Thank you, Ben. Twins ARE fascinating. I've known an astounding number of them in my lifetime. I'm afraid to ask how many novels you have "trunked" at the moment. 🙂 I might have to take anonymom's advice and stick to short stories from now on. The torment to satisfaction ratio is far friendlier to the spirit. 💜

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Heh, no doubt. There’s a lot of delayed gratification involved in writing a novel.

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For me, writing it and reading it myself is far more gratifying than struggling to get other people to read it. 😂

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founding
Sep 28, 2023Liked by Meg Oolders

Speechless.... I am becoming increasingly convinced that the short story is your niche....

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Thanks, Mom Anony.

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Yep, turns out I didn’t need a heart today. No, it’s fine, I’ll just be over here sobbing. 👍

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🥹

Here, I found this on the floor. I think you dropped it. ❤️

Thanks for reading, Olivia. 💜

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Tears in my eyes as I sit here at work. Fuck.

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Sounds like a great first line to a poem. I may steal it. 🙂💜

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Ha! Feel free!

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I loved this tender story. We almost named a baby we were set to adopt Chance, but his parents decided to stay together and raise the baby. That name will always have a special place in my heart.

I’m a sucker for stories spread over a lifetime. This was a great start to my morning!

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Aw yay. Glad this one reached you, Jason. 💜 I'll bet you still wonder about "Chance" sometimes.

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Absolutely loved this!

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Thank you! I'm so glad. 💜

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Beautiful story and timeline! It reads so tight and crisp, stripped down of any unnecessary word.

And congrats on your anniversary! 🥂

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Thank you for the lovely comment, Monica! And for reading. 🥂

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Wow, Meg. You drew me right in and kept me reading. What a beautiful piece.

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Thank you, Jim. Thrilled to hear the story captivated you. That's the goal, as you know. 🙂

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Another absolutely stunning story, Meg! Your stories never fail to touch me deeply. Just keep at it.

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Thank you, dear Reena. No plans to give up anytime soon. 🙂Thank you for keeping up with me over here. 💜

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What a fine imagination you have, Meg. I am always so impressed. This is such a complex and moving story . Your time transitions were beautifully crafted here. Love the lines " He wanted to be her hero. He wanted to be her." The ending couldn't have been more perfect.

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Thank you, Sharron. I'm happy the passage of time in this story wasn't cumbersome. It's tricky with short fiction to take big time leaps. Writing this one reminded me a bit of my story Sweet Sixteen, except instead of several weeks passing, it was decades. I'm glad you like the ending. I did too. Chance deserved a second (or first) chance with Eleanor. And she with him.

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Stunning, sweet, and moving, Meg. You have such an incredible way of pulling me in to your stories and making me care immensely for your characters. They are always so human, so real.

Thank you for this wonderful start to my Sunday. ✨

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Thank you, Justin. It makes me happy to know that I'm breathing sufficient life into my characters. It might be my favorite part of writing fiction, giving voices to people I don't know before I start writing, and know very well by the time I'm finished. 🙂

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Well, that was incredible. Stop it. 😂 I shall return to Hackville now. 🤨

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Thank you, Mark.

Hackville won't let you in. They're run by an AI conglomerate now. No interest in harboring humans with actual skills and potential for greatness. 🙂

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Stupid AI.

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This is enviable writing ... the gentle realisation unlocked as the tale unfolds, the emotional connection to the central characters. Beautifully paced too, details either quickly offered to move things along, or slowly unfolded like held breaths. Really strong writing. And congratulations ... love the stock photography inspiration - limitless ... I am finding the same with my art-inspired fiction. Barrie

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Thank you for this lovely comment, Barrie. I agree, the pool of inspiration that visual art provides is bottomless. I don't expect to run out of story fuel any time soon. 🙂

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I love that it still requires the writer to wrap their own imagination around the representation ... imagining the before, after, or the 'noises off' fuels my art-inspired musings.

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Great story! 👍

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Thank you, Matthew!

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I was amazed from the beginning until the end

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Thank you, Rolando. And welcome aboard!

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Thank you Megan.

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