From: julie@pascal.org   
      
   On Saturday, April 19, 2014 2:18:55 PM UTC-6, William Vetter wrote:   
   > Do you think this is lame?  When I wrote it, I thought   
   >   
   > it was a good lost cat flyer, but now, when I read it, it   
   >   
   > seems lame.   
   >   
   > The POV character's wife, as I mentioned above, was a   
   >   
   > lesbian and left him for her Asian manicurist as a matter   
   >   
   > of backstory.   
   >   
   >   
   >   
   > ______   
   >   
   >   
   >   
   >   
   >   
   >       This one had a picture of a black cat on it.  It   
   >   
   > confused me at first, because it began with "My name is   
   >   
   > John.  I am an alcoholic," but as I read on, it most   
   >   
   > definitely pled for a lost cat.  "I think I must have found   
   >   
   > her on the way home from a bar, because I named her Black   
   >   
   > Haus.  I've tried to call her Abby, but she only comes when   
   >   
   > I say 'Haus'."  John gave a startling amount of contact   
   >   
   > information, which included his full name and even a   
   >   
   > business address at his job.  "Please," it said, "I go to   
   >   
   > the meetings, but they're not enough.  I can't be alone."   
   >   
   >       I had to mull over this flyer for a while, but, in the   
   >   
   > end, it wasn't difficult to understand.  It's hard to live   
   >   
   > when there's no one to notice you exist.  Marriage had   
   >   
   > taught me that much.  The print was black & white, but John   
   >   
   > said that Haus' eyes were yellow in the text.  All of the   
   >   
   > flyers left me sad, but this one made me feel weak and   
   >   
   > impotent.  There was little to be done but whisper, "Hello,   
   >   
   > John."   
      
      
   I like it.  I know what it's saying.  I'm not confused by any of it.  And the   
   fellow, John, who needs the cat because he's an alcoholic is engaging.   
      
   I can see why you might have decided that it was "lame" but really, you   
   agonize over the passage but a reader doesn't stay there that long.  Don't   
   worry about it.   
      
   -Julie   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)