Oh, this is lovely. I like the fantasy mixed with the ordinary and Christine's daytime life with Raoul contrasted with her nighttime life with Erik. It's very well done.

I love this. It's really morbid-fantasy thing. Only... I don't really understand the deal with the wings. I really don't. Sorry for the lack of understanding -_-

Wow, this was -GOOD-. It's that story that makes you want to wave banners and shout through bullhorns, just so more people can read it. I absolutely loved the opening, especially the part about being foreign, it was such a good way to sum up Christine. There's no way either of them escaped from the opera house unscathed emotionally, and this was a brilliant way of representing that, that subtle change, imperceptibe at first, but suddenly that "what if" is planted in her mind...it's not just about loving Raoul anymore, it's about loving Raoul more than Erik, and that's a fight every inch of the way.
I could only imagine this was intentional, because it was so perfectly done, but there's something extremely Freudian about this story. Supposedly, flying dreams represent sexual pleasure...Christine leaves the Opera house with the memory that she left something behind that at one time enthralled her. Now, she has a family, a husband, a good life, but...there is something lacking. I'm hesitant to make something so vulgar and seemingly trivial out of such a fantastically well-done story, but in my mind, that was sexual pleasure...the yearning for this "flight" only comes at night, and she begins to seek it somewhere other than Raoul's bed...he does not have the power of such flight. Instead, she seeks it in dreams of Erik and the power he once held over her.
I'm eternally glad you didn't make this some drawn-out angst-fic. The facade Christine maintained during the day was hardly even a facade...she loves her children, she loves her husband, she is seemingly perfect...it was somehow a relief from the "boo hoo I miss Erik but I'm not going to tell anybody I'm just going to stew broodily for the next 10 chapters". That desire for him was so subconscious it came only in dreams.
And now that I think about it...I'm speculating on the blood on her gown (from her wings). Perhaps it's representative of menstrual blood...the cruel reminder to Raoul that she is not truly his, that she no longer seeks him for what dreams can give her. But now I think I'm making mountains out of molehills...I'll cut short my exceedingly windy review now, thank you so much for writing this...I can tell I'll be back for many more readings.

Wow! Beautiful story. It was so surreal and sad.

That was an amazingly beautiful story. It truly made me feel like flying away myself. :) This is the first story of yours that I've read, but have no doubts, I am now off to read the rest of them.

That was so incredibly poetic. It was beautiful and strange. All I can say is: Wow.

Haunting and lyrical, this story is a treasure. ~ML

Well, that was surreal.
I'm not sure what part was meant to be literal and which was metaphorical, which I think is a strength of the story.

Fantasy *should* be set at the juncture of night and day, when both get confounded into one another as they do in twilight or the dawn.

The cut-out angel wings remind me of the wounded angel in the movie "Northfork." Also, I recall that Mrs. Darling in "Peter Pan" had a window that never could be closed even on the coldest winter nights.

Beautiful evocations, in a haunting, beautiful story.

Amazing flit of fantasy. But oh so very sad.

There are certain moments of pride I experience from time to time with regards to Phantom authors and their stories. Not exactly pride that I KNOW them and adore them (which I do) but pride that I was able to 'discover' them in the beginning (or latter) stages of their greatness. I'm still patting myself on the back for clicking on your story one day and being floored at how spectacular a writer you are.

This, my dear, just proves how really COOL I am in spotting talent when I see it. YOU are talented. I picked up on that from day one. ;D

While I never really regarded this story as being completely MORBID when first reading it, I was impressed with how stunning the visual imagery was. Dark illustrations of Christine sprouting wings and taking flight at night with another winged 'demon' of sorts was quite incredible. The more I read it, the more unusual and fantastic it seemed. That, and the writing, are what sold me on it completely. Hardly surprising that you took home the trophy for most well-written story. It was gorgeous!

Another great thing I love about your writing is how well you manage to weave images together with ideas. I said as much with 'A Solo For the Living' when Christine kisses Erik. Here, the description of their music is written almost as if it's a (non-smutty) love scene. ((When she shuddered, he began to sing, wrapping her with music. She joined him then, and they rose with a gentle current, their bodies more sinuous than the charmed serpents of the Orient, their wings diaphanous as the jewelled veils of desire.))

Yow. Now that's passionate stuff!

Can't remember my placements at the moment, but you were definitely numbered amongst the top ten, my dear. How could you NOT be? *mwah*

Gets the phantomy-cookies 10 out of 10!

I love this story. It's so deftly, hauntingly beautiful, so lyrical. Just gorgeous.
And everyone knows my love of Gothic fantasy and things with wings, so it's no mystery why this story got my number one vote. Congratulations on your placement and awards!

Hauntingly beautiful! Quite deserving of the awards you won, even though you don't mention them. The story is very dream-like, almost a fantasy. You could rewrite this using original characters and publish it as a fantasy short-story.

Normally, Gothic type stories about angels kinda give me the heebie-jeebies. Just not my thing. But this one transcended my expectations - before I knew it, I'd already been sucked into this beautiful piece, and had no choice but to like it. :)

I love the idea of Christine literally being an angel. Angel of music, a bird of sunshine and/or night - whichever it is, it's beautiful. The R/C in this chapter, no matter how subtle, is there. Or at least it is to me. Either way, I loved it - they are really very sweet together, with Raoul waiting so anxiously for his Christine to return. And poor Christine day in and day out squishing her wings. Yikes. Morbid and tragic and almost fluffy. Why did I not figure out that only our Tango who can write angst and humor and romance all in one chapter did this one? :P