Whoa. Painful. Beautiful.

Wish I could say more, but this robs one of speech.

Poor Scott. :( I frequently have trouble finding him sympathetic, but this is so heartbreaking. He tries his last resort...and it doesn't work, of course. Lovely story, and the epigraph is too perfect for it.

Here via Remix.

I like the format of this, the short sections at the beginning, weighted down at the end by the longer section. It adds to the angst at the end, in a way.

But, oh, so sad, to contrast the pain at the end with the almost homey feeling at the beginning.

[Here via Remix.] Wow. I hadn't really thought much about the Phoenix bubbling up inside Jean throughout her life, and then Scott having to go look for her after all (something he'd never expected to come to pass) and not finding her. "we can see your house from here." So heartbreaking.

This is good. Really good. Thanks for writing!

I enjoyed this story very much. I like the idea of Scott and Jean returning to the same conversation over weeks (and months and years?) and Jean's fear and Scott's youthful faith that they would be alright.

And I *really* like "Still, it wouldn’t take much to rip it all away. A squint, that’s all."