Let me start with the boot. Love it. I've never been to a tea party, but I have worn boots like that :)
Your story is wonderfully deceptive. Just as Mena and Bertie could not see Dara's pain, the reader at first cannot look past the style and chatter. The spilled tea breaks the illusion. What a great device. Cuts right through the facade. And Mena's linking of arms is more eloquent than anything she might have said about Dara's situation.
As I mentioned, I don't do tea parties, but I appreciate insight. Good job with that :)
Well there we go, another thing we share! I have never been to a formal tea party either. Now, informal, rural tea parties complete with dolls and stuffed animals held to their seats by baling twine, those I have attended a plenty, but never a fancy proper tea. Probably going to have to remedy that someday, I mean when am I ever going to get another excuse to wear a hat with its own zipcode...heh...
And I'm so pleased you love my old boot. I wore them so much that there's holes in the soles. Now they are just props, but I am saving up to pay this lovely Eastern European lady to make me a new pair to wear and adore:)
Double thanks for all the kind words about my story. I've been thinking and studying about trauma, holistic psychology, stoicism, bullying, and re-direction a lot lately, guess you could probably tell that lol. I haven't written fiction in a while as things have been a little extra round these parts, but I have missed hanging out in my favorite community of story writers:)
Us country girls, we may do tea, but we don't do fancy. A hat with its own zipcode 😁
One of the best things about your story is that it is not a sermon. Your message is stronger because you show the pain, and the understanding. That's the great thing about fiction. You can give a lesson and it doesn't seem like a lesson. Plus, it's entertaining.
Welcome back to the Ink Well. I don't always have the inspiration/courage to write a story myself, but when I do it is very, very satisfying.
You'll have to share a picture of those boots when you get them!
My attempt at fancy would definitely be disastrous, well, at least there would be some hay stuck to me somewhere, lol lol! Although, I did go to a masquerade ball once, but I did get my gown caught in the a heater grate as I was diffusing a cat fight....
I kinda hate preaching and pandering. The thing is though, I love, love, love to learn and listen to people, but pomposity grates my turnips. Pain is a pretty universal teacher, and I have to say my dear @agmoore, I do so love your comments, they are grand for my ego, which means I need to go look at something I failed out, you know, cause humility😉
There are always stories and themes floating around in my cranium, but for some reason I allow a lot of living to get in my way which limits my composition output, terrible I know, but my thoughts stray to the Ink Well a lot, as do my upvotes.
And you can bet I will share a pic of those magnificent boots when I get around to procuring them! Hope you are having a most lovely weekend.:)