RE: You loved me though from a distance

I enjoyed the direction this story was headed. It provided an interesting story line in response to the prompt. I am a huge fan of your writing, Iska.

I do, however, have some thoughts on a pivotal point in your story.

“Tell me everything”. She demanded.

This right here was the missed opportunity, in my view, to develop the story, to draw in the reader and get them to feel whatever it is that you wanted them to feel... shock, horror, disgust, disappointment, empathy? To share why Laurel was never good enough for her lover's mother. Why she would feel compelled as a mother and woman to surrender her daughter for money. What life and social circumstances were in place that either prevented her from having a voice or from having a choice? I would have loved for Laurel to have had a reminiscent moment - for you to have presented some dialogue from when she announced her pregnancy to Charis' father through to her ultimate dismissal. I think that would have drawn empathy from me as a reader for Laurel's situation. As it stands, it feels like they closed the gap between mother and daughter, far too easily and quickly, given what was shared.

Thank you for writing in The Ink Well.