She's been parking in the same space for years....Title taken from "The Trapeze Swinger" by Iron & Wine.
10 Wow! This was amazing. Such a unique format, as well. You managed to fit so much into each of these moments - they're almost heavy with meaning and emotion.
Author's Response: Thank you so much, I was hoping the different format would work out and not be a distraction.
9 This was so completely beautiful. I love the progression, and it's very believable that he didn't love her right away, but later would think maybe he did. I think this is my absolute favorite line:
That moment with her smile and our house was the closest I’d ever been to love and if I wasn’t in love with her then, it was only because I had no idea that was the name of what I was feeling.
The third in a series of themed stories, to fill out Color Wheel and Language Barrier.
9 Like the feeling she gets when Jim touches her arm, it arrived with no warning.
And I am dead. Amazing. Loving this so far!
8 I'm dead again! Jim's low and teasing voice could do it for me if he was talking about wallpaper, and when he uses it to say something like that, I'm helpless. Very cute chapter.
Author's Response: Thanks!
8 Yay! Oh, so cute. I love unconventional proposals. This whole story made me extremely happy :)
Author's Response: I'm glad you liked it! Thanks for reading!
8 This manages to be funny and cute while also utterly depressing with just how unhealthy this relationship is. Very well written - you said a lot in those four short paragraphs.
Author's Response: Thank you! I agree about the relationship being unhealthy, even though I love Kelly and Ryan together.
8 Oh, so pretty! There's lots of beautiful, vivid imagery here, and I love all the little details: the mittens, the electricity between them, him struggling to put on his coat one handed but not caring enough to let go, their cloud of breath at the end. Loved this!
Author's Response: Thanks so much! I really apppreciate the specific feedback!
She's already remade herself once this year, and now she wonders if she has to do it all over again so soon.9 This is excellent so far! You've really got their dynamic down - keeping things light and cutesy to avoid the deeper stuff. My heart dropped into my stomach when he worked things out with Karen - I really thought they were over! Very realistic though - couples have fights, and it's not always the end of the world.
9 Oh, I am convinced that Phyllis's wedding is going to happen on camera, and that's where it's going to happen for Jim and Pam. I could see this being the season finale. And you did a wonderful job of it. I really love Pam's "I don't want you to change." ... "Is it too late to tell you?" Lovely!
8 Very bold of Fancy New Beesly! If only she could be so brave on the show. His post-it note reply was absolutely adorable, as was the following conversation.
Author's Response:
Yeah, I do believe her courage is going to just come in the form of something small, something she just doesn't think about - a knee-jerk reaction that just says it all. And it's hard to deny when she's gotten it written down on paper!
Thanks for reading!
10 9 she’d wanted desperately to know what it was called, when he looked at her like that, and she’d wondered what color she’d use if she could paint a picture of it.
That line literally made me catch my breath - very beautifully phrased. This whole thing was wonderful - lovely little glimpses into three very charged moments.
(Although, I have to say, I'm not a fan of the different font... slightly hard to read)
9 These were fantastic! Each was so good - 3 and 4 darn near killed me, that Pam could do that to him, have him come so close and then pretend it never happened. The last one was SO wonderful, having her burst out with it instead. Ending happy was the way to go after all the preceding pain! :)
Author's Response: Yeah, 5 was a tonic to my poor, bruised soul after writing 3 and 4. It had to be done. Thanks for reading!
8 But he knows he can’t do that. So he does the next best thing. He looks at her. Really looks at her. And he hopes she sees.
Oh, this kills me. How many times must he have had moments like these - looking at her, such an innocent moment but mentally begging her, "Won't you look deeper? Can't you see how much I love you?" knowing that its not his place to actually say something. Oh, man. Wonderful little moment. And the last line is a doozy with all its subtext.
It's odd that being in love with the same person seems to have brought them even closer together. Pam and Karen the night of the Christmas party. Spoilers through A Benihana Christmas. 8 I love this! I love that they can talk about him. I love that they can somehow simultaneously totally awkward and completely comfortable with each other.
8 Oh, I love how they're so mixed up and twisty in this. Pam's line about thinking she hates Karen was perfect in its confusion, as was "He likes her and she knows it, so that makes her a horrible person for kissing him. But what does that make him for kissing her back?"
Really, really intense and well written.
7 Awesome! I love when the minor characters get to shine a little, and Darryl is certainly a fun one that we haven't seen enough back story for. Nice job with this!
Author's Response: Oh, I love backstory too. I'm really happy that you enjoyed this little anecdote.
9 I kinda love you for this. Cute, fun, sweet, and so in their voices - although I agree with Jim that IMing to alert him of her contractions was a little unorthodox! But I'm glad I got to read it. :)
9 Holy crap, you utterly broke my heart with this one little paragraph:
"A couple years later, his Dad doesn’t come home one day late in December. He plays Axel F at the funeral, while his mother smiles and he hears laughter, somewhere. That night he puts his synthesizer away in the back of his closet. He makes sure his mother only calls him Darryl."
This is a beautiful, insightful backstory for Darryl. I also love the ending, how he finds a sort of piece with himself and Michael kind of helps him find it.
8 So awesome! Wonderful little insights into the characters through their shopping styles. I think my favorite part was the Dwight and Kevin stuff. Very funny!
Author's Response: Thanks Semby! Just some little bits and pieces I glued together as I stressed about my own Christmas shopping. Glad you enjoyed them!
8 This was so sweet and cute! Just the happy Christmas story I needed. And I was very amused by poor Pam being stuck with the "where do babies come from" talk :D
Author's Response: Yay, glad I could help make the holiday even cheerier! :) I loved writing that Pam and Maggie scene ... just imagining how Pam would deal with that question from a four-year-old cracked me up! Thank you for the feedback!
8 These were all so good, really intense. I really, really love the one with Ryan.
7 Such a cute ending :) All the angst in the build up was totally worth it!
Jim receives a gift the day after Christmas. And then another one the next day. And again for the 10 days after. Is it a joke, or has his True Love come forward? 8 Hee! Way to grab my attention with the first sentence. And I love how they both made a little more effort (or less in Jim's case) on their appearance for each other. And the stairwell scene. And the makeout at the end. Whew! Great stuff.
When you start with fun times in the shower, you know it's gonna be a good slumber party! And OMG one day until the reveal!