Home Fires

by

Roo

 

 

Ya know, what good are you people? I mean, I keep askin' - suggestions, please, remind me, I'm old, I forget. I need a push in the right direction, a steady finger on the page. But do you care? Do you oblige? No.

No.

And that is why, you lousy bunch of no-good muffin-eaters, it has taken me so long to remember to write a recommendation for one of the best Mel and Janice stories out there. Cause you wouldn't remind me of this gem. Bastards.

But, don't fret. Better late than never.

"Home Fires" by Roo is one of those stories you hate to read. You finish a paragraph, then pause, linger over a sentence maybe, let your eyes flit up to the beginning and skim down, all just to buy some more time before moving on. You hate to read it because it means you're getting that closer to the ending. And you don't want this story to end.

I remember reading this story a few years back, as it was being posted, and *cursing* the damned author. I mean, check out the chapters as you read - they're all of 3-4 pages long. Nothing like waiting a month or two for an update only to be faced with flawless writing, intricate characterizations and soulful descriptions - in three pages. And then an interminable period of waiting for the next one, made that much more intolerable by constant re-reading of the previous chapters, a bitter-sweet experience of beauty in writing but with no immediate gratification of the need for more.

Worry not though, this story is fine and finished now.

Set in the Australian outback, the plot is centered on a Janice and Mel reunion after a six month hiatus. Mel is engaged to an Australian Air Force pilot, but Janice needs to know why the Southerner left her without a warning a month into their relationship. Sounds pretty basic, don't it? Fret not, you lazy bastards, for I shall tell you what sets this story apart from just about every other Mel & Janice work.

Yeah, you guessed it - it's the skill that is exposed in every finely woven sentence. Gorgeous. The characterizations are superb, but the language, the language carries this story. Roo's taken her time in writing it (I do hope she's doing better now, make sure you play nice and ask her when you drop her a note of thanks), but the effort's reflected in the quality of work presented.

There's really not much more I can tell you, except go read it, but a bunch of indolent tooth-pickers like yourselves hardly seems worthy of a work like this.

But still...

Home Fires