36 Comments

Excellent, Justin. It's good to be a little ambiguous sometimes. The intent is clear, although the exact circumstances are left to the imagination of the reader. I like the voice here--forceful yet kind.

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Thanks so much for reading and commenting, Jim. I agree. I don’t think the exact circumstances matter all that much in a scenario like this one! I appreciate the kind words!

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I hear a person who has been through a tough spot trying to encourage someone else to come along without fear. The details don't really matter so much as the relationship and the confidence that it gets better.

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Amen to that, Tara! Thank you. And you’re right. The details don’t really matter in this scenario. I appreciate you reading and your keen attention to detail! 🙏

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I agree, Tara.

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I had not considered the implied hand on the shoulder, Tara. Without it the hurting soul, may not have believed the wrecking crew was on the way.

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I like it! Make that sledgehammer your friend.

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I’ve needed to use my sledgehammer a time or two without question. Those walls close in around sometimes without warning! Thank you for reading and commenting, James!

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Great answer. Sounds like James Ron. ( and Jimmy Swann)

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The answer is obvious and nebulous at the same time. In spite of ourselves and our intentions, we tend to build walls around ourselves. As with real walls, they give us a sense of protection and security. The walls, the real ones and the ones in our minds, give us a level of comfort. What is on the inside, we know. What is out there is, well, unknown. And we fear the unknown. Yet, outside of that wall can be great beauty, great people, and opportunity.

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What a perfect summary and response. I love how you called the answer obvious and nebulous at the same time. I think that’s perfectly true. Thank you for the thoughtful words and insight. It’s really the core of what I was getting at.

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I LIKE your story, Justin. I have always appreciated ambiguity in a story, a vague or open-ending. Real life is not a tidy package-- we deal with a lot of dangling strings. How can we know when we have reached our own personal "happily ever after"? Impossible. ( Hallmark movies are anathema to me.) Our readers are going to interpret any of our stories according to their own experiences and dreams and make it their own. I have noticed that a lot of my fiction pieces don't begin at the beginning and at the end, there is often no end. I am fine with that. It is like opening a window and having a look, then closing it. ha ha ha

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Same, Sharron. I think a lot of my fiction follows a similar pattern. Like yours, they are snapshots of a moment or scene that are without a doubt a fragment of the whole.

Thank you so much for reading, Sharron!

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I've often thought the same thing about chance encounters with a stranger - are they having their best, worst, or intolerably routine day. We've just gotten a snapshot, and that's all we have to make judgements about - or not.

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A very wise thing to say, Mark. I would hate for anyone to meet me for the first time when I just got up in the morning...

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Walls and echo chambers seem to be a package deal

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We humans tend to build walls around our hearts and minds. But life is better when we knock those walls down and open our hearts and minds. That is my interpretation. 🤓

Or it could be about Fear. The great architect of walls.

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Thank you, Mark. I was definitely thinking along those lines, too. Completely agree with what you said. Fear has the ability to debilitate just about anyone! It can be crippling.

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Hope the other side can bring us something realy better that we have on this side :)

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I’m with you, Rolando! Thank you so much for reading! 😃

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Very good metaphor because when life has really gone south, a person can't see the sky, the ground, what's beyond or anything in the periphery. They just see the wall. Hope as you infer, is that the wall can be taken down!

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Thank you so very much for reading and responding in such thoughtful fashion!

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Sep 27, 2023Liked by Justin Deming

This is an interesting one, Justin. I like that it's written in the second person, and my interpretation is that it's a guy talking to himself. I feel as though he's been through something before, whether it's depression or fear of taking the next step, so he's telling himself to move forward and take that necessary step, no matter how difficult it is. Sometimes we all have to give ourselves a pep talk!

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Andrea, thanks so much for reading! I can see this as well. I think it’s safe to say many of us have been in his shoes before. (Also, I read your latest email and will get back to you soon! 😀)

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I’m honored. That salvage diving/commercial diving is a whole lot tougher than anything I ever did.

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I love brick because I grew up in a redbrick housing project in the Sheepshead Bay section of Brooklyn which had been built on an old Dutch pig and potato farm. I often imagined driving home from seing relatives in Bensonhurst on the lit Belt Parkway each brick represented a hard-working family. As the Belt Parkway turned and swerved you could spot a family having dinner under a tan shade. I'd imagine theiir stories, theJewish, Italians,Irish Polish. all learning how to live n Brooklyn under an allegedly equal full moon. And I'd quiver. Why were there no Chinese, or blacks, or Puerto Ricans?

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Excellent point, Ernie. We all don’t start at the “starting line” and the full moon certainly isn’t divided into equal parts. Thanks for sharing that slice of life with me. It’s neat to hear about the history of where you grew up and the specific connections made with the red brick.

Thank you for reading!

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Nice one, Justin

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Thank you, Jim! I just started reading The Passenger by Cormac McCarthy the other day. The main character is a salvage diver and I couldn’t help but think of you. Hope all is well!

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I like the range of possibilities ... perhaps, from a storytellers point of view, the inner voice speaking to a tortured soul (while dark) holds a lot of interest. Nicely written ... pace, tone, and set up all on point!

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Thank you so much, Barrie! I agree. With it being so open-ended there are a lot of possibilities. I really like your idea about a writer’s inner voice - can totally see that!

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Hmmm. I had an impression of a guy sitting in a barstool talking to another guy. Not sure if that helps 😄

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I can definitely see this, Todd! I wasn’t sure where the two were carrying out their conversation, but I too was envisioning two men - they seem to be close friends.

Thanks a bunch for reading and commenting!

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I like this one as it makes me think of busting out of fear and uncertainty. Which is kinda something I struggle with a lot.

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I’m right there with you, Patricia. I think half the battle is simply acknowledging the fact that these are struggles in my life. Somehow it makes it easier to face them!

Thank you so much for reading!

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You can't overcome something if you don't admit it's there.

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