Comments on 'Places Gone By'The warm Carolina breeze kisses my cheek as I walk down the familiar road, now grown unfamiliar with intervening years. This is the place. Isn't this the place?
Sunlight glints off the razor wire, at once menacing and comforting, as I turn into the woods on a worn path. I feel keenly the roots and ruts through my Converse, worn and faded like my memories of this place, this sanctuary of imagination.
We called it 'Yoda's Hut', a hollow under sturdy roots. I smile, hearing in my mind's ear our childish laughter. When did I stop laughing? I taste it again, the salty rush in the back of my throat. I choke it back. Real men don't cry, nor do they sniffle.
There it is, looking so small and insignificant now. But the smell is there, earthy and moist. It smells like play, messy abandon for the sake of fun. It smells like childhood.
But I look around, no children here. Barely twelve, and I see that life goes on. You can't go back. You can't recapture youth, not even in this place, not anywhere.2008-01-30T20:45:26Zhttp://ficlets.com/feed/story/18559Comment on Places Gone By<p>wow that was, truly amazing- i almost cried</p>http://ficlets.com/stories/18559?basename=375222008-01-30T20:45:26ZDr. Lewhttp://ficlets.com/authors/shannahComment on Places Gone By<p>wow that was, truly amazing- i almost cried</p>http://ficlets.com/stories/18559?basename=375212008-01-30T20:45:19ZDr. Lewhttp://ficlets.com/authors/shannahComment on Places Gone By<p>Wow, doesn’t get any better than Saint Chuck’s praise right there, though I should confess that I’ve written plenty of bad, bad things. Just as my junior high guidance counselor.</p>http://ficlets.com/stories/18559?basename=357662008-01-22T18:30:35ZTHX 0477http://ficlets.com/authors/thx_0477Comment on Places Gone By<p>Everybody seems to have said all there is to say. So let me simply ask: can you write anything bad? That might be a new challenge for you…</p>http://ficlets.com/stories/18559?basename=357602008-01-22T16:40:18ZSaint Chuckhttp://ficlets.com/authors/chuck_theloveComment on Places Gone By<p>Very nicely captures the pain of leaving childhood behind. There are so many things to look forward too, but God, it’s hard looking back…</p>http://ficlets.com/stories/18559?basename=357422008-01-22T08:20:16ZBatak Beatrixhttp://ficlets.com/authors/batakbeatrixComment on Places Gone By<p>Nice. Needs more description. Also needs a hook. Why should I read this story?</p>http://ficlets.com/stories/18559?basename=355812008-01-21T05:07:58ZHeygabehttp://ficlets.com/authors/heygabeComment on Places Gone By<p>ya congrats on featured ficlet!!!!!</p>http://ficlets.com/stories/18559?basename=354492008-01-20T14:17:30ZBlusparrowhttp://ficlets.com/authors/blusparrowComment on Places Gone By<p>Hey, it’s the Featured Ficlet!! Congrats!!</p>http://ficlets.com/stories/18559?basename=353052008-01-19T15:51:09Zemma jo_234http://ficlets.com/authors/emmajComment on Places Gone By<p>thats beautiful, amazing</p>http://ficlets.com/stories/18559?basename=351252008-01-18T08:52:21Zwytherwingshttp://ficlets.com/authors/wytherwingsComment on Places Gone By<p>The part about being a bad writer was meant with heavy sarcasm.</p>http://ficlets.com/stories/18559?basename=349512008-01-17T05:14:06ZTad Winslowhttp://ficlets.com/authors/tjdComment on Places Gone By<p>I’m lucky to still have friends that I grew up with, they help me recapture my youth if only a little, not entirely. Here’s a surprise comment I’m sure you’ve never heard before because you aren’t that good of a storyspeller <<<<< That was a tremendous ficlet!</p>http://ficlets.com/stories/18559?basename=349502008-01-17T05:12:48ZTad Winslowhttp://ficlets.com/authors/tjdComment on Places Gone By<p>Oh, wow. Beautiful. It’s things like this that make me afraid of growing up too fast. Imagine getting so involved and emotional over a story. Now <em>that’s</em> what I call “good writing.”</p>http://ficlets.com/stories/18559?basename=348732008-01-16T23:11:20Zemma jo_234http://ficlets.com/authors/emmajComment on Places Gone By<p>This is amazing. I seriously have to bookmark it, it’s one of the best things I’ve ever read.<br />LoA</p>http://ficlets.com/stories/18559?basename=348422008-01-16T21:36:21ZStorykeeper of Faehttp://ficlets.com/authors/smileComment on Places Gone By<p>Rather mature soul searching for a twelve-year-old, but then we do grow up fast down here. Thomas Wolfe was and still is right.</p>http://ficlets.com/stories/18559?basename=348242008-01-16T20:16:51ZEckhousehttp://ficlets.com/authors/eckhouseComment on Places Gone By<p>aww that is so cool!<br />I wish I had a “Yoda’s hut” when I was a little kid!</p>http://ficlets.com/stories/18559?basename=348232008-01-16T20:16:24ZBlusparrowhttp://ficlets.com/authors/blusparrowComment on Places Gone By<p>you paint a vivid picture, my minds eye sees and feels what you wrote, a piece of childhood, a wonderful memory thats lasts a lifetime, funny how going back to places you can hear/see/taste what it was like in a diffrent time in your life. Would that I couold stop time, or as the song goes, save time in a bottle, you did a great job of captureing a time and place.</p>http://ficlets.com/stories/18559?basename=348222008-01-16T20:15:50ZSKermitgorfhttp://ficlets.com/authors/kermitgorfComment on Places Gone By<p>wow. I could really see what your ‘Yoda’s Hut.’ And I can see a boy walking up, remembering playing insdie of it. Nice job.<br />LoA</p>http://ficlets.com/stories/18559?basename=347812008-01-16T03:02:08Z.:band baby:.http://ficlets.com/authors/bandbabyComment on Places Gone By<p>I like ‘When did I stop laughing?”. I wish I could go back to the little haven in the woods I had growing up, but alas, coal mines. I can smell your story, fabulous! And the last line is the best!</p>http://ficlets.com/stories/18559?basename=347772008-01-16T02:40:17ZMistress Elsha Hawkhttp://ficlets.com/authors/mistress_elsha_hawkComment on Places Gone By<p>I did the same challenge—it seems we wrote ours in similar veins. Yours is absolutely amazing. I love it. Especially since with the line “We called it ‘Yoda’s Hut’” I have a very exact picture of what the place looks like.</p>
<p>Good job. :)</p>http://ficlets.com/stories/18559?basename=347642008-01-16T01:32:14Zpie_is_goodhttp://ficlets.com/authors/pie_is_good