Everything changed ...
The day that ...35 total reviews
Comment from jessizero
Congratulations on winning the contest. I can see why your story won - it was well-written and very interesting. Yes, it is sad and disturbing, too. Thank you for sharing.
reply by the author on 04-Jun-2022
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Congratulations on winning the contest. I can see why your story won - it was well-written and very interesting. Yes, it is sad and disturbing, too. Thank you for sharing.
Comment Written 04-Jun-2022
reply by the author on 04-Jun-2022
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Thank you very much Jessi, for your words and for the congratulations. Much appreciated.
And yes it was a very sad distressing story.
Wendy
Comment from Mary Vigasin
First congratulations on your win. What a tragic story. Sure there was a time when we would go to pools or the beach without adult supervision and no one imagined that anything would happen to us. How sad and devastating for their parents. They must have waited, prayed and hoped for years that a knock on the door would come.
Best wishes,
Mary
reply by the author on 04-Jun-2022
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First congratulations on your win. What a tragic story. Sure there was a time when we would go to pools or the beach without adult supervision and no one imagined that anything would happen to us. How sad and devastating for their parents. They must have waited, prayed and hoped for years that a knock on the door would come.
Best wishes,
Mary
Comment Written 04-Jun-2022
reply by the author on 04-Jun-2022
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Thank you Mary for reviewing, and also for your congratulations. Yes, their lives were shattered.
Wendy
Comment from Judy Lawless
What a devastating story, Wendy! I'm sure any other family members would still be waiting for news of these children, something to give them hope, or at least closure. You've done an excellent job of sharing it.
reply by the author on 04-Jun-2022
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What a devastating story, Wendy! I'm sure any other family members would still be waiting for news of these children, something to give them hope, or at least closure. You've done an excellent job of sharing it.
Comment Written 04-Jun-2022
reply by the author on 04-Jun-2022
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Thanks so much Judy. An encouraging review. Yes you are right. The lack of closure is the worst. Their lives were just shattered. How do three children just vanish without any trace?
Wendy
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You?re most welcome, Wendy.
Comment from Cindy Decker 2
Wendy,
Your true story is very sad. And you tell it well.
How tragic that the parents had no closure.
Your ending is excellent, as you sun up your story well.
Good luck!
Best wishes, Cindy
reply by the author on 04-Jun-2022
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Wendy,
Your true story is very sad. And you tell it well.
How tragic that the parents had no closure.
Your ending is excellent, as you sun up your story well.
Good luck!
Best wishes, Cindy
Comment Written 03-Jun-2022
reply by the author on 04-Jun-2022
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Thank you so much for such a lovely review. Always appreciated. Yes, their lives were shattered.
Wendy
Comment from C2
Wendy,
What a sad but well-written story. As far back as '66 we were already losing our ability to allow children to enjoy that sweet period of innocence so necessary for healthy development. My two daughters were born in the late 80's and we never let them out of our sight--a loss for them they couldn't even fathom. You got my vote!
reply by the author on 03-Jun-2022
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Wendy,
What a sad but well-written story. As far back as '66 we were already losing our ability to allow children to enjoy that sweet period of innocence so necessary for healthy development. My two daughters were born in the late 80's and we never let them out of our sight--a loss for them they couldn't even fathom. You got my vote!
Comment Written 03-Jun-2022
reply by the author on 03-Jun-2022
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Thanks so much - for your understanding, and your lovely comments, and also for your vote! All much appreciated. Yes, all mine too, born in the early eighties, never knew what freedoms they missed out on.
Wendy
Comment from zanya
A heart-rending tale told with emotion and dignity of a seemingly innocent outing that ended in heartache - from another time when norms were different -
reply by the author on 03-Jun-2022
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A heart-rending tale told with emotion and dignity of a seemingly innocent outing that ended in heartache - from another time when norms were different -
Comment Written 03-Jun-2022
reply by the author on 03-Jun-2022
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Thank you so much for your exceptional rating and six stars. Greatly appreciated. Yes, norms were different then, and my children, and those of today never experienced such freedoms as we had - and never knew what they had missed. Sad.
Wendy
Comment from flylikeaneagle
Wendy: great awareness of stranger danger and not being supervised. I was always the fun mom since I had eyes and played with the kids including extra kids in the block. Too many parents are busy but children can get hurt or kidnapped. Amber Alerts are popular now. Have a great weekend with your eyes on your children. flylikeaneagle ************
reply by the author on 03-Jun-2022
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Wendy: great awareness of stranger danger and not being supervised. I was always the fun mom since I had eyes and played with the kids including extra kids in the block. Too many parents are busy but children can get hurt or kidnapped. Amber Alerts are popular now. Have a great weekend with your eyes on your children. flylikeaneagle ************
Comment Written 03-Jun-2022
reply by the author on 03-Jun-2022
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Thank you so much for this lovely review. I greatly appreciate the six stars too! Many thanks. We have had very few such abductions but that was the first and horrifying because of that, plus absolutely no clues except that a man had been seen playing with them. They think now he may have been grooming them on previous visits to the beach. No trace was ever found, no-one ever convicted. So sad.
Wendy
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Wendy: when my daughters were younger, I taught them to be careful of predators. They have blond hair and blue eyes which was rare in a land of dark hair and eyes. Children would be stolen and abused for sex trade per police reports. I changed their names to honey and bunny when we were in public. I was always watching and helped other children to have safety and fun. nancy
Comment from K. Lang-Slattery
This story is very touching and poignant. I love the way you connect your outing to the tragic outing of other three little girls. The lead up is a bit long (though I know you have to mention the friend going with you because of the prompt).... but as an independent piece, it would be better with less intro. The real story starts at paragraph three. Very well written.
I assume "We farewelled John" is an Aussie usage and thus ok. In American English it would be awkward to say someone "farewelled." We would say "said good-by" or "bid them farewell."
reply by the author on 03-Jun-2022
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This story is very touching and poignant. I love the way you connect your outing to the tragic outing of other three little girls. The lead up is a bit long (though I know you have to mention the friend going with you because of the prompt).... but as an independent piece, it would be better with less intro. The real story starts at paragraph three. Very well written.
I assume "We farewelled John" is an Aussie usage and thus ok. In American English it would be awkward to say someone "farewelled." We would say "said good-by" or "bid them farewell."
Comment Written 03-Jun-2022
reply by the author on 03-Jun-2022
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Thank you very much Kate, and you are right on all counts. Certain conditions had to be met for the prompt which included family and a friend (not sure why it couldn?t just be "an outing" by anybody. So I had to include enough about my own outing. Yes we do use the expression " farewelled". It?s funny the slightly different usage of words within the same language. Thanks for your thoughts.
Wendy
Comment from DragonSkulls
Great story, Wendy. It's a shame how sick this world is. I hope they didn't suffer by the hands of some sicko. Glad you and yours made it home safe. Excellent piece, W. I wish you the best of luck in the booth. I sure hope the same story repeated over and over and over again, with just a different death doesn't get all the friend votes as usual. We'll see. Have a great night, Wendy.
=]
Ron
reply by the author on 03-Jun-2022
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Great story, Wendy. It's a shame how sick this world is. I hope they didn't suffer by the hands of some sicko. Glad you and yours made it home safe. Excellent piece, W. I wish you the best of luck in the booth. I sure hope the same story repeated over and over and over again, with just a different death doesn't get all the friend votes as usual. We'll see. Have a great night, Wendy.
=]
Ron
Comment Written 03-Jun-2022
reply by the author on 03-Jun-2022
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Thanks Ron. I appreciate your fine review, and also your good wishes.
Wendy
Comment from GARY MACLEAN
Nicely told story
A few suggestions:
2nd Para, 5th sentence: "kilometres" should be "kilometers"
4th Para, 2nd sentence: remove comma (,) after "trees,"
15th Para, 1st sentence: "Eye witnesses" should be "Eyewitnesses"
Last Para, 1st sentence: add comma (,) after "Unfortunately"
How horrible. The "not knowing" is what would be the most treacherous. I certainly hope this was truly fiction.
This rating does not count towards story rating or author rank.
The highest and the lowest rating are not included in calculations.
reply by the author on 03-Jun-2022
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Nicely told story
A few suggestions:
2nd Para, 5th sentence: "kilometres" should be "kilometers"
4th Para, 2nd sentence: remove comma (,) after "trees,"
15th Para, 1st sentence: "Eye witnesses" should be "Eyewitnesses"
Last Para, 1st sentence: add comma (,) after "Unfortunately"
How horrible. The "not knowing" is what would be the most treacherous. I certainly hope this was truly fiction.
This rating does not count towards story rating or author rank.
The highest and the lowest rating are not included in calculations.
Comment Written 03-Jun-2022
reply by the author on 03-Jun-2022
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Thanks for your comments and suggestions, which I will look at. I am Australian and we spell the word "kilometre" (and "metre") etc. so for me it is correct as it is.
The second part of the story is entirely true and can be checked using the links given. The first part has a few small elements of fiction.
Wendy
