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Martin Mc Carthy's avatar

My God, Tommy, how lucky can a guy get to be in a position to write lines such as these: "Having one girl who I knew wanted me, allowing/encouraging me to kiss another girl who seemed to want me as well. It didn’t go any further that night, but those kisses planted a seed."

The gods were no doubt smiling on you, leading you someplace you had to go, (to 'Corina, Corina', to quote Mr Dylan) away from your violent mother. This is a fine, realistic love story, wonderfully told.

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Tommy Swerdlow's avatar

Thanks Martin. She was emotionally violent. Don't want make like she burned with an iron. But luckily (as you said) I found some other girls to be a little nicer to me.

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Martin Mc Carthy's avatar

Tommy, you should seriously consider writing a novel. You've got a great natural flowing prose style in the mould of Kerouac or Henry Miller.

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Anna Schott's avatar

I'm so impressed by your ability to go back and write about stuff like this. It's totally terrific.

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Tommy Swerdlow's avatar

Thanks Anna. I remember a lot and what I don't remember exactly I remember the feeling of.

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Renee Missel's avatar

Terrific story that captures the feverish sexuality of the teens years. Words left unsaid, interpreted gestures that fuelled our desire. I also remember the seeds planted by a 17 y.o. boy in Montreal years ago. My whole family moved shortly thereafter, so years later i looked for him to find out he had died in a motorcycle accident. I still regret not responding at the time. Your story brings back those romantic feelings. So powerful.

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Tommy Swerdlow's avatar

Feverish, even in Canada. My goodness. That's a sad story, Renee. You definitely should have responded to a boy who with a motorcycle. Different times, those years, we were flinging ourselves as at adulthood.

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Renee Missel's avatar

I think "feverish desire" happens to most teens even in freezing Canada. lol.

He did not have a motorcycle when i knew him. But he was important in my life when i was 15 and 16. He taught me how to hold my head high when a scandal involving my father changed my life completely. Changed my life for the better in the long run . I may not have ended up in the film business without that event. Who knows?

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Chris Nathan's avatar

This is so astonishingly true. My teenage romantic life could not have been further away from yours and yet… there it is. I know that 16 year old.

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Tommy Swerdlow's avatar

Love that Chris. Glad you felt it like that.

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Kyle11strand@gmail.com's avatar

To-may, myyyyy man! You got it down! That was truly beautiful. I was there with you. You took me there. Felt like the last exit to Brooklyn, the way Selby would bring you in the room with him and you can't get out, you want to leave but you can't unglue your eyes from the page...well phone. Lol. Get this on paper! It deserves it. I want to hold it in my hands.❤️ Strange

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Tommy Swerdlow's avatar

Thanks K Strange.Good to know your reading between your shifts at the rodeo.

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Renee Missel's avatar

Tommy, now that we’re hooked, what happened to Corina?

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Tommy Swerdlow's avatar

That's a sad story with a lot of abuse and trauma that I didn't understand til recently. She got very ill and past away in her early 50s, her twin sister, soon after.

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Renee Missel's avatar

Wow, very sad indeed.

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Geraldine A. V. Hughes's avatar

Wow, a peek up close and personal, a short blast! Fodder for the imagination, Sir Tommy. Merry Autumn, GAV

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Tommy Swerdlow's avatar

Up close and long ago.

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