Discussion thread for "Category 5"




Spoilers below!!!





Spoilers below!!!





Spoilers below!!!

I'll start by saying that I'm not a surfer. I've never even been surfing (yes, I know -- almost sacrilege for an Australian). Even so, I found this surfing tale enthralling. There was enough jargon in it to drag me along, without so much that I would be dumped like a breaker.

The description of the Green Room was awesome!

The way the story ended had me going back to the start and reading again. The second time, I had an appreciation of detail that I didn't pick up on the first time. This is the mark of an excellent short story, and C James should be proud that he's achieved it. The detail and clues as to what was really going on were there from the start, but unnoticed (at least by me).

Overall, the story rang very true for me. The attitude of the surfers matched those of the Aussie surfers I've known, and Cody's wish for how to end things was perfect. I'm glad he didn't get his wish, though

CJ

So i have to say..... so far you and Viv made my day.. i mean hell your two stories are the only two i have seen yet, and i can't wait to read the rest.

Anyway just amazing Cj, at frist when you talked about the old lady, and how she warned Drake, the frist thing i thought about was Pele, the Hawaiian god of fire. When i was little i always heard stories about her, and how she would come to people's doors wearing old raggy clothes, and ask them for food and water. And how only 1 of the three houses she asked gave her food and water, but the man who did got a hint from her, she told him about a volcane that was going to irrupt and how he should place tee leaves all around his house to stay safe. Let's just say the story ends with him doing what she said and being the only house out of the 3 to make it....

Okay so getting back to the story, it was beatiful, Brillant, I would use more words, but i'm too stupid!!

The way Drake had to go out there and help him even though he knew they would never make it touched me soo much.

Great Job CJ i always look forward to your stories!!!

-LC

Who say Goats can't write??!! I'd like to rubber stamp Category 5's url link on their butts!!

Seriously, I thoroughly enjoyed the story even though I'm unfamiliar with the surfing jargon. The reveleation at the end was superb and was exactly Bollywood material!

The scene where Drake goes out to save Cody caught my breath...I mean my heart literally started racing in anticipation and concern of what would happen to the duo.

Great story!!!



The BeaStKid

Leave it to CJ to turn a rainy day theme into a Cat V hurricane!

CJ has two gears: Fast and Faster.

Superb story, CJ. Simply superb!

One thing though, who ever heard of two gay men getting underneath a matress??? That wasn't realistic for me at all.

Conner

I was afraid CJames would once again alienate the locals living where his stories take place. I don't know if he got an official stamp of approval from the Hawaii Board of Tourism, for his efforts at making it appealing, but I'm not surprised he got his facts right.


I had not seen this from this angle, but it makes me want to watch more Bollywood.
I thought that at last I had found a method to find a soul mate. Sadly enough, we have a few storms every once in a while over here, no hurricanes, no volcanoes. Moving a few hundreds of miles south, there are forest fires, which would be my best bet.

So guys, this is not only a nicely written story (read Graeme's review above, he manages to say all the clever literary things), this is a set of instructions on how to pick up guys. Down with the nightclubs, college campuses or even the occasional church youth group. Here is the best method to find yourself a cute, blond, shirtless boy friend.

1/ Find a dangerous activity. Surfing is OK, but of course kite-surfing, wind-surfing, rock climbing, parachuting, free-falling and all similar activities are OK. Cross-country biking or Formula 1 racing work too, but require greater skill and are more costly.
2/ Hang out for a while once you've become a master at this sport. You're getting to the tricky part.
3/ If you've been doing everything well, Fate will reward you. It always does. You should now spot a good-looking guy. DON'T COME OUT RIGHT AWAY. This would spoil the fun. Act shy, he will too. Get to know him, but don't be too blunt.
4/ The cute, lonely, weird-acting guy should be doing something reckless. Of course, as you haven't told him you liked him, and haven't been able to pick up the pieces of the jigsaw puzzle telling you he's gay too, and has trouble dealing with it, you haven't identified his suicidal tendencies. BUT, you feel love deep in your heart for him, which will help tremendously. So, he goes for his reckless suicide attempt. NOW HAS COME THE TIME TO MAKE YOUR MOVE. This is also a trial, or as they said in the Middle Age, an ordeal.
5/ Gather all your skills and experience, and just GO FOR IT. This is the hour of truth. If you've trained enough, and you have enough true feelings for him, the adrenalin rush and whatever magic power drives you will manage to have you save the guy. Then, having come close to death, he should collapse in your arms and reveal that he has had the hots for you too; your saving his life makes it all the more powerful than if you hadn't followed the advice in #3.
Of course, if you fail the ordeal, you'll rest six feet under a few days later.

But this method is 100% efficient and guarantees a life-long happiness and bliss if you go through the whole process unhurt.

So, to sum it up:
*a great story
*great guys
*great advice
*great surfing
*great sightseeing
*poor kids jeopardized by a goat (authors shouldn't threaten their characters with violent death, a law should be passed against this)

So, I heard, on good authority, that this was about the best thing you have written yet! So... I read, as I have a tendency to do, far too much sometimes... and it seems... well, suffice it to say that I believe the following to be true:

You write some of *the* MOST technically detailed stories that I have ever read. Accurate, descriptive, educational, they make me think that you have done whatever it is you are describing. That leads me to believe that either you have, or you have one hell of an imagination!

It seems like everything comes together in the end, plot wise, and there is your 'happily ever after' ending that I so love, but sometimes I feel like I'm more connected to your plots than your characters, if that makes sense. Normally, for me anyway, I connect with people, and the plot is just some small sliver of their lives that I happen to be privy to seeing, and in doing so, I feel and experience things right along with them. I'd love to see what you could do if you put as much detail into what your characters are thinking and feeling, rather than having the plot try to make us understand, but maybe that's just your style, too. Either way, I was quite impressed with your story and how broad it was with all the pieces fitting together beautifully in the end, as always.

Hugs!!
Viv

First, I must say that I am not a surfer and I have never been in a hurricane. However, I have sailed on windsurfer, in dinghies, on yachts up to 75feet(~20m). I have never been in a green room, but a green wall, is an unwelcomed friend. I have been trashed, in a 25 foot (8m) yacht, and on a windsurfer. That feeling of being with the sea, the companionship of the sea, the need to help even the foolhardy, the hopeless. How adrenaline helps makes the impossible, possible. The relief, that after escaping that reef, the beach is so soft.

I do not know if C James has experienced the above, but this story brings back good and bad memories. A wonderful story, thanks.

Red

This is definitely a great story CJ. You've outdone yourself with this one. It's more proof that a lurking, sunglasses wearing goat can write. I picked up quickly that Drake was going to at least make a new friend, let alone wind up rescuing someone in more ways than one.

I'm not a surfer either, but the description CJ gave made me feel like I was there.

Jan

I have to agree 100% with Viv. It doesn't matter if you are writing about a Cat 5 storm or explaining a repair to a car, you either have a very vast knowledge of much, or you do your research to the max. I actually read the first few paragraphs of the story and thought I maybe had something that you had missed in your research. As a kid, I learned in school that Hurricanes were in the Atlantic and Typhoons were in the Pacific, thus making the possibility of a hurricane impossible in Hawaii unless the islands floated through the Panama Canal. So, I paused and did some research and learned that in fact you were correct. It turns out that in North America we call all tropical cyclones as Hurricanes. Elsewhere in the world, it seems they are called Hurricanes, or Typhoons, or Cyclones depending on their origin. I know I'm babbling, but I guess I'm amazed that you probably knew all of this already.

As for the characters of the story, I was impressed with the bravery that Drake showed. He obviously sensed that there was something just not right with Cody. The first clue I picked up on was with the offered pop and sandwich for lunch. I love the way you throw in these little hints through out the beginning of the story, and they all fall in place at the end. It is always rewarding to re-read your stories and see what was missed the first time round.

Thanks for the enjoyable afternoon.

Steve

That was GGGGGGRRRR88888 CJ!

I actually started writing a Katrina story for this anthology but... I think it is too soon yet.

Katrina wasn't just a rainy summer day. It was a couple of rainy, terror filled stormy days in the dark and oppressive heat followed by weeks without power and the smell of dead things and rotting stuff from freezers. You can still see where the trees are torn up or were injured and finally dying.

Here's the REAL good part: we were 90 miles north of the coast and our area was still got its ass kicked and didn't get back to normal for six weeks.

I would have liked to have had a Drake or a Cody to hole up with.

Greame, thank you for the wonderful review.


Thanks LC!

I did base Apu-hau partly on Pele's mischievous nature. Good catch! The storm was based partially on Hurricane Iniki, though I meddled with the track a bit, plus made it present-day.



Thanks Beastkid!! It was a fun one to write.


Thanks Conner!!

And they had to do something with that mattress, right?

Thanks Bondwriter!!

Yes indeed, I do seem to have quite a few hazardous activities in my stories. In my 2006 summer anthology entry, the protagonists met when one was showing off his rock-climbing skills, only to end up proving, via gravity, that he was lacking in said skills.

Maybe I should compile all this into a list of "things to do to pick up guys" ?



Thanks Viv, and you do raise several good points; Yes, I'm a surfer (well, former); stated in high school and kept at it until I moved to Arizona. I do tend to write about things I've done, and places I've been, at least in part. I've been to Kauai, but the bay in the story is an invention, I couldn't say whether one exists on that coast that fits the description. I've certainly never surfed in a hurricane, either, LoL. The closest I've come to that is some of the big winter storms in California when i lived there.

I'll try and explore the thoughts and feelings of my characters a little more in future. With Cat5, I couldn't at first, especially with Cody, as that would have ruined the plot. But I could have during their sheltering from the storm. Drake I could have illustrated more at the beginning.

Thanks!!!


Thanks!

I haven't ever tried surfing in a hurricane (I amy be crazy, but not that crazy) but I used to surf. I've also had a few encounters with the "green wall" you mention; I used to race sale boats, 14 footers, and got caught in the Anicappa channel during a race once, by a very sudden change in sea conditions. Not fun.



Thanks Jan!!!
Drake eneded up rescuing someone, but he rescued himself in the process; courtesy of a meddling deity. LoL.

Thanks Steve!

I did miss one thing in the draft until I did some fact-checking; Central Pacific originating storms have HAwaiin names. I took the name for this one off their official name list. However, while drafting this out, I'd overlooked that fact, and the original name for the storm in the story was.. Steve.


Thanks James!!

Katrina, yowza, I know quite a few people who were scarred by that one. I'd imagine that it would be very difficult indeed to write about. I hope those scars, both real and psychological, are healing.

The level of detail made it feel very real, and that was a nice twist at the end.

Also, it was kind of cool that someone else did a hurricane story.

I'm sure that you had another certain Steve in mind when you were thinking of all the destruction and havoc when you were coming up with the name.

... _ _ _ ...

you guys are soo mean to poor steve#3 what did he ever do to y'all??

Thanks! I was sure delighted to see your story too; until yours came in mine was the only hurricane.



Well, you might say that..
But it just fit... After all, we have, officially, decided that he's to blame for everything from global warming to the sinking of the Titanic.



#3? We,, if this isn't proof of you evilness, what is.. I mean cloning yourself? Really... Tsk, tsk...

I have a question I'd like to ask everyone... Somethign that's been bugging me for some time.

A while back, Shadowgod used a few words of Spanish in a chapter of Living in Surreality that I betad. I was worried that no one would understand it unless they spoke Spanish, or at least knew what those words meant.

In CAT5, I had a similar situation with the surfing lingo; sure, I know what it means, but unless the reader has some familiarity with surfing, they likely won't, and I didn't define all of it in the narration. (Thus contradicting my own advice to Shadowgod, amongst other things).

I did try and tone it down; I ommitted leashes, sex wax, bullfrog, and a plethora of terms and context regarding the waves. I also "interpreted" rather than quoted the surf report; a real one would be a little harder to understand. The ones I heard in hawaii also included more local patois.

Anyway, what I'm wondering is, should I have omitted any surfing terms that I didn't define in the narration? For example, "Green Room" was defined, but "bottom turn" wasn't. I could have said "turning left at the base of the wave once I'd picked up enough speed" or something similar instead.

Also, should I have developed Drake's character a little more?

Thanks! And all comments, including of course criticism, are very welcome!!!

Sex wax??? And you left it out??? Now I'm pissed!

I'm not sure you're being fair to yourself in posing the question "did I put in too many surfer terms". Given the process you described for using surfer terms, I cannot fault you at all. If you had cut it back more than you did, you'd be faced with the opposing question - did I use enough. So I think you might be just chasing your tail on this one....and we goats have rather short tails. It's a very dizzying experience....even for people watching.

As for Drake's character development, yes, I believe more would have been better. Crush or not, this dude risked his life to save another human being. There aren't many of us in that category...well except for sexy firemen and RCMP officers.

So, tell me about sex wax?

Conner

Zog's Sex Wax Surfer's Essentials
Be warned sex wax is used to ensure you can grip the board

Check out his first anthology story: No Shirt? No Problem! which does include sex wax.

On the subject of jargon, I think CJ picked a good balance. You want to have enough to set the flavour and make the story/characters realistic, but not so much that the readers get lost. Most of the terms can be understood in context, even if all the nuances aren't appreciated. I've read stories than include quotes in foreign languages, but even though I didn't understand that language, it was clear from the context what was being said. This is the equivalent situation. What terms I may not have known, I grasped through the context.

A short story can be a challenge when it comes to character development. If you go too far, you can detract from the story itself. I always like to know more about characters, but I certainly don't think that Drake's character has been short-changed.

A real winner!!

As for your questions.....I think you used the perfect amount of lingo. Something like 'green room' was good to explain, and the way you did it added lot to the story....great description! Other terms like 'bottom turn' were fairly logical, at least in my opinion....besides describing that might have slown the flow down a bit.

As for character development more might have been nice but you are a bit restricted in a short story, and you had a good pace going. For me I think I identified enough with the character (probably mostly in my head) and thus everything he did made sense to me, at least from my perspective. Maybe by not developing his character more it allows the reader to use their imagination and bend his personality more to their own view point. I would have liked more but I don't expect that from a short like this.

I really enjoyed this one.....THANKS!!!!!

Greg

I haven't read the other comments, but I really liked the story. The images were vivid, the emotions real.

Although I do feel I have to say, it's spelled "haole".

Awesome story.

I liked the wee commercial, "...a slippery board is a bummer!"

I first had the opportunity to read a version of this some time ago. The hurricane in that version wasn't named Steve either, (Sorry Rabble Rouser, I don't know why they must be so insensitive). I also got to read a few other polished drafts as well.

The technical Jargon, for me, fit perfectly, but I do have a minimal working knowledge of surfing even though I mostly an inland guy myself. Going on that I didn't find it to oppressive, or lacking in enough "atmosphere" to tackle the story. Characterization, again as had been stated I would have liked to see Drake's character a little more, but I understand that size limits and choreography of Character interactions made that a hard hurdle to tackle.

Cody, I find Cody fascinating, even sort of enigmatic. I'll be the first to admit his entrance into the story staring stoically into the churning pacific did not give me a good feeling. His entrance into the story was almost ethereal in its prose. I honestly thought there would be no saving Cody from the first time I met him in the narration. I had a feeling he was one of those famous Hawaiian Phantom's that are said to stalk about the Islands.

As the story moved on my initial fears of the enigmatic surfer turned into something closer to restrained terror as it appeared Cody was more then a Phantom or possible siren luring Drake into a suicidal attempt of rescue.

See how my imagination gets away from me??

CJ's trademark action pace was there and drove the story as if a storm pushing inland, driving both the protagonists of the story and the reader into an endearing outcome.

I love it CJ, and I'll say it again I think it is the best thing you have written yet! A mighty fitting story for your anniversary of On line writing!

And the twist... , even though I kinda guessed it from the beginning, which only nurtured the initial feelings I had about Cody.

Awesome dude, just Awesome!

Steve

I had exactly the same fear and just wondered how CJ would get around killing his characters in the 1st person.

As for the character development issue, CJ seems to want to tell more about his characters through what they do. It works for me.

Hey CJ
Its the best story I ever red on GA .
As Shadowgod says :

BTW, tell us more about "Apu-hau". Anything to read about her ?

A really nice story. You seem to be really aware of the surfing stuff. The Hawaiian background was very present too. I lost myself a little amongst a few words but it's okay! It was nice reading about something I didn't know.



THANKS! Or else, it would have been very difficult for me. I managed to understand the Green room (Great description btw ) and some technical stuff flew by me. I know only one stuff about surf - surfers! But don't worry, I was able to read the story quite comfortably and really enjoyed it.

I would have loved to know more about Drake. As readers, we didn't learn much about him. But I understand that the accent was rather on the enigmatic Cody.

Great Story and Happy First Anniversary of On-Line writing!

Expecting more stories from you!
Ieshwar

Hi Conner!
Thanks! And you're right, I do sometimes chase my tail, but I beleive in playing to my strenths, and I'm good at chasing my tail.
As for the sex wax; thats explained in my summer, 200g anthology entry, "No Shirt? No Problem!"

And I might mention that another term for your board is your stick.

Thanks Graeme!!

I'm thinking now that I might have been able to open the story with Drake at school for a few paragraphs, and use them to develop him more. I don't think I could do it anywhere else; it would have altered the pace of the plot.



Hi Greg!! Thanks for reading!!! What I had in mind was for Drake's actions to define him, but I think a paragraph or two at the beginning might have helped.



Oops. Well, I could always, at this point, claim that I went with a phonetic spelling for clarity. I think that's a good reason, and a convincing thing to say. I'd also be lying my ass off. LoL.

Here's what happened; I wasn't sure how to spell "Haole", so I spelled it "howlie" and checked by googlig. Sure enough I got a few hit and they wer in context, so I figured I was ok. Nope, it just means I'm not the only one who can't spell it.

Thanks for reading, Matthew! I really tried hard on the imagery, glad you liked it.



Thanks Steve!!

Cody's slightly spooky impression at first was intentional. I dropped a few hints to his suicidal intent but worded them so they could be read that way too. His stoic stance was intended to be enigmatic, but also true to form; he was looking death in the eye. I did indeed hint that the rescue wouldn't succeed when Drake arrived, "almost in time", and they found themselves trapped by the waves. Then came Apu-hau's advice, which Drake had thought meant to stay put in the house; "Ride it out".

Thanks Steve!!



I do indeed try and develop my character based on what they do; it's really the only way I know how. I've always, in real life, gotten a far better "read" on a person by what they do rather than what they say, so to me it's more natural to show the character via actions. However, a an extra quirk or mannerism might have helped. I couldn't get into his background, as that needed to be veiled until later in the story and brief at that point due to plot pacing.

Thanks Bondwriter!!!

Wow... Thanks Bob, that rendered me speechless (a very difficult task indeed.)

All I know of apu-hau is that Apu-hau is the Hawaiian god of Storms and hurricanes, and one of the eleven cloud-children of Tawhiri.
I couldn;t fina any actual legends online, so I took a few enormous liberties. The biggest is that Apu-hau is usually refered to as male, but in my story, female. I figured that gender was rather meingingless to a god, when they can appear in any form whatsoever.

Thanks Ieshwar!!!

Yep, Cody was more the focus. The surfing background and Hawaii was easy for me; I used to surf, and I've been to Hawaii quite a few times. (including on surf safari).

Thanks especially about the green room. It's darn hard to put it into words; it's an incredible feeling to be in one.
Thanks!!
CJ

Just wanted to say, I thought of this story again today when I saw a guy at the gym wearing a Sex Wax shirt.

Brilliant mate, brilliant!

Camy

Thanks Sonoluminus!
I've seen those before; they always make me smile; especially the double-takes I see them get.


Thanks Camy!!

I was a fun one to write. I was wondering what would work for a rainy day story, and it occurred to me that a hurricane would suffice. moments late, I had the plot to Cat5. It was a fun one to write in another way, it bought back a lot of memories of surfing. Dang it, the next time I'm near a decent beach, I'm hitting the waves again. My one remaining board has been gathering dust for nearly five years, so it's high time I went out again. I'm probably so rusty that I'll get nothing but face plants and sand facials, but I gotta try. LoL

Absolutely brilliant, CJ!

I'm not a surfer; never have been and, sadly, never will be at my time of life. The closest I have ever come to anything remotely similar has been riding small waves in a kayak off the northwest coast of England (over 35 years ago now)

But I was completely drawn in. Your descriptions were so vivid, that I could almost imagine that I was actually on the board with Drake.

You are one with the sea, part of it, the deep roar and the sensation of speed combining, reminding you that all visits to the Green Room are, by their very nature, brief.

Just one of the many descriptions that caught my imagination as I was reading.


I have to agree. It's probably the best short story I've read on here, anyway.

Marty

Thanks Marty!!

Using descriptions is something I've been trying to work on, and Shadowgod has been trying to teach me... I'm glad you liked it, and thanks very much for reading and commenting!

It was a fun story to write; it just sort of popped into my head, fully formed (thus proving the old adage that nature abhors a vacuum).
CJ

Don't be silly .We know that you have no brain in your head and you cann't be the real writer of your stories .
I want to know !!!
Who is behind you ?
Who is the real writer ?
From where come your stories ?

Surely you know by now -- shadowgod is to blame for everything! CJ even admitted as much above:



This is how shadowgod gets around the restriction on only having one entry per anthology -- he uses CJ to submit another story for him

So Shadowgod is the one who's interested in shirtless blond surfer boys? I should have known!

That clear things a lot...hmmm...I mentioned in my praise that goats know how to write stories....I better rethink it....roflmao!!

Hrmmmm, well, you know the old saying, something to do with letting a monkey flail away at a keyboard and, given infinite time, eventually he'll write King Lear? Well, put a goat in front of a keyboard for long enough and...



Grumble grumble grumble...

I'm sorry, but Shadowgod is only to blame for bad things, and as you have already said you liked the story, you can't now say it's bad.



Hrmmmm... I shall have to remember this "blame shadowgod" angle for the next time I write a story that flops...



Awwww... It's not easy being a goat who writes... usually, when critics decide to decide to roast an author, they mean it figuratively; with me, they start firing up the grill!

Grill??? Honestly.... grills are for suburban Dads with aprons that either read kiss the cook or have the visage of an abnomally large breasted woman from the neck down. Round these parts we use a spit

Or, in keeping with the Hawaii theme, may I suggest a Luau. Serving goat instead of pig

Maybe we can tie in a pool party with it too!!

or a tandoor...lol

ACK!!! Now, now, you wouldn't want to do that to poor, innocent me, now would ya, old pal, old, buddy? (or is that just plain old old, given that today is your birthday? )


A luau sounds good, provided I'm not on the menu! I'm allergic to hot rocks, ya know...



ACK! Talk about turning up the heat!

Food cooked in the tandoor tastes awesome...but then, you Western people wouldn't enjoy it too much...for it's too spicy. But us Punjabis devour spicy food...lol

The BeaStKid

In the American South West, they love hot peppers. So do I. And we have evolved in the West, we tend to like spicier foods. Now what spices would you use for goat/ lamb? There's a cookbook dedicated to this in Dom Luka's forum. (Yes, I know we're getting off topic!)

CJ! This was truly a masterful short story. I think you did almost everything just right.

I appreciated not knowing a lot about the characters. With no background info, it feels like you are meeting the characters as they would have met in the story itself. It also let me decide or envision what they looked like in a way that was perfect for me.

I loved how you let us in on Cody. Your description didn't say a lot but I still got the feeling that something was wrong.

The description of Drakes jump into the ocean was bril! I could see myself there. Stomach in knots. Knowing I was doing something stupid but not able to not do it as well.

The surfer jargon was fine. It was enough to show you knew what you were talking about but not enough to be overwhelming.

Great job!

Lol! I love Tandori! I also love Indian food; I spend a lot of time in the UK, and the Indian food there is superb. Hrmmm, I'm craving a good curry, some Naan bread, and a side of Samosas right about now...



Indeed; I couldn't exist without New Mexico chili powder, or Arbol salsa.

And why oh why have recipies for goat become so popular around here?




Thanks!!!

You're right, I did write Cody as he'd appear through Drake's eyes. I kept the descriptions of Cody to a minimum, wording it so that the reader would pick up that something was amiss, but not quite what.

The jump into the ocean was based on seeing surfers do just that off a rocky point; timing the waves so the backreflection pulls them clear once they jump in from a height. It wasn't that much of a height and no hurricane, though, but I think it's at lease marginally possible, at least that was my hope.

Great story! As always I love your characters. The way you introduced Cody was briliant. The amount of surfing terms was perfect. It was just enough to make the characters believable but not enough to confuse non-surfers.

There is a special Masala called the Garam Masala used for making mutton delicious here in India---



We also use turmeric powder for colour and garlic, ginger, cumin, cayenne pepper, coriander & tamarind chutney for flavours....

The BeaStKid

Garam Masala has lots of uses, I'm fond of it in a lot of things. It makes one heck of a good BBQ marinade when combined with italian dressing.

One thing I can't get over here; Ghee butter.



Thanks!

I had to keep Cody a little mysterious; I wanted the reader to pick up that something was wrong there, but not what.

That can always be made at home with fresh milk...but I guess bottled milk would be more popular at your side??

Yep, no way that I know of to get fresh milk here, though maybe a health store would carry it.

I'd like to thank everyone who has participated in this thread; I've had a lot of fun, and I'm glad you liked Category 5.
Thanks!!!!
CJ