Have you ever read a first chapter and decided to read on immediately, or maybe later, or just skip the whole thing?

I just started reading a story by Cole Parker called Dominos over at Awesome Dude. I know some people don't care for Cole's type of stories, I do like them myself.

Putting that aside, you have to read the first chapter of his new serial. I can not think of a better way to grab a readers attention through an interesting topic, a building end, and then whamo, the shock you never suspected.

Check it out here.

Let me know what you think ?

Steve

I read ALL of Cole Parker's work - and I've told him so.

I found Domino's right away on Dude's site as soon as it posted, so I'll read it regularly as it comes out.

I love his work - he captivates me.

A warning - Chapter Three has an UGLY cliffhanger!! One of the toughest I've seen in a while! ARRRGGGGHHH

LOL

But enjoy - I certainly am!

George

I found that this story is one that I found difficult to speculate future events on. It's so appropriately titled!

...........Chapter ones ending had me LMAO, I have always liked Cole's stories, I agree chapter 3 had a hell of a cliffhanger.

I wonder if Cole has talked with CJ?

Chapter 3 is a doozy.

Who do you think is possibly dead? Jake or Jeremy?

..........If he talked to CJ (Barbara) then no one is dead Personally, I don't think anyone died here!

I need chapter 4.

I think that if anyone dies, it would be Jake because of the mutiple head injuries. And also because of the title -- Dominos -- tip one and everything comes crashing down.

.............Interesting enough my take on the 'domino effect' was opposite, the injuries inflicted by the stupid bully starts the crash the other way. I believe the 'Intolerance' is tip one of the domino effect.

I too think that it is way too early to be killing off one of the two main characters so far.

Interesting that a Domino piece is called a 'bone'. I wonder if there is any broken bones after Chp. 3? If so, wouldn't this throw the domino effect into chaos?

Nobody is dead ! The story has to go on, and can't without the two friends alive .
What I really dont understand, but it is certainly necessary for such a cliffhanger, that nobody in the crowd around tried to fight against the bully. Are usually american children coward ?
Old bob

B) ...........(Defending American Children) I would assume that;
1) This is a story that could have happened anywhere.
2) It happened in a homophobic town.
3) The kids were too scared of the bully to interfer.
4) Like looky-loos that slow down and look at the aftermath of an accident. They wanted to see the 'action'.

Funny that it must be an 54 old man who feeled himself attacked by my provocative comment .
Ben, I suppose the next chapters will show that you are right
Anyway, my real question is : could this real happen today in USA without any reaction of the other students ?
In Europe, at least in french speaking Europe, I cannt imagine it.

Funny that it must be an 54 old man who feeled himself attacked by my provocative comment .
Ben, I suppose the next chapters will show that you are right
Anyway, my real question is : could this real happen today in USA without any reaction of the other students ?
In Europe, at least in french speaking Europe, I cannt imagine it.

.....Sadly, I believe it could happen anywhere, even in French speaking Europe. A 14 year old feels sexually threatened by an openly out gay kid and shoots him in the head in class. Happened in California a while back, students protested the shooting afterward.

What you should do, is open a thread on the very question you posed, direct to students. As this 54, soon to be 55 year old can only imagine what is was like when I went to school, not today's schools.

I agree with Benji. This story can happen anywhere, wherever there's hate and bigotry.

Going back to the story...

I felt that this is more of a story about the town and not really Jake or Jeremy. But, I guess, the next chapters would prove if I am wrong.

I do hope Jake and Jeremy stays alive.

I read the entire story and thought it was excellent. A bit heavy-handed, perhaps, but well done nonetheless.

I just wanted to comment on something Old Bob said:



Yes, sadly, things like this *could* and *do* happen... and not only in the US. In Canada, too. And in Europe. (Yes, Bob, even in French-speaking Europe). And certainly not only against kids who are gay. Kids get beat up and bullied for all sorts of reasons and for no reasons at all. Religion. Skin colour. Just being shy or timid or not good at sports or socially awkward or anything that could be considered "different". Sometimes the bullying takes the form of physical abuse, or beating up kids, or stealing from them. More often, it's verbal abuse and social rejection and isolation, which can be every bit as difficult.

I've seen it, witnessed it, been one of the people described in "Dominos" as "complacent" in it, and yes, even been a victim of it from time to time. I'm not proud of any of those things, because we're all the cause and we're all the effect. We're all dominoes in the chain, in other words.

I also think it happens more often than you'd care to admit, even among adults, that people don't intervene when they see something like this going on. The Genovese syndrome in action. People naturally don't intervene when someone is getting attacked because (a) they feel it's someone else's responsibility, (b) they're afraid of the consequences to themselves of getting involved, and © some perverse part of them is more interested in the entertainment value of what's going on than in the fact that someone is getting hurt.

I fully agree with you, but my comment concerned only gay children in school, and not all other cases (religion, social positions, aso). And I'm still thinking this antigay bullying in french schools without intervention of other people doesnt happen very often !