27 Comments
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Chloe Hope's avatar

Ooof, Jo 👏 This is fucking brilliant.

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Jo Candiano's avatar

Thanks, Chloe. The nurmurations are all thanks to you.

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Chloe Hope's avatar

Honoured 🙏 I also particularly loved “(or maybe they didn’t see me because I, too, was not real).”

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Chaipat Tira's avatar

I feel as if I am living vicariously through the experience. Very well-written!

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Jo Candiano's avatar

Thank you.

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Mel's avatar

Wow this one was very visual for me Jo 💗

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Jo Candiano's avatar

Thank you. Sometimes I feel that writing is like looking at one of those magic eye pictures that were all the rage in the 90s. You think, this is hard, I can't do it, then suddenly you see the hidden image and, once you do, it opens up to you. Those are the moments a writer longs for. Your feedback makes it all worthwhile.

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Mel's avatar

💗💗💗

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Jeff Willis's avatar

You've portrayed this in a way that made me feel you'd actually experienced this yourself. I can not fathom such loss and the entirety of emotion that would accompany it.

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Julie Dee's avatar

Brilliantly written. Conveys so many emotions.

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Ben Wakeman's avatar

Jo, you received perhaps the most painful job of any of us with this prompt. You handled an unimaginable heartbreak with such deft and feeling. Whoever owns the story behind this one must surely feel honored.

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Julie Gabrielli's avatar

Ohhhhh, Jo. This was tough. I think it was here that I felt where it was heading: “We knew all that and did nothing because we figured uni is meant to be about experimentation. We turned out fine, didn’t we?“ This hit too close to home. Beautifully written, the details and wry humor and imagery are stunning.

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Jo Candiano's avatar

Thanks, Julie. It was a tough prompt.

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Julie Gabrielli's avatar

I would’ve wanted to give it back. 😱

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Jo Candiano's avatar

I totally get it.

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Stephanie Sweeney's avatar

Devastatingly well done. You captured the ruminating over “ambiguities and disappointments” so poignantly.

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Jo Candiano's avatar

Thank you, Stephanie. It's always hard to know if you've managed to get what's in your head into the page.

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Ruth Stroud's avatar

Sad, brilliant story, Jo. Just broke my heart.

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Jo Candiano's avatar

Me too. Can you imagine?!

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Ruth Stroud's avatar

No, but you did so well that it hurt to read it.

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Rhiannon D'Averc's avatar

Heartbreaking.

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Jo Candiano's avatar

That's how I felt upon reading the prompt. What sadness.

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Jules's avatar

Always so fearless in the way you explore loss and pain. Great writing, Jo!

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Jo Candiano's avatar

I think I have a type... Pain and suffering, lol.

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Jules's avatar

Not at all - when you are funny you are hilarious. But you really are brave the way you tackle subjects like this. The detail is marvellous. It's all part of life's tapestry and a good writer can tackle anything. Some subjects make me want to run away and hide my head under a blanket but you are always in the vanguard. Bravo.

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Tim Connolly's avatar

Phew. Tough read. Glad I got through it though. I’m temporarily alone in our house with just our very old dog and the silence around me has a new meaning. Thank you for your writing

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Jo Candiano's avatar

Thank you, Tim. Silence is a major theme in my writing. I'm and only child with no kids, so it's a major theme in my life, too.

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