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Topic Summary

Posted by: Zyngaru
« on: October 20, 2025, 08:48:03 am »

Quote from: David M. Katz on October 17, 2025, 04:09:39 pm
Not sure where the confusion is. Adam is not in 4H and Herman is not a 4H project. The story says nothing about 4H and makes clear a happy outcome for Herman.

DMK.

I wrote that before even reading the story.  It was just my first impression.  Farm boy and pig.

I now have read the story and loved it.  Nothing 4-H in this story.  This is about the pure love between a boy and his pet.  That love is true whatever the pet may be.  Never personally experienced it myself, but have witnessed it with other boys.  Which is why a boy will run out into the street in front of traffic to save his puppy.  Herman is lucky to have a boy like Adam and Adam is lucky to have a pet like Herman.
Posted by: David M. Katz
« on: October 17, 2025, 04:09:39 pm »

Not sure where the confusion is. Adam is not in 4H and Herman is not a 4H project. The story says nothing about 4H and makes clear a happy outcome for Herman.
Posted by: Zyngaru
« on: October 17, 2025, 04:02:39 pm »

Quote from: afinch on October 16, 2025, 04:16:17 pm
David, I loved the story.

Z, aren't 4H livestock always raised to be sold for slaughter to the highest bidder?  That makes them not really pets, but something else, making their raising and sale traumatic for some, perhaps many, 4H kids.  A former farmer acquaintance's 10 year old was devastated when his 4H project, a lamb, became family dinner.

You are correct that most animals in 4-H are bid on or sold outright.  Usually, to be meat for a home or store.  Not all of course.  No absolutes on anything.  But unless the kid is new to 4-H, they know the end to their animal.  Heck, even just animals they raise on the farm get eaten at some point.  Now, kids being kids, they still make the animals pets and care for them as pets.  It's life on a farm.  Raise and eat.
Posted by: afinch
« on: October 16, 2025, 04:16:17 pm »

David, I loved the story.

Z, aren't 4H livestock always raised to be sold for slaughter to the highest bidder?  That makes them not really pets, but something else, making their raising and sale traumatic for some, perhaps many, 4H kids.  A former farmer acquaintance's 10 year old was devastated when his 4H project, a lamb, became family dinner.
Posted by: Zyngaru
« on: October 16, 2025, 10:57:41 am »

Ah!  Farm boys and their pet 4-H animals.

For those not from rural America.  4-H is an agricultural organization especially for young people.  One of their activities is raising an animal to be displayed at the county and sometimes state fairs at the end of summer.  These kids take extra care for these animals.  They not only feed and water their pets but groom them and some even sleep with them.  They get really attached.  So, it would be very logical for Adam to think first for his pet and his pet's well-being.
Posted by: David M. Katz
« on: October 15, 2025, 12:17:12 pm »

https://malespank.net/viewStory.php?id=59584

There is an image discussion on the AI forum at MMSA that I will give the link to: viewtopic.php?f=30&t=10278.

Here is the image:



 The AI created a look of sheer terror on his face - rightfully so. I began to muse wondering what if his "oh s-hit" moment was less about running from the tornado than it was about running to something.

So, I wondered what he could be running to. Several things came to mind but I settled on a pet. I then decided that the pet would be a rescued piglet.

I started this story in mid-August and kept hating it. I could not get the opening right. I hated the boy i had written and hated his father even more. I could not even settle on why he was running across a field with a tornado in pursuit. I dumped my entire draft three times. Finally, I started writing on it again and came up with reasonable to me solutions to all of that. I had a boy and a family, including Dad, that I liked. The flow seemed somewhat logical albeit with a few rough spots. I set the story in 1979 to make things feel more realistic to me.

Speaking of rough spots - I always have them in every story I write. They are always a combo of typos, spelling errors, punctuation errors, continuity errors and illogical flow. That is why I always like to have an editor and one who will be brutally honest with me. Several have helped over the years: St. George/Kat, Skater, Jack Wells, Trixie, PaddleMe, PJFranklin and Adric. For the past three years or so, I have relied mostly on Skip Trace to be my go to editor. Skip proved his worth again with this story smoothing out the rough spots. After the edits are done, i then usually send a draft to 3 or 4 other authors I am close with to give me more brutally honest opinions. If you have ever gotten a draft from me pre-release then you know who you are. I believe that it is absolutely crucial to have another set of eyes, or multiple sets, look at a story before it is submitted. If you do not have said set of eyes then find one.

Back to the story, 12-year-old Adam lives on a Nebraska farm with his parents and a younger brother and it is 1979. It is a regular Saturday of farm life until it isn't. Everything changes when a sudden tornado hits the farm. Adam's only fear is for the well-being of his pet piglet, Herman. The story progresses and we learn a lot about Adam's father and his strength of character. The story is told from the POV of a now adult Adam, a practicing attorney.

Thanks for considering it.