I wrote this really fantastic long post last night regarding your story and how much I loved it and how beautifully you wrote and guess what? It all disappeared as I was thrown off the internet by some unknown force; and I turned off the computer without logging out.
So now if anybody looked into what I was doing on CAA they would see that I was stuck viewing the forum list for over 14 hours.
Okay, enough of that. Hi, Kokoro. My daughter, chibi_chan here, bugged me for the last few days to read your story. She promised me it was really good. Well, I don't usually read fantasy. *boo, hiss from the crowd* Yes, I'm pretty much a fan of David McCollugh, Amy Tan, Beth Moore and various other writers in that vein. So, when she forced me to read another fantasy story I was like, "urgh, okay."
However, I was happy to see how well-written this story was. I was impressed by how you intertwined metaphor and passive and active voice. Your dialogue had movement and wasn't stalemate, like many young writers. Your characters developed their own characteristics and weren't flat. I really liked Dredd's little Fishy. He was a neat little bonus to Dredd's personality. I feel like a judge on American Idol when they finally hear someone who can sing.
Great job. When will you be writing more?
Oh yes, I also commented on the dream sequence at the beginning. Dream beginnings usually get tossed in the slush pile by editors since it's been
way overused by new writers. That's what I've heard. So, you might want to reconsider your beginning and make it a back story later on in your piece, especially if you're serious about sending this out for publication.
Anyhoos, good stuff.