Read time: 6 minutes (3 times through to try some different options)
I hadn’t played this one of yours before! My favorite aspect of this piece is how powerful the small amount of text is in generating a lot of implications. It’s so much like realistic, very human conversation where people talk about things indirectly and not in an expository way as you often see in fiction. The writing trusts that the reader will pick up on the hints and cues to get a pretty clear image of the situation. Is my personal interpretation of the events described precisely, exactly correct? Maybe not, but I feel like I am pretty close to the mark after thinking about what I read. The Dialogue Jam restraint is interesting here in how it strips away other types of indicators of tone (for instance, description of body language or facial expressions) and yet, it’s clear based on the silences/pauses/obfuscation how Theomer and Heron are feeling throughout the scene.
Take care,
DemonApologist