Ludub

I wasn't drinking tea, but had I been, I'm sure I would have!

Nice little scene between Alf and Jimmy, and I liked Jimmy using 'flaming galah' to talk about Alf, haha!

Ohhh my god! Thank you so much for this... I am crying laughing (literally) I would love it if Nate died and they put that as his epitaph 'Nate Cooper, 'Bit of a tit'. and this! Those are some pretty good first date questions right there! The question is, what would Ricky prefer the answer to be? lol! Matt getting turned on by her breastfeeding is pretty funny too. Loved Zac getting side-tracked talking about his zipper, and the fact that he has no idea when his birthday is! haha! Seriously, this story is brilliant! Keep it coming!

Haha! Fatastic! Poor Zac! He's just not up for it at all is he?! Leah rubbing herself all over him, and getting a bit handsy, when all he wants is his toasty slippers! Glad he likes Alf's fish for dinner so much. He'd have a pretty good deal in this marriage if Leah wasn't quite so keen on a bit of rumpy pumpy! lol! Love Zac using the speed dating as a perfect opportunity to talk to Tori about his lack of libido lol! Really looking forward to the next update! x

You're absolutely right. I don't disagree with anything you said. If it were real then their lives were effectively over the moment Josh admitted to Kat what he'd done. In the real world a life on the run wouldnt be worth living, but neither would life in prison. Either way he'll turn out a career criminal. I think the Thelma and Louise option is really the only attractive option. Headscarves and all (Disclaimer - My story isn't set in the real world so I can't guarantee it'll be bound by the strictures of reality (with all the misery that that entails) You may still want to hunt me down and strangle me when this is finished )

Oh my god! I nearly spat my tea out at 'lady knickers'! Love love love it! This is one of the best things I've read in a while. Maddy trying to escape Matt, Zac hoping that his sex starved wife will let him do a spot of reading and not bother him too much, and Oscar fantasising about anything in a skirt. Delightfully nuts! Thanks for brightening up my Friday!

That was absolutely brilliant! Certainly put a smile on my face! Loved the idea of Leah wanting to go at it and clearly being disappointed in the prowess of her 'gorgeous husband Zac'! Matt being enough of a plonker to bring his guitar with him to speed dating and asking Maddy as a conversation opener how she lost her arm. So funny! Evie just throwing herself at Josh because she likes a bad boy! Really looking forward to the next chapter x

I don't think anyone who has spent 25 years in prison has even the slightest chance of a 'normal life' when they're released. Not much of one anyway. Our society isn't set up to rehabilitate people and certainly isn't very forgiving. He would come out of prison with no understanding of how to make it in the real world and very little support to do so. The only people who would still know him or want anything to do with him (maybe) are other ex criminals. Who wants to hire a 45 year old convicted murderer (with no qualifications or work experience)? It's the reason so many people reoffend. There are so few options open to you. This is all assuming that you're not so institutionalised by your experiences in prison that you really can't cope with life on the outside. People have been dictating your miserable life in the most rigid and structured of ways for your entire adult life. How do you deal with not having that anymore? And then there's the physical violence element that's very real in prison life. I think it's very unlikely that Josh would emerge from 25 years in custody a better adjusted person or any better at controlling his temper. It's much more likely that living in that type of environment would lead to serious behavioural problems, and again, he'd be more likely to reoffend. Or, depending on what happened to him in there, he might just be too traumatised to make it his full sentence. He might not survive 25 years. I wasn't saying I'd want to go on the run. I said I'd rather be dead. But maybe that's just me.

Thanks for the feedback guys! I think Josh has a right to be upset and frustrated with Andy for bringing him all the way out there with no real plan of what they were going to do, but he can't really blame him for much else. Or maybe he can. Andy did kill Jake and that was the reason that Josh went to confront Charlotte in the first place. No Jake murder, no Charlotte self-defense killing. But if we're talking about more recent developments, it was Josh that messed things up, and brought about this nightmare chain of events. Josh kind of screwed Andy over when you think about it. Andy was going to take the blame and go to prison for the foreseeable future. He was willing to do that for Josh. The only reason that he confessed to the murder of Jake Pirovic (and threw away his life) was to save Josh from prison. Josh deciding to confess like that meant that it had all been for nothing, and it was kind of like he just threw it all back in his face. The fact that Andy isn't angry with him for that is pretty amazing. I do think that it's in character for Josh to react in an angry and defensive way towards him though, now that he's realised what a mess they're in. It's how he usually deals with things, and the isolation and fear of getting caught would be getting to him now. Mind you, I don't see how 25 years in prison would have been a better option (or a fair sentence for self-defense, but we won't get into that). I'm not condoning people going on the run but if I was in Josh's position I would rather be dead than go to prison for 25 years. Maybe I shouldn't say that, but it's true. I feel bad for being so cruel to Kyle. He's my favourite character so I'm not sure why he always has to suffer so much in my stories. I guess if you're gonna have someone to feel sorry for in the story, then it had better be someone that you actually care about, and who can pull at your heartstrings. For me, there's no-one I love more than Kyle, so it's always going to be him I'm afraid. Poor guy! Thanks again to everyone for reading and for taking the time to comment x

Loved the directions to Summer Bay House! lol! If I ever find myself in the Bay I'll make sure to keep those handy! Liked all the chat between Irene and Marilyn. Looking forward to the next chapter.

Thanks Suzza! I'm so glad you liked it! Poor Kyle is having a pretty terrible time of it alright I think Brax would feel pretty guilty about that (even if it is Kyle's own fault that he's in there). Hope to have a new chapter up tonight (tomorrow morning in Australia) x

Oh my god, I loved this chapter. How beautiful! I'd love to think that Kyle got to be happy in the afterlife and that he's not angry with Heath. Just a pity that he can't let Heath know that. Really looking forward to the next chapter x

Thanks for reading, Pembie I'm not sure I'd go to Brax for help either. He did tend to make a hash of things for the most part. They don't have many other options though, do they?!

Thanks KittCatt So glad you enjoyed it! I think this is probably a bit more of a realistic (if very bleak) look at what life on the run would be like. The show kind of had them driving off into the sunset as though that was the end of the story and we're meant to imagine that everything will be fine for them once they get away. But I don't think that Andy had that much of a plan. Once you'd get away, you'd suddenly be hit with the reality of your situation - that you have absolutely nowhere to go and there's no going back (as you say). They'd need someone to help them out if they're ever going to survive out there. They can't just go and stay in a hotel or a B&B if they're going to have any chance of staying under the radar, and living rough would be pretty awful after the first day or two. You'd be tired and filthy and uncomfortable. After a month of isolation like that I reckon they'd be ready to kill each other (like proper cabin fever) and the anxiety of thinking that they could get caught at any moment would exacerbate any tension between them. Going on the run is not all it's cracked up to be, or the easy way out that the show would like us to think it is. Still, prison wouldn't exactly be a barrel of laughs either. I can't help thinking that Kyle would be having a truly terrible time (if he were real). Brax and Ash made a lot of enemies inside, particularly Gunno, and the show kind of implied that he was going to be a target simply because he was a Braxton. That image of him staring at his arm tattoo will probably haunt me forever! So again, I wanted to represent the other side of the coin. I don't think that Josh would have survived very long in prison, especially if he and Andy had ended up in different prisons for the next 25 years (which they probably would have). In reality, I don't think that either option is particularly appealing. Lucky this story is called 'Escape', eh?!

Thanks Jarlie! Really glad you liked. I feel bad for Kyle too Poor guy! He never has it easy in my stories, does he?!

Thanks Kristen Really appreciate your continued support and I'm glad you liked the first chapter. Thanks Red You probably have a good inkling of where I'll take this story (especially considering the title ) I am really interested to read your version of events though (the complete opposite of mine, I imagine) if that's what you're intending to write. We might both feel like hunting each other down, and strangling the other, when we get to the end of the stories though, haha!

Interesting start! Liked all the banter between Alf and Hunter (and Roo as well). Looking forward to seeing where you take this

Thanks Pembie Glad you enjoyed it. I might leave what happens in that camper van up to your own imagination!

Lucky you going sailing! Proper jealous! Enjoy!

Poor Heath! It must be so awful to know that you treated someone so badly and never be able to apologise! No wonder he's falling to pieces. Kyle never fought back because being treated badly was all he'd ever known. He just expected it. Heath didn't know the damage he was doing! Liked Nate trying to help him though and I was a bit surprised at how honest Heath was with him. He must be very worried about himself! Really looking forward to the next chapter x

Kind of wish I'd done that ending now! Might have been funnier

Intriguing

Just wanted to say thank you to all of you for always taking the time to read and comment. It really means a lot to know that people are reading what you write. There wouldn't be much point in posting the stories up here otherwise! It was a pretty weird story alright so thanks for coming along for the ride! It actually ended up in a pretty different place from where I'd originally imagined and, as it developed, it led me off in directions that I hadn't intended. But that's what happens. My writing is always like that. I never really know what I'm going to write until I write it. Sometimes I'm influenced by your comments too, so thanks again for all your feedback along the way. I wanted this one to be quirky and different from what I normally write so I think I succeeded there at least. If nothing else, it let me experiment with some very unfamiliar writing styles! I really enjoyed writing it, so I'm really glad if you enjoyed reading it. I think I'm going to take a little break before I write another story (although I do have a little bit of an addiction so we'll see how long I last! Haha). I do have two, maybe three, stories in the pipeline so I will be back, lol!

No don't be silly! I'm not that delicate a little flower! Haha! I'm just trying out different genres and seeing what works. Comedy probably not so much. I do have a number of stories brewing in the back of my head but they'll probably be much more straightforward drama. I might leave the comedy to others. Just going to warn you now, you're probably not going to like the one I write next, so maybe just don't read it (I can sense your blood pressure rising already! Lol! )

Thanks Red. I appreciate the genuine feedback and constructive criticism. It's good to get a different perspective. I think you're probably very right about this. Probably a bit (or a lot) misjudged but I'm still learning, so thanks for the feedback I was just dipping my toe into trying to write something a bit more comedic but I don't think that it's something that comes all that naturally to me so it may have just fallen a bit flat. I was always quite nervous about this story. More so than any of the others that I've written because it took me out of my comfort zone of writing about misery (but I managed to bring some of that into the story anyway! Old habits die hard and all that! Lol!) It was such a weird premise for a story that I probably relied a bit too much on the situation to make it funny rather than the character's reactions. I can learn from that. As you say, it's a delicate balancing act, that I probably didnt get right. To be honest, I was never too sure if it was actually funny or not, even if I found it funny while I was writing it. Laughing at your own jokes is not an attractive character trait (especially if no-one else finds them funny, haha.) I think I might try to steer clear of comedy in the future, not really my forte.