All Comments on 'The Letter'

Completely disagree with your concept of friendship.

You can advise him, warn him, support him.......but never, you must decide for him, what you think for good or bad. It's up to him to make his own choices.

Here he is deceived and manipulated.

You owe respect, fidelity, loyalty to your friendship.

I did like that LJA ,thank you. I can also understand someone's view on whether or not he did the right thing but it really did turn out well for everyone involved, despite the MC's lonely years. I also enjoyed the British aspect it made a pleasant change to read a story with proper English spelling :). (Was Doom bar around when this story started, launched by Sharp's brewery in 1995, but alwaya nice to mention it as it's now a favourite ale).

Wonderful story!

5

Harriette was a fool. Of course he did the right thing by not telling. Here's the thing, though. In this story our MC has little or no insight into himself, and everyone around him is wise and can see right through him. I don't believe that. Just doesn't seem true to life. Still a good story. D

Getting a letter like that asking you to look after a widow? Damn. Trip down memory lane.

A 5* story, for sure.

Nice little tale with heart

Friendship, honour, love. Hard to beat. Great story.

Well done.

Good original story and 5*. I thought the end was a bit contrived, but not too bad. There is time for regret and forgiveness, and, most importantly, looking at the big picture.

As an ex grammar school boy myself, and probably of around the same vintage, just like Mattblack this bought back pleasant memories. Great story. Loved it.

Funny I always start reading tales/stories with them having an ending rating of a Good Read ⭐⭐⭐. This one started the same. Your comment about it being sad like “The Diary” made had me wondering if it could really be that good. After the first page and a little into the second page I had it going only for an Excellent Read ⭐⭐⭐⭐. Which is still really great for tales/stories I consume.

Once I got to the 3rd page, I could not see it making as good a tale as “The Diary.” Man was I wrong the letter took the emotional rollercoaster to the peak and flew down the other side at 90 MPH pushing the emotions back against the seat hard.

I am always glad to consume the products produced by the writers on this site. They have a range and spectrum of ideas that fit into many lanes. That makes them easy to consume and keep us sharing our opinions through feedback comments.

You have proven yourself to be one of my favorites. This one earned the rating of an Outstanding Read ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐. Thank you for this one. I am looking forward to more of your creativeness being publish here in the future.

Keep Writing

JH4Fun

5* for me, as an emotional old sod, that got me. I did something similar for a friend probably almost 50 years ago now and they are still together with 3 kids and several grandkids.

It's like may things in life, you make your best judgement call at the time and hope it works out for the best, like the pari in this story, I was very close to both and thought I jnew them well enough to make the call.

Not at all what I expected. Brilliant.

Oddly enough, even though she wasn't the central character you managed to make me love Claire despite her cheating in the beginning.

Well done.

A 30 plus year love story. Well done.

One of your best

That is what mates are for… the Guinness left unfinished was a nice touch. Serious turmoil to leave that behind…

Just an excellent story.

Brilliant story of two true friends and the things life throws at you. 5 stars from me

A wondefull story of love, friendship, loyalty, and loss.

Very well done - 5*

Excellent

Brilliant. A romantic tale with a dash of LW. 5*.

A good story well told. Thank you very much.

Very well done.

I liked this one, it was sad but also good to see things work out for the main characters rather than all the BTB stuff (which can be entertaining!). Got the point in the comments about making decisions for the friend but to be fair it’s also about the main character protecting what the friend had until maybe the woman took the opportunity to confess which she obviously did at some point. Thanks for the hard work.

This was more of a Loving Wives story than most of the works that get posted here. Thanks for bringing balance to the force.

very nicely written. disappointed about the Guinness though!

Darn! I really must get the air con. sorted out, my eyes are streaming! Five stars!

Excellent story. Actually brought a tear to my eye.

Good story, interesting characters, but to me, Harriet did not like Brian and Claire enough to essentially enter a 4-way "mutual admiration society," or did not realize our hero also loved Brian in a way that fully put Claire "out of the picture," or that Claire did not love MC in a way that held MC back from being a good spouse. It seems like Harriet would have entered a friendship and had a loving husband, but she could not suss that out.

This was an interesting look at deep friendships, over a long period of time. These are the sorts of things that make us who we are.

Thanks for your work

Five for you

God, what a boring story. I could hardly get to the end of page one.....

I could be way off on my timing but the man that she really loves just dies of cancer and just after a month or so she is leading his best friend to bed for sex? So she is never going to really mourn? I also don't see in reality a man and wife writing such a letter. So she is a piece of meat to pass off to your buddy? The last few moments together a wife helps her husband write a letter to set up her next lover?

I also think bro before ho. He caught her so tell your buddy that she was cheating and you can say that she only did it for the sex because she still feels you aren't what she wants in bed. Brutally honest but that is the fact and let him decide what he does. But that in itself would have me never want too be with her. She is not necessarily "wrong" as they are not married at the time but are to be exclusive but that shows her view on things and that is very different than mine.

That's what got me. Yes, it's a fairy tale, but a beautiful one.

Enjoyed it for the most part, just wish you didn't force MC and Claire together at the end.

Also, I get not telling Brian, not saying I agree, but Richard's wife deserves to know what type of man she married. They have kids.

That was really, really good. Maybe unrealistic, but really well written, affecting. The characters seemed real. Thank you for this.

Not much erotic, but a deep well written story of the complexity of human life

I could probably get over the fact that at the time I was not enough for her sexually. But what I could not get over is her cheating with a married man. I know, we were "exclusive" but not married, but my head could never get past her being some married man's side chick. For me that really puts her down in the truly slut category where if she was with some other single guy she knew and possibly respected it would still be hurtful but I wouldn't view her as dirty low as I do now. I would maybe stay around with her until she had enough or I found someone else but I would not marry her.

Interesting take on the friend getting the wife after death. I also was very curious about the "I don't share" comment so thanks for clearing that up. Tramp gets together with new guy without ever really mourning her true love. Ya, like she really loved him!

While I enjoyed the story I question why if Harriet was so insightful did she move in with him, she must have also known he would never act on any feelings he may have for Claire and also that he loved her Harriet. So why wait to burn and humiliate him so publicly.

5-stars! Only way it could be better for me, was if it was written with North American spelling, grammar, sentencing and sayings.

A love story.

Well done

Karl_Hundasson nailed it.

All three elements were respected.

It made a kind of lonely life for the protagonist until fate brought change, but he stood up and did the right thing for his whole life.

With his best friend dying, it changed the game.

Because of who he is, I have the feeling that the wife will love him at least as much as she loved her husband in the end, but it's not a competition.

Quite the story, and liked it a lot. Tough decisions were made, but seemed to work out for the best. All the characters were real, normal, and down to earth. Well told, and well done.

At first I thought "Oh no, not another of these stories". But this was very well written, very realistic and handled in a delicate way. Plus it didn't involve him cheating behind his BFF's back. An enjoyable tale.

Funny, David was so adept at hiding his love for Claire that it was obvious to everyone around him, but he didn't realize it himself? I would like the author to present at least a few episodes of such behavior - he believes that he is friends, others see that he loves his friend's wife and no one has any questions, no negativity, no gossip...

It was a good story, except the fact that their whole life was built on her need for sex and cheating. Kinda put a big damper on what came next.

Great story. 5 stars

Absolutely fantastic. 5 stars and more. Emotionally struck a cord within me. Thank you for posting.

The strange thing is that Claire herself thought she was not worthy of forgiveness, but wise David reasoned otherwise. Indeed, she immediately told Richard that everything was over between them. Is there any reason not to trust this woman? Another point is also unclear to me. There are two absolutely opposite quotes of Claire's words:

"That one's easy, he overheard me saying 'I could do with a good fucking', he turned to me and said, 'I could do that for pretty lady as long as my wife doesn't find out.' I thought he was joking. Later he caught me that coming out of the ladies' loo, took my hand and led me into one of the partners offices. I'm not going to go into the details, but I got what I asked for.

AND

"You're going to think me a conniving, cheating bitch; and of course, you're right. You're also going to ask me if I would do it again. I've thought about that a lot and if Richard hadn't taken the lead, then 'no'. I never went looking to get shagged.

She's not looking for it, she's just talking about it right and left...

Great story! …very well written! Thank-you

Wonderful piece of writing! 5*****! It's original and heartfelt. I love it.

Great one. 5

Great Story!! Loved it!!

Really well done. An easy 5 stars from me.

Yes a big 5.0, thanks for sharing your talent.

Well this one got a 'Follow' and 'Favorite'.

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A better mate no bloke could ever ask for or be.

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6⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐, Hooyah, Salutes.... Thanks...

Some plot points didn’t go how I would have done it if I was one of the characters, but that’s not the point of a good story. It was believable and I felt like I was actually there. Well done! 5*

No need to call this story sad. It’s very good.

Well, the ‘Adventurous (future) Wife’ was present, but Sweetie was a cold and calculating LW. …

Quibble … This is NOT a ‘sad’ story!

5*

I'm always amazed at those that can separate and compartmentalize there actions from there feelings. Though this is a tale the MC should have told his best bud the truth and be there for him after the fallout. He should have never taken the option away from him. If this woman could carelessly give herself to another and feel no ill effects from it, then what will happen in the future as the road of life is long and full of turns. What will she do when the vicissitudes of life takes there toll? This part i find unbelievable and seems more like a dark fantasy of secretly lusting/ coveting your brothers wife. To go 20 + years and not realize that you pine for this woman is unbelievable and if true then quite sad. To miss out on a potential future partner and a family of your own because your secretly in love without knowing 🥴 for your best friend's wife is not only sad but quite pathetic.

A real mate would have told his friend and let him choose himself.

That was both unusual and compelling. Aside from the occasion error, it was a well-written story. Thanks for sharing!

Great read! That’s the way best friends should be. Very refreshing

Page 1

Life truth-If you don’t want to eat your woman’s pussy, someone else does want to.

What a great story! It kind of pissed me off she cheated as easily as she did. Pretty selfish, but she absolved herself.

Beautiful story with some unexpected- good & bad- results. The tale of friendships extended with Brian's girlfriend then eventually his children, culminating into Clair's 2nd marriage with Brian's best friend after tragically dying of leukemia. Beautifully written. 5 stars Bob

What a breath of fresh air. 5

Well written besides the occasional spelling error. Did not see it as a sad story at all. Just saw a bunch of people who hide the truth from each other and call it friendship. While not sad, it just was frustrating. Lol. 4 stars for the writing. 5 stars for the content.

Sincerely,

Payenbrant

Tears running down my cheeks say it all. What a wonderful Love story. Please continue to write and thank you so much for sharing.

One of the best ones here. Actually I never gave 5 stars for stories where the wife cheated and got away with it. But Brian was the one who got cheated on and has chosen to forgive. The letter caused my eyes to water. I, of course, blamed it on my allergies.... Damn it!!

Interesting work.

Don't know how I feel about it yet

Great story!

An amazing story, 5 stars of course

Original and well done

Fuck that shit, if he really was Brian's friend he'd have wanted him to operate with full knowledge of what he was getting into. Claire was a cheating slut who would fuck around on him dispassionately because she could easily disassociate sex from love. She admitted that in the lobby. All the claims of love, faithful friendship and loyalty all ring untrue in this piece.

Great story of friendship and love. Thanks for the beautiful tale. A well deserved 5*

Great story well written

Wow, great story…Silly at the start, then a tear jerker and a happy ending! Thanks for writing made my day! Wish I could give more than 5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️!

Great story, however I couldn't stop thinking about and alternative ending.

My ending:

Then I realized, I did love Claire. I could not believe what was happening as we walked hand in hand to the bedroom. Then the passion took over and we rushed to get each other's clothes off as we frantically kissed. I slowly kissed my way down her body. Spending time on her neck, then the breasts. After sucking on her rock hard nipples, I ventured on toward her most special prize. As my tongue entered her fold I took a deep breath. "Holly shit!" I thought. "It tastes like fish!"

A great diversion from typical LW fare. A natural five stars. Nothing to criticize in his one.

JPB

Luke Short as anonymous. New computer and can't log in. In my opinion, this story is truly a GREAT story.

Well done. Very enjoyable even though I hoped you were heading in that direction.

Easy 5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.

Thank you for something different

Lovely story, told with warmth and wonderful sense of the relationships between close friends and family. Well done.

A lovely story, heart warming, real, and compassionate. To have had such a friend to walk through life with!

Incredible story and great writing,had me sniffling at the end. This has a lot of reality to it, especially how lack of communication hurts a relationship.

My only technical criticism is at the start of this, you repeat the story about the party, you don't have to, that would have been the only editing I would recommend.

Amazing tale - extremely well told!

A great story. I can't give a clear explanation but this was too close to some of my life events reality. You made this story a revelation of reality.

The ending was rather abrupt, but overall, a good story.

Beautiful story.

Thanks

-jog

OK, Sure, Why Not? Its not like he has any other options, and he's already fucked away most of his life and All of his child rearing years. Wow, isn't it Too Bad that Brian didn't die sooner?

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Sentimental and emotional, but kind of dumb. And definitely Not a Loving Wives story. It should be in the Romance category, since the whole story is about unrequited love. Not adultery, cheating, sharing, or any other extramarital Wife fucking. A woman walks away after 18 Months of dating, and He Has No Clue? No wonder no intelligent woman wanted this clueless ponce.

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Probably a great Romance story. Very mediocre LW story. Mediocre is a "C". Thanks for the effort.

Great story in every way. Easily a *5 for me.

Wow, this is a story. Well written, beautifully done

Easy 1 star. Sorry but this was not for me.

Decent read and well written. This plot has been done many times. The author did offer a couple of interesting twists to it to keep the readers interest.

Bravo ! A poignant tale . It drew me in , excellent storytelling ! Five stars and a standing ovation

Hiding her cheating from his friend was a really shitty thing to do.

The vast majority of the time, once a cheater always a cheater, so he was taking a huge gamble with his friend's future happiness by keeping her slutty secret.

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The ending was sad, but not because his friend died. He wasted thirty years being too involved with his friend's family to have one of his own. No bio kids. No long-term relationships. And then he ends up with a hand-me-down wife, who was now old enough to be menopausal.

It's hard to imagine a more bleak and depressing ending.

5 Stars. Great story, very well written. One of those stories that you feel you're a participant in, like a fly on the wall, listening and overhearing what's happening while you read it.

This is a well written, and I'm sure carefully considered, submission. The plot is well conceived and is executed with fine storytelling and wordcraft. Overall, it is a good story. That said, I am uncomfortable with the degree of Claire's involvement in arranging for the MC to become her second husband. The image of the fading Brian, on his deathbed no less, struggling to write "the letter" with his wife present to ensure he adequately conveys the message of Claire's love and his approval of the MC acting on his unacknowledged love for her strikes me as uncomfortably Claire focused. Was it truly Brian's idea to write the letter or hers? Only Claire would know. By that point, Brian would have been in no condition to separate his ideas from her subtle suggestions or "reminders" of the things he had said he wanted to accomplish. She enlists her children in making certain he reads the letter a month after Brian's death. She intrusively observes him reading it and then leads him to bed without respectfully allowing him the opportunity to contemplate what his best friend had to say from the grave. Finally, she decides the first Christmas gathering after Brian's death of all the families involved to be the appropriate setting for the start her second engagement. She proceeds to recruit all of the in laws of both marriages in the effort to make that happen. Cumulatively, Claire appears more manipulative than loving. She is no doubt still a woman who can separate love and sex. Is she also able to separate love and marriage in order to guarantee her future? Had she already done that once? Her self centered actions and their timing lead to troubling questions.

Plot line for a film?

some stories you wish to give more stars.

Count me in the 5-stars-great-story group of readers and commenters for this tale of multiple loves and commitments, both known and unknown.

Such a brilliant writer PLEASE keep it up

Thank you Darren