Response to Robert

            The story was about an older man who seemed to be going through a mid life crisis. He is about to rob a woman in her car while she is getting gas, but when she rolls down the window his plans slipped his mind and instead he offered to pump her gas. Later, we see that she has a little boy and the man ends up letting the little boy help him pump gas, and they seem to form some sort of connection. In the end the old man is left thinking about the cute little boy and his mother, and how beautiful the world seemed to him at that moment in time.

            I liked the story. I was a little hesitant when I first started reading it because I was confused, but it ended up working because I kept reading. Not giving the answer right away is a great way to keep your reader going, and I felt like you did a good job with it. I also really liked the characters in the story. The protagonist at the start of the story was unlikeable, but he was still interesting because I felt like you could feel everything he was feeling. In the end, we are sort of left with a sense that this older man is endearing and has a good heart. The mother was very believable as well. However, I didn’t really care for the part when Nathan jumped out of the car and the mom yells goddamn it. I guess I can see how a young single mom would get frustrated and lose her temper, but it just didn’t feel right saying that to a 5 year old. I know it happens all the time, which makes it realistic, but with the mom’s nice character I felt like it didn’t fit. The little boy was my favorite. He reminded me of my three little nephews. I thought the part about him grunting while saying he was super strong was done perfectly because my nephews used to do that all of the time. I also like the way you described the little boy as he was pumping the gas. The story as a whole was an interesting read, and I enjoyed it.