This one...I can't wrap my head around. I'm not sure if the bells are a toll for what has gone before, confirming the event, or a warning for something that will happen, or if they just brought him a reminder of something totally non-related.

“It frightens me to think, Virginia, that you could be so empty as to want nothing more than me...”

I don't know if that's neccessarily true - being so empty. It's debatable. Her wanting only him is not about being empty. It IS possible to find someone that fills in all the holes, on both sides - so much so that that's really all you want, all you need.

I know. I found him. I think sometimes he thinks the way of Cole. He doesn't think he's worthy. I know better.

I can't get upset, though, when he tells me similar things. There's that "thing" that goes on, I think, on the inside - like over in Chapter 4 - there's something he hasn't really found yet he yearns for, something I haven't yet or can't fill. That is both frightening and heartbreaking at the same time.

Don't tell me it's pills. *gah* That's just... That's the lazy, unethical, indecent, inconsiderate, etc... way out.

Psychiatrist. *bleh* Take him away. He knows nothing.

For my efficiency's sake, this review will serve for both stories.

You are, to date, the only author on this site I have any sense of security about; meaning, if I go to your profile, I know there will be something - likely more than one somethings - worth reading. Also, there is very little I feel I can reasonably critique, and I like that.

Now, what little criticism I can offer:

While the story of the first vignette is one I think is often a little worn, because you made him a /character/, as opposed to a tool to personify yearning, it was enjoyable. I'm dismayed by its shortness, but the purpose is to display yearning, and I hold nothing against it for that. Just reader's angst that the piece ended.

The second piece I found much more interesting, even if the language was less flowery (not that I'm suggesting you should change it.) I don't know how I feel about the "oh yes," but that's me.

The ending was... awesome? I hate to use such a vague word, but it was. So much meaning one can inject! The father needs to see through a child's eyes... the forest is really a thing that only children can appreciate... children don't share the same concerns as adults and can see beauty where they can't because of it. A fantastic example of an ending that smacks you in the face and shows you it's the key to the entire story.

All I have to say, really, is that I prefer the second to the first. The "oh yes" is my only syntactical criticism; and the 1st story still just feels... lacking. Lacking what, I don't know: the wording is beautiful, and the man well-suited to the task of explaining yearning. He may not be very developed as his "own" person, but that may be your point; then again, he is certainly "different" - how many people wake up quoting poetry?

It could just be that I don't like hearing the story of "He/She's missing something and they know they'll never know." I'll chalk it up to bias.

Well done, as always.

-Durak