I've been reading your stories the past couple of days, and I definitely enjoy your writing. This story and "Honey, I'm Home" are eerily gripping and delightfully haunting. I definitely enjoy your musical choices for the chapters and how well they flow with the stories.

With this story and "Honey, I'm Home," however, I can't help but think of Schoenberg's "Pierrot lunaire" (though at least part of it is because of the name). Like that incarnation of Pierrot, the classic "sad clown" character gone mad, you make it easy to see the madness despite the macabre atmosphere you create. If you haven't already, I highly recommend listening to Schoenberg's songs. They document Pierrot's descent into madness quite well, with the sprechstimme (or speech-song) and atonality giving it a delightfully eerie feel. While my personal favorite is "Der Mondfleck (The Moonfleck)," I think it may be something you would find at least interesting. You can find it on YouTube, and I'd reccommend the Schafer/Boulez rendition, although the movie that goes with it is something on the ridiculous side, especially since it doesn't really go with the songs as well as I'd hope.

Well, now that I'm done with my rambling, I'll sum it up with the fact that I really enjoy your writing, and I hope you'll continue this! I like the different backgrounds for the same scenarios, and I'd like to see where you take it.