Disclaimer: The following comments are entirely personal. Choose those that suit your style and leave the rest.
Hello ladyhawk
What caught my attention to this story was its title. Instantly, I found myself guessing what this story might be about, because the title is very abstract and does not give out anything. I had something in my mind, but you tell a different story. Even the short description gives us a no clue. You start off in the middle of the action, you do not reveal the secret that Jenna is a clone until the very last. I really liked this concept. Good job!
When I first read that she couldn't cry, I guessed that she was some cheating wife, and now she was pleading for forgiveness. However, she still could not bring on the tears to convince him. I honestly did not get the slight hints your placed all through the story, like the Agency and all. At all times, I had something else in mind and the story turned out to be something entirely different. That is what worked best for me here.
Character-wise, I think you have done a good job too. I can imagine how David is like, I particularly like that character trait that you mention of David:
David let out a loud sigh; like he always did when he was annoyed.
It shows how well you have planned your characters out. Good job again!
As for Jenna, the story is told in her POV and she blooms well too. All throughout the story she holds on to the love she has for David and that stays the same even when she's being incinerated. For a clone, I guess you have done well with her.
I did not find any typo. However, there are a few things that I would like to mention here:
She knew before she said it, that David would not accept any emotions from her.
Well it doesn’t matter just get out of my sight.”
I think you should break up Well it doesn’t matter just get out of my sight. into two different sentences, so that it reads like:
Well it doesn’t matter. Just get out of my sight.
As usual, Jenna did as she was told; she left the room; quietly closing the door behind her.
I note you use a lots of semicolons, which are not essential. You could rewrite this as:
As usual, Jenna did as she was told. She left the room, quietly closing the door behind her.
Jenna was to make sure his glass was never empty. When the glass was almost empty she would quickly refill it.
Both the sentences say the same thing. You could just punch them into one line or rewrite it as something like:
Jenna was to make sure his glass was never empty. As soon as the drink nearly touched the bottom, she would quickly refill it.
That way you can avoid the word empty in both the lines.
In the following passage I think I noted a slight change in POV. I have used a different color for the sentences I felt so:
Caroline had been his wife who died from Ovarian Cancer 2 years before. He never mentioned her name except when he held Jenna in his arms. He had pictures of the two of them all over the house and once, while cleaning she saw a copy of the death certificate. She tried to ask him about Caroline, but he lashed out with a quick slap to her face and told Jenna NEVER to mention her again. The strange thing was that she looked like her; they both had long blond hair, blue eyes, tall, slender, and very shapely. The first time he saw Jenna; he seemed please and then within a minute or two sadness wiped any kind of joy from his face.
When you say The first time he saw Jenna; the POV shifts to David's (And also, the semicolon is unnecessary here). You could write it as:
The first time they met, David seemed pleased. But within minutes sadness wiped the traces of joy from his face.
At the end of the story, you switch tense and change it to present from the initial past tense you were using. I stumbled upon it because the switch did not read smooth.
One of the guards that stood with Jenna made a comment, “I don’t know what he expects, he gets what he asks for and then screams she’s defective.”
Jenna looks up and replies softly, “He feels that love makes us defective and it is one thing he won’t tolerate. We aren’t allowed any emotions.”
Since you are changing the tense already, I think you should do in from the beginning for the para and not in the second line. That is to say, youshould rewrite the first sentence as:
One of the guards who stands with Jenna comments, “I don’t know what he expects, he gets what he asks for and then screams she’s defective.”
All in all, I enjoyed reading a story from a different perspective. I am not much into sci-fi. But it was not overly apparent in your story. I liked the element of surprise. Thanks for sharing!
It has been a pleasure reading and reviewing your work!
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HAPPY WRITING
My review has been submitted for consideration in "Good Deeds Go Noticed" . |