Thank you, my brother! I really appreciate the high praise :D This was one of my favorite chapters in this series, and I just tried to go all out on the playfulness. I tried to play off of childhood naiveté, and craft a whole new experience from their point of view. It's just so fun to write this way, and I'm so happy that it translated well for you, brother! Coming from a writer of your caliber, that's just such a huge compliment, you don't know how much it means.

I'm grateful for the sympathies, my friend, this is just one of those down streaks. Even though it's not that evident, I really do try to keep my spirits up. It's just that I fall back on some past bad habits concerning negativity from time to time. It's just hard whenever I get inside my head and think that I've been making a lot of effort that isn't really making much difference. I'll shake it off, but I really appreciate the encouragement. It's very helpful indeed! @lukestokes (who, btw, is my former employer) and @michelle.gent are super awesome and they know the right words to say at the right moments as well!

I might just take you up on your offer and hit you up on chat one of these days. Really though, I just don't want to burden anyone else. I'm just so appreciative of all the support I'm being given. Warms my heart :D