This is one of the best character studies I've read.  I imagine a lot of us can identify with Enid at one time or other in our lives.  I know I can.  Beth

Brilliant , touching, and real.  What better thing can I say than that?  I am so glad I decided to read this.  Thank you for sharing this.   Have you sent it off to magazines yet?

Oh honey... you just, wow, that's sad.  God.  That's about all I can think, 'God, that's sad.'  I'm not about to go off myself or anything, but that's one of the saddest things I've read in a while, to see a woman crack for love and fear.  I suppose that means you've done a brilliant job, but right now I'm just shaking my head and possibly rereading.

I know this lady. Great despription.

nice to see you in the ofic category!  very interesting little vignette about the faces people put on.  or this one person, anyway.

Beautifully written, we all know people like that I'm sure. 

You've beautifully captured the complexity of real people - something writers strive to do with our characters but can never quite manage, not fully. We are too aware of the need to make them sympathetic.  Otherwise, we lose audience.  The dichotomy between what Enid showed the world - even her own husband - and what she felt inside is heartbreaking and reads true.  Thank you for sharing this.

This is sad, but so true.  I am a nurse in a specialty that doesn't have to give bad news too frequently, but I have encountered Enid many times, and it is never any easier to deal with her type, no matter how many times you see it.  You think the abrasive, demanding personality is hard to deal with, until you see the side of them that is vulnerable, but it is so hard to know how to respond and console them. People really are a mystery, even the ones you think you know well. I think I took a wrong turn to end up in original fiction, but I am glad I did.  Thanks for sharing.

Wow powerfull, so sad but such a brave woman up until the end to endure something so horrible as that.

Those single painless shotty nodes....Anyway, I really liked Enid in this short piece. The reader sees different layers of her by learning of her from others -- both the narrator and her husband.Thank you for posting this.

So sad but shows what the world can be like even to wizards. Thank you for writing this.