Hello, Gunny

Thank you for sharing your story. "Exercise in Settings"  I hope you find my comments helpful

These comments are just one person’s opinion and are given in the hope you find something useful

First Impressions
Thank you for giving me a glimpse back into your childhood. I realise these are simply random thoughts. These are snapshots of your past as you remember them and I enjoyed reading about them.


Plot
As these are simply settings you are intending to use in a longer story there is no actual plot. However you painted a word picture of a time long ago, when children played out until dark and it was safe.



Characters
The characters are your childhood self and your relatives. Grandma, Nana, your cousins, and your neighbourhood friends. In your mind it was always Summer. You remember the bats and the iceman. He delivered ice on his cart, dispensing ice chips to those hot, thirsty children. I can see it so clearly.



Climax
Of course everything comes to an end, even after a perfect day. Parents making the universal cry which brings children into the safety of the home during the hours of darkness.


Suggestions
At first I was a little confused with the settings as it jumped from Grandma’s to Nana’s to your streetscape opposite the nursery. But of course these are your memories and that is what memories do, flit from place to place and time to time.





Parting Comments
Thank you for sharing your thought and memories of your childhood so long ago. I too was playing out on the street in the late forties and can relate to that carefree feeling knowing that our parents or grandparents were the ones we trusted to make life safe.
I’m reviewing this as part of the Mental Health Writer’s Alliance



Reviewed by Sumojo