Another Day Older

Title: Another Day Older
Author: Emily Moreton
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Cover Artist: Anne Cain
Genre: m/m contemporary
Length: Short Story (32 pdf pages)
Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Summary review: Not a romance, not a love story, rather a short glimpse at a few life altering days in Nick Garcia’s life.

A Guest Review by Feliz

The Blurb:  Sent to Kuwait on his first deployment for a war that might not even happen, Nick Garcia is disappointed by how much of a letdown it’s turning out to be. It doesn’t help that he’s still nursing the same hopeless crush on his best friend, Scott, that he’s had since they met at the academy. Then Nick flies his first mission and learns that the reality of war feels much different than their training runs. When Scott’s plane is shot down during a raid, Nick discovers that comfort can come from a surprising source – and take a surprising form.

The review:

Nick and Scott  have been close friends for years.  Nick , who has no family left but his sister Ana, was pretty much adopted into Scott’s family with Scott’s mother writing letters and sending care packets to both of them. They’re almost like brothers  – much to Nick’s frustration, since his feelings for Scott, which are anything but brotherly, have remained unrequited so far. Now both  are Air Force lieutenants, newly deployed to Kuwait. Where they expected action and adventure, they meet boredom and waiting at first, and Nick is overjoyed when they finally get their first mission.

Thinking about it later, though, Nick realizes for the first time that war isn’t the adventurous and heroic game he used to picture it.  Rendered sleepless by his restless thoughts, he ends up sitting on the landing strip to mull his newfound doubts over. This is where Martin finds him, another Airforce member and a casual acquaintance of Nick’s and Scott’s. Nick feels surprisingly comfortable in  Martin’s company as they share a cigarette and a chat.

The next mission takes a path Nick never thought possible, safe as he felt in the air.  Scott is missing in action and Nick is unable to do anything about it.  As the days  pass without news from Scott, Nick grows desperate with apprehension and fear. But he also begins to come to terms with his own reality, as much as he wishes it different. He has chosen the life of a soldier which means he might have to kill, or see people he cares about killed. He’s in love with someone who’ll never return his feelings. But both facts don’t mean that he has to be stuck forever. It’s Scott’s fate that starts him thinking, but it’s Martin with whom he might, perhaps, eventually find something new.

This story is unusual. It has a somewhat indistinct, ambiguous ending; not really open, but too vague to even call it a HFN.  The relationship between Nick and Martin is casual, though the sex (rough, D/s tinted sex in a half-public place) is fraught with emotion. However, the focus of this story isn’t really on the relationship;  it’s really rather a slice of the life of a soldier in the desert.  Except for Nick,  the characters aren’t really fleshed out, even though we get a distinct enough picture of Martin’s character – mild-mannered on the outside, and considerate, yet protective – and dominant – within. Still, it isn’t easy to predict the course their relationship – if what they have can be called that – might take in the future.

What I liked a lot with this story were the peeks into everyday life on an airbase in the Arabic desert, and the descriptions of the desert itself. For such a short story, this one had a quite strong sense of place.  The writing is in 3rd person present tense, which adds to the atmospheric feel.

Although not fitting any pigeon hole, this story is certainly not a traditional romance – but an interesting read nevertheless.