parallels anyone?

These past two stories might seem like I planned them in this order. In fact, I started the Council's Decision a long time ago, like three months ago. That's the story I managed to break my continuity with. After writing Unexpected Background which I'm fairly certain was forced out of me by my being reminded of a recent (though far less dramatic) loss in my life, I figured out how to fix the first story. So two depressing stories in rapid succession. And in case you are wondering, no I am not typing particularly faster, I just felt the itch to write and it overruled my disdain for typing slow.