A little boy tries to grow up and avoid being mired in depression that surrounds his mother. Liam misses school field trips, can't afford Kris Kringle gifts - but his saving grace is his close friends and their families. They provide stability and a place to feel free.

* Give us his name. Why not?
* When you tell us about "him," and then "a frightened little boy," I wonder how many characters are present. "The frightened little boy" would work better, but even that doesn't clear it up. "John" would.
* How did his mother get in the house, when it was a man?
* "Something far worse than the storm madehim scared and her loud, drunken voice": What made him scared? If it was her voice, tell us that: "Her loud, drunken voice came up the stairs, scaring him."
* Why does it scare him? You've got a reason, but I want to know: whether he's afraid of crazymaking, or actual hitting.
* we got pizza" foul breath; his eye's; I know your awake: You got some significant punctuation problems here
* You might try deep penetration. This is clearly about the boy and his reactions, so why not? Instead of "He hoped that it was just his mother," you could say. "Was it his mother? Was it just her? He hated it when she brought some man home, because it always meant ..."

You open with a contradiction that impedes the rest of the fragment...the little boy is not "...sleeping in his bed."

I don't like the way his interaction with his mother skips around. In one moment she is getting out of the cab, then she's yelling from the stairwell, then she's looming over his bed...all without any description of moving or time passing.

I agree with wbriggs, give the little chap a name from the start Readers can empathize a lot more with Liam than with "the boy".

This is just me, your story is yours and not mine so discard this if you don't agree.

quote:

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Something far worse then the storm made him scared and her loud drunken voice came up the stairs, reverberating in the stairwell, “Mommy is home. Liam, we got pizza” foul breath filled his nostrils and turned his stomach, “I know your awake” she rolled the young boy over and

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Would you lose much if you skipped the storm and started from here(Besides the story's title)? I say it because a child in bed watching a storm isn't as "interesting" (to me) as a scared boy hearing the drunken voice of his mom coming up the stairs.
But again, like wbriggs said, tell us of whathe's scared of; there has to be some sort of precedent, his mom has done whatever before or else Liam wouldn't have a reason to be scared.

I like the idea, though. You've put Liam in an interesting place, I'd read on.

Nicole

[This message has been edited by Nicole (edited July 14, 2006).]

[This message has been edited by Nicole (edited July 14, 2006).]

It was dark in Liam’s room and the storm was in a rage. Something far worse then the storm made him scared and her loud drunken voice came up the stairs, reverberating in the stairwell, “Mommy is home. Liam, we got pizza” foul breath filled his nostrils and turned his stomach, “I know your awake” she rolled the young boy over and Liam’s’ eyes were shut tight, “C’mon on now, your faking”.
“Leave me alone, I’m tired” Liam angrily turned away from his mother.
She roughly grabbed his shoulder and turned him back, “Don’t you turn your back on me! Get downstairs now!”
The thunder clapped loudly and Liam slowly stood up and followed his mother downstairs, “There’s pizza and pop” his mother was excited, hoping for approval for the new man. Liam put his glasses on and everything came into focus.

The punctuation problems are killing you here. Recommend Strunk & White.