Are we going to have another week of mattress stuffing? I think that will be my new go-to word for padding a story. This stuff doesn’t move the story along. However, I give it a pass, because it focuses on Rusty and it shows that, not only is he not too young to notice girls after all, but he found enough grit to approach them.

The big question many boys and men face is “Why the hell am I afraid of approaching a member of the opposite sex?” Sure as hell I am not the guru holding that wisdom. Still, big points for Rusty’s new-found courage in the face of disaster. Next time, Rusty, talk about what the girls like to do!

On second thought, perhaps this is not mattress stuffing, after all. It is a focus on Rusty’s life, which is kind of a secondary storyline in this adventure, right? So, yeah. We’d all like to see this story (whatever the actual point here is) move along to a hoped-for successful and even action-packed conclusion. At the same time, we have to allow for some “real life” to play out a bit, here and there. Flesh on the bones, and all that.