Thanks... That second bit you quoted seemed to hit a lot of people. It's interesting to see how people respond to things-- I was afraid that bit would be seen as a cop-out because I wasn't discussing the fall of the city. I had considered it, but then decided that I couldn't write about that, because it would have utterly overshadowed the story I was trying to tell; best case scenario, it would have just made the story maudlin rather than hopeful.

Glad you enjoyed!