Short Story Woes

I wrote "The Ruins" many years ago and I loved it. 
It is about a middle-aged British couple, Ted and Peggy, who travel to India on holiday in the early 1970s. The setting is primarily Chittorgarh Fort in Rajasthan. Chittor Fort is a beautiful, massive complex that rises above the plains and spans almost four miles, encompassing a village, the remains of a palace, several temples, and many towers.

The couple experienced a disturbing tragedy a number of years before that continues to affect their lives and culminates in an emotional incident among the crumbling ruins of the fort.


I worked hard on "The Ruins." I submitted it and it didn't get accepted. It didn't even garner good rejections where they encourage you to make some changes or try again later.
Fast forward some years and I am part of another writing group and I have to submit something for critique. 
My story goes over well enough and the main suggestions from five different people skirted around the same issue--I love when that happens! It makes revising easier to know where the problem lies. But I still have a lot of work to do exploring the emotional arc of the two main characters.

And... I'm not so in love with it anymore. It's probably on its 5th draft by now. 

Hopefully you don't know these people:)

The characters are like grandparents; I love them, but do I really want to sit and listen to their stories and advice and put up with the weird medicinal smells emanating from their bedroom? 
Or, maybe it's like a marriage, where you forget what drew you to a person so many years before and maybe you don't even really know the person anymore.

However, I made a commitment and put a lot of work into this story and I don't want to abandon dear Ted and Peggy. So, I will persevere and attempt to figure out where their story leads.