Springer Nancy
Derek relishes being the bully of his Catholic school, and when Julian arrives with his purple hair, he seems like an easy target. When Julian starts asserting that God might actually be a woman, Derek is immediately enraged and becomes determined to get Julian to recant his thought, no matter the price. It soon becomes apparent that perhaps Julian has some strength Derek isn't quite prepared for, and that the boy with the purple hair knows something
...22) The Present
The girl named Saffron knows family and clan the way she knows earth and sky, as absolutes. Of course, after a separation of four years, she looks forward to seeing her grandmother again, and makes a gift for her, a clay spindle. When Grandmother does not know who she is or what her gift is for, Saffron's world is shattered. What good is a circle of clay now? How can anything ever make sense again?
When a young man mysteriously shows up in the stables of Lord Robley and demonstrates an amazing ability to braid horse manes and tails, the Lord and Lady are quite taken with his abilities and have him stay on. Sure, he doesn't speak a single word and there's truly something odd about him, but his talents at braiding are second to none. When the Lady finds herself in need of the man's skills for her own head of hair, the situation is looked upon
...24) #20
Little Veronica likes hanging out at Mrs. Life's porch. She can see the whole town from the steps, and Mrs. Life is fascinating in the way that she keeps track of all sorts of numbers and information in her little spiral-bound notebooks. So it's surprising to Veronica when the always-nice Mrs. Life has an argument with Mr. Quickel, the school health teacher and wrestling coach, about the cost of mowing her lawn. Soon, Mrs. Life has started to insinuate
...25) Dreamfisher
Ostracized for speaking her mind and standing up against a man she doesn't wish to marry, a young girl is cast out of her village and forced to fend for herself in the mountains. When she ventures too closely to a lake and nearly drowns, she is rescued by a man from Athens who introduces himself as Herodotus. What transpires after the rescue is an education for the young girl, providing names for the things that surround her. When an encounter
...Kerri Ellen lives each day with the haunting memory of the day her sister Kimmi disappeared on her way to work. Every night, she lights a candle in the hopes that her lost sister will somehow, miraculously, find her way home.
When fellow college student Burke's little sister goes missing, Kerri teams up with her sorority sisters to help comb the area to try to find her. As she makes her way through the woods and eventually back to Burke's house,
...27) The Kingmaker
The daughter of the High King has a regal name, but she is small and plain, so everyone just calls her Wren. As a mere girl, she is not her father's heir; her cousin Korbye is. But Wren's infallible sooth-sense tells her that Korbyn would make no good king. Nor is sooth-sense her only fate. Wren is the Kingmaker. When an ancient and dangerous ring of power finds its way to her, how should she use it?
28) Ruth
Poet T. S. Eliot once noted that when it came to cats, naming them was quite the difficult matter. At the Haven for Life Animal Rescue, worker Xenia knows this all to well. Glad to have a position, regardless of the fact that she suffers from paranoia, developmental retardation and depression, Xenia wants only to give the best care to the rescued cats that live in the shelter. When Xenia realizes that the kittens are being adopted shortly after
...29) Silent End
When Judith discovers a dead body in the kiln of her pottery store, she's convinced it's the work of her ex-husband in an attempt to cause her trouble. After discussing the incident with members of her Scrabble Club, Judith soon learns that her ex may be off the hook, and that sticks and stones may break bones, but words can definitely get you killed. A short story.
30) Juggernaut
When Marietta Becker goes undercover at a singles dance to investigate the homicide of five men, she thinks she's discovered one of the saddest places she's ever encountered. When her husband suddenly appears and is immediately recognized by the dance regulars, Marietta realizes there are a lot of reasons to want to kill someone. A short story.
31) Rumple What?
We've all heard the fairy tale of the girl who could spin straw into gold, and the creature that would demand her first-born as payment for helping her achieve the horrible tasks put to her by her father.
Let's face it, though, The Brothers Grimm couldn't get the facts of a story straight if their lives depended on it, and this classic tale of excess and woe is certainly no different. Here, revealed for the first time, is the absolutely true
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