Dark and touching, the imaginative stories in this collection deal with everything from human fear to spiritual growth with an amazing assortment of characters and unexpected storylines. Often highlighting touching but sad experiences of women, the tales include a spunky 90-year-old grandmother who bowls, and a bride whose expectations of a romantic wedding night end tragically when she is raped by her new husband, but also enemy soldiers who embrace an opportunity of unity, and an extraterrestrial's take on the humanity, or lack thereof, on Earth.