Financial downturns affect all walks of life.Even the criminal underworld.Gary and Horace believe they've come up with a way to make the act of kidnapping a pleasant experience for all involved. Including,...

Mrs. Mildred Merkle wasn't the kind of person to change her habits or routine, especially not for the inhabitants of her own home.But three cats—Tinnitus, Reflux, and Mange—have different ideas.As Mrs....

Paulie dreams of traveling the world, and with her red umbrella by her side she is ready to tackle anything. But when she loses her umbrella on the Paris Metro, Paulie must face the city's streets without...

An assassination has rocked the city of Sanctum, bringing a tyrannical rule to an end.Sahri the Unswerving, living in squalor and heavy with child, discovers her husband is next in line to rule as Decision...

This eclectic collection of eight short-short pieces crosses from gritty science-fiction to heartwarming poetry, showcasing the versatility, imagination, comic wit, and pathos of author Jessica Baverstock....

Thirty-seven-year-old Neville Hardencourt IV lives a life of leisure in the 21st century. But his core is forged from good old-fashioned British chivalry.Unfortunately, this chivalry doesn't exempt him...

Earnestine is a consummate performer.She lives for the roar of the audience: the waves of applause crashing down upon her as she entertains them, the ebb and flow of crowds coming and going from the Las...

Helen Summers spends every Sunday afternoon caring for small children, like little 5-year-old Peter who is intent on defying his mother's instructions.As Helen tries to inculcate a few life lessons in...

A trader on a distant planet discovers an impossible stone, an entirely pleasant kidnapping goes awry, and a young woman learns what it means to be a world nomad.Now with more than double the stories,...

Annie is a grown woman now, past all that childish adventuring stuff, but when her cousin Henry claims to have overheard instructions to buried treasure she is forced to decide whether or not to invest...

When children run away to the circus, it is Seamus Harden who talks them down and gets them the help they need.Spoilt teenagers, abused kids, Seamus sees it all.Until one night Seamus meets a little a...

After the unexpected death of her father, Miss Ann Wainfleet must find the quickest way to transport her mother, younger sister, and herself from the shores of Foochow, China back to London. Since her...

Neville Hardencourt IV is a quintessential gentleman, always ready to help a friend—even if that friend has got himself into a predicament which common sense and a modicum of forethought could have prevented.Lord...

Brandon loves pie.Especially apple and blueberry pie.The problem is, Brandon isn't allowed pie for a whole week when he gets detention at school.A bigger problem is that the kids at school are so annoying...

On dreary autumn evenings Celeste Wang wanders the streets of London, always returning, as if magnetically drawn, to stare at the brightly lit cafe above Covent Garden.Celeste imagines great minds like...

With humankind scattered among the stars in poverty-stricken colonies, only two things connect the last remnants of the race: a makeshift government, too busy arguing over a chain of command to be of...

Mr. Wilhelm Daniel Fahrenheit's surname causes him irritation and garners attention wherever he goes—from primary school days to now well past retirement.Mr. Fahrenheit just wishes to be left in peace!But...

As a child, Ellie had a problem with crying. The slightest thing could start her sobbing. Which made her a perfect target for bullies.But she cured that habit.At least she thought she had.Until, as an...

At age 57, Angelina has raised two children, run a business, and survived divorce. She believes herself a woman capable of managing any challenge.But when her daughter leaves her pet bird in Angelina's...

The surprise occurrence of February 30th.The loss of a favorite umbrella.The sudden arrival of a tiny circus runaway.Each of these unexpected events propel a different character into their own sweet,...

Heather Patterson has lived a life of converging and diverging lines.Her husband had been incompatibly perpendicular, merely crossing her life temporarily on his way to 'better things.'Her teenage son...

Angie dreams of having a baby—of holding her own warm, tiny newborn to her chest—but always wakes to the reality of being childless.So when Angie's sister, Marjorie, invites herself and her newborn baby...

When English girl Jodie moves to her husband's home in Australia, the intense summer heat, unfamiliar culture, and mounting loneliness are compounded by an unexpected source of frustration……a letterbox...

A circus runaway who wants to be an accountant, a hostage in a crisis call center, and a walrus in search of love.These are just three of the stories in the second volume of Baverstock's Allsorts, covering...

At the birth of time travel, an emerging love will have life-changing consequences.Violet-Lee Brandston, a brilliant mind in the burgeoning field of temporal biology, has the potential to revolutionize...