Deprivation

Five entertaining stories of deprivation... "Storm Before the Calm" features a man who grew up in a dysfunctional family and is searching for answers to why his life has been turned upside down. A half-sister he never knew comes into his life, only to end up murdered. Then, his own life appears to be in danger as the most bizarre incidents begin to happen."Fear and What It Brings" is the second story, about a young woman, Angelina, who has to learn how to live a "normal" life, having been born with unusual phobias and fears that cause people to ridicule her and create the need for her parents to place her in a special education institution with people like herself. There she meets Bud, whose parents are wealthy, and when they fall in love, Bud's mother does everything in her power to discourage an impending engagement. Just before graduation, Angelina comes home to her parents and gets reacquainted with her childhood friend Neil, the only one who never ridiculed her, and now she must choose between Neil and Bud."On the Road Again" is the third story, about Kim, a young woman truck driver, who takes time off to attend a family reunion at her Aunt Betty's. But when one of the sisters, Ellen, comes up missing, Kim ends up in a dangerous situation when she embarks on a mission to find her.The fourth story, "The Town that Didn't Exist," has a touch of science fiction, when young Albert embarks on a train heading West in the early 1900s, hoping to find a place for himself to settle down, so he can send for his fianceé back in Philadelphia. However, circumstances lead him in an unexpected direction.Finally, "The Face Behind the Mask" is the fifth story, in which Ellie drives to Santa Barbara in California to visit a friend, Sandy, whom she met on a social media site. They end up taking a vacation together at Sandy's beach house in Santa Cruz, but not without trouble from a stalker, whom they suspect must be Sandy's ex-boyfriend. But everything comes out in the open during the Mardi Gras celebration with the face behind the mask.Each of the stories in the book deals with deprivation in one way or another, with an interesting twist of circumstances and unexpected outcomes.