Daughters

Product Description This book contains ten stories. Their subjects are varied, but they all celebrate daughters. Some stories deal with adult themes.Leanna and Amos--Alone, penniless, and hungry, a teenage girl seeks refuge in an abandoned house.More Than Precious--A man with a tragic past receives a new neighbor and a new beginning.Daughters--A man and a woman imprisoned in a mysterious room receive visitors from the eighteenth century. Strange Things--A neighbor's child reawakens a man's interest in the stars and family.Missing--A dream leads a man on a quest to find his neighbor's missing daughter.The Ghost--The new neighbor's daughter is a ghost.We Have a Kid--A couple go in search of the child they gave up for adoption.The Little Girl Next Door--Strange appearances bring hope to a lonely old man beset by tragedy.Edmona--In medieval times, a disabled girl stands alone again an evil monarchy. Vortex--In an age of apocalyptic events, a family struggles to survive. From the Author (The first paragraphs of three stories, somewhat abbreviated from the original:)More Than PreciousChapter 1 The New NeighborFred Turner woke around 2:00 AM with banging on his apartment door. He threw on his robe and slippers and shuffled sleepily to the door. He opened it to find his across-the-hall neighbor, Alicia Jones, leaning heavily against the door frame.She was obviously inebriated. Equally obvious was the vomit that plastered the tee shirt and panties she wore and ran down her legs to her bare feet. Fred's first thought was "How could someone so small barf so much?" Alicia struggled to maintain her footing and to keep her eyes open. She mumbled something that sounded like "Dunk," but Fred was pretty sure she was trying to say "Drunk." And the clear implication was that Alicia was sufficiently in her right mind to know that she needed help. So Fred took hold of her and helped her into his apartment. He guided her into his bathroom and helped her into the tub. She stretched out with her head resting on the sloping end of the tub, closed her eyes, and appeared to go to sleep almost instantly. Fred debated what to do next. Could he just leave her there to sleep? He thought he might get a blanket and some pillows and stuff them around her. That would be easy to do and would maintain her until morning, but then he thought about the vomit and realized with some regret that he probably ought to clean her up. But really? Fred wondered about the ethics of this. He was sixty-two and had lived a fairly celibate life for the last twenty years or more, but like any other red-blooded heterosexual American male, a properly endowed female would always turn his head, and on occasion, he was not above browsing soft porn sites on the Internet with everything that entailed. So, as he looked down on Alicia's small form, he pondered how to proceed.In the short time Fred had known her and with just a very few interactions, he had developed a significant positive feeling about her. Her cuteness, her friendliness, and her congenial nature made her to Fred's mind, if not a beauty, at least quite an attractive young woman. And here he was faced with the prospect of undressing her and bathing her. Should he do that? The question gave Fred considerable pause. We Have a KidChapter 1 Benny andJackieBenny and Jackie Traver had been married for three years,and during that whole time, they had been trying to make a baby. They had attempted a variety of things to improve their chances. Initially, these were homegrown remedies, but for the last year, they had been seeing a fertility specialist. And, now, on this Saturday morning while sitting at the breakfast table, the following conversation ensued."My period started.""Rats." Benny sat with arms folded, head down, and eyes closed. "I guess that in vitro thing is our last option. Do you want me to ask Dr. Sturgeon about it?"Benny looked up at Jackie and nodded. "Yeah." Then he shook his head. "I just don't unde