Award-winning author Verlyn Flieger takes readers through a series of insightful short stories exploring tragic aspects of human nature. A few of the tales are dark, others a bit lighter, but all celebrate the creativity of storytelling. The second part of the book is a collection of new poetry unearthing the wonders of language, the mundane, and grief and mourning as part of life-the dark spot within the light. Death is the inevitable, inescapable result of mortality, and grief is the price the living pay for that condition. Readers are invited to join in the journey, take some comfort in the knowledge of shared darkness, and know that even within the dark moments, there is always at least a speck of splintered light.