Since I love books, this is one of my favorite rooms in the house. I often sit in the blue wing chair in front of the fire with Salem on my lap and indulge in two of my passions: reading a good novel and drinking a mocha latte. In the top drawer of the desk beside the window, you will find 25 stories to read when you're in the mood for lighter reading fare.
Note: All the stories in this room were written around the year 2002. I'm not sure of the exact date.
A Marriage Encounter - Four couples who take a cruise to a private island learn that one of them paid to have his or her spouse killed. A Matter of Life and Death - On the eve of his wedding day, just when he believes he has everything to live for, an overworked insurance salesman suffers a major heart attack. May I Help You? - A worker at a fast-food restaurant drive-thru window hears a call for help, but there is no one there. My Contribution to Comedy - A stand-up comic is consumed with jealousy when an odd man with no personality or sense of humor becomes the next comic sensation. The Necessities of Life - A wealthy couple runs a shelter for the city's homeless, but their motives aren't exactly altruistic. |
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A New Beginning - An alien invader crashes on a foreign world and encounters the planet's lone survivor. Nine Lives - When the Novaks move to Boston, their six-year-old daughter makes two new friends: an elderly woman who lives in the building and a stray cat. P.S. I Love You - A beautiful woman begins corresponding with a prison inmate serving a 50-year sentence for armed robbery and murder. Phasmophobia - Psychiatrist Lionel Penn treats a patient who sees the ghosts of his dead parents. Poor Prince Hal - The beautiful daughter of a wealthy English landowner wants to get revenge on the man who abandoned her: Henry VIII, king of England. |
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The Prisoner - A prison warden, writing a book on the penal system, meets an inmate who claims to have been imprisoned in both Alcatraz and Eastern State Penitentiary. Recalling a Misspent Youth - As her birthday approaches, a wealthy woman thinks back on the mistakes she made in her youth. Red River Bridge - A curious high school student hopes to discover the connection between the deaths of three former football buddies and a bridge that turned red. The Station - After inheriting a 200-year-old house, Gwyneth Harrelson hears a mysterious scratching sound coming from the attic. Stolen Memories - After learning his wife is pregnant, a happily married architect begins seeing flashes of memories of a strange blond woman. |
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The Strangler - With a serial killer on the loose, a widow who lives far from the center of town is terrified when she hears someone outside her house. Suicide Note - A science fiction writer temporarily loses his mind when he faces scientific fact. Time Out - An unhappy little boy learns that the time outs meant to punish him actually open a door to a world of make-believe. The Tortured Artist - A newly married French nobleman is willing to sacrifice anything for the sake of his art. The Tourist Attraction - Using the name Miss Hepzibah Oddbody, Doreen Burns opens a museum in Salem, Massachusetts, dedicated to torture and devil worship. |
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Trick or Treat - A thirteen-year-old boy sets out on his final night of trick or treating, a night the people in his town will always remember. Triskaidekaphobia - Psychiatrist Lionel Penn treats a patient with an unreasonable fear of the number thirteen. Twentieth Anniversary - On his twentieth anniversary, a romantic doctor recreates the setting of his wedding reception. The White Buffalo - When a white buffalo is born, a Sioux medicine man claims the animal is the fulfillment of a Native American prophecy. A World of Their Own - When a hermit reports the death of a wife no one knew he had, the man is accused of her murder. |