E.J. V'Kanty

  Do we have free will or is everything predetermined by Fate? Maybe it’s just the big life events that Fate controls while leaving us free to make minor choices that won’t really affect the direction of our lives. This is the theme I wanted to address in For Everything, A Season . This urban short story starts by introducing Elmira Trumble, a single mother who works full time and struggles to give her twin daughters the best possible lives. Confronted by a mysterious stranger, Elmira soon learns that her efforts may all be for nothing. Fate seems to have different plans for her small family. Can Elmira and her daughters fight Fate? Even if they can, should they? Or would it be better for all of them to simply give in and let Fate have its way? Find out which path Elmira takes with her daughters in For Everything, A Season .        “Pick someone. You point them out and I’ll take their life.”      She sank back down on the har...

  I’ve always been fascinated by the mind’s ability to conceal things we have done from our own conscious selves. That must be especially frightening for a psychologist or therapist to experience in their own minds. They must have to live with that thought each time they have a session with a patient suffering from a personality disorder. But for the grace of God, there go I - John   Bradford, 1533 Into the Realm of the Lunatic takes that idea a step further by forcing Dr. Shauna Adams to confront her personal demons as she treats a patient with real malevolent tendencies. There’s a link between Shauna and her patient and it’s one she can uncover only by entering Into the Realm of the Lunatic .        Blackness, everywhere she sent her gaze. The stale air and absence of noise suggested she stood indoors, although she could see nothing. It seemed like it had been far too long to be lost within this dark void. It caused her to wonder if the subc...