The concept of darkness bringing peace and a release to pain can sometimes be very scary, or horrifying even. Regardless, it's a lesson our characters will learn throughout these four stories. In "Silence" a little girl plagued with loss and a longing for silence is visited one night by a creature of shadows promising salvation. "Snow and Woe" is the story of Clara who for first time in her life doesn't feel alone as she has landed a date with the women of her dreams. However when the snowy weather takes a turn for the worst, Clara finds herself in cold desolation, her chance at happiness so close, yet so terribly far. In "Never Alone" a women inept at social conventions takes a hike in the woods to be away from the people she hates. Not soon after, she finds herself engulfed in dirt as she falls into a hidden cave were a spider like creature promises that she will never be alone again. "Indra and the Dragon" is an adaptation of the ancient Indian myth/story with the same name from around 1500 BC. This reimagining of the story follows Vritra, a dragon who has hoarded all the waters of the land, and Indra, a women from an insignificant village. Indra in her search for food and water stumbles upon a dragon's corpse and after partaking, is gifted with the power to challenge Vritra and attempts to restore water to the land. I would also like to note that these stories were all written during my time in university while I was studying to be a writer and were written with very particular guidelines.