This eclectic collection of short fiction centers on the theme of revelations that can occur during unplanned encounters with those we don't know or don't understand, including ourselves. The poignancy of each story arises from the flash of understanding, sometimes tempered with despair, that may be triggered by such chance interactions. About the Author Jo Anne Valentine Simson, M.S., Ph.D., retired biomedical scientist and world traveler, has authored sixty scientific publications, a few published short stories, and three nonfiction books. She has also written a health-related layman’s guide to the human body, not yet published. She is currently collecting previously written short stories and poetry, several of which were published with the pseudonym V. Pascoe.