Mike Pearce

In the first story on Shell Island there is a man who was able to predict the future. He has to leave his island because his predictions failed and find a home elsewhere. Will he survive? Annie's speciality was in making shell women, One day she found something floating in the tide which would change her life completely and even help generate a famous landmark in her little seaside town. Cornwall especially is well known for smuggling, This third story is about the attempt to smuggle in brandy by two people to a small village in Cornwall on the river Fal. The watcher is there, watching day and night and sees everything but does not do anything. One may ask why? Many of you in your childhood may have played in rock pools, trying to catch some of the creatures living there. Would you try and get them out? Certainly not in this rock pool in the fourth story, as an unknown fate may await you. The fifth story is about a man who jumps into the sea to retrieve his mobile phone where two other witches lie in wait. What is his fate? Will he escape or become just another source of food for the three witches? The sixth story is about a boy who collected these starfish as he thought they may survive but little did he know the consequences of having a pocket full of starfish. The Royal Sea Bathing Hospital in Margate, Kent was formed for the scrofulous poor of London, for the saving of limbs and preserving the lives of those persons on the brink of death. The seventh story relates to two small children and their experiences whilst in the infirmary and during a huge storm on the coast. The eighth story is about a mother waiting for her son who has gone with fishermen out to sea on a long voyage. Will she ever see her son again before she dies? Who can tell if he will return once more? Ricky felt undressed if he didn't have an open book on his head. He went everywhere with this book but one day in the ninth story something happened to change all that. . Who lives in the house with different coloured bricks and what do they do? It seems nobody knows but will they find out. One day all is revealed in the tenth story. Two gulls live on an old lady's chimney in the eleventh story. They can see her daily activities and her front garden which contains a magnificent paeony tree in flower. One day they see something unusual which affects the old ladies life. This twelfth story is about the last leaf on a tree. It journeyed on far from its home but eventually fell to rest at night in the dark only to find that unlike other leaves it would become something treasured The thirteenth story is about an abnormal winter. Everything froze and ice completely covered the roads and anything in sight including the tree in which the blackbirds sat. .The fourteenth story is about a person who from childhood collected figures. Who says figures have no control over people? In this story they seemed to right up to the end. Metal rusts. The fifteenth story relates to a rusty front gate which has seen a whole kaleidoscope of happiness and sadness, Would it be repaired? Would it survive or become scrap only to be melted down never to be a gate again. The last section is a play about eight colourful characters who visit the day centre.. There have many experiences before time finally runs completely dry. The sea always plays an important part in our lives especially in the past. Many children are taken to the seaside and sea air was a medical requirement for diseases such as TB. Care home also are common at sea resorts some purporting that it can put an extra 10 years on your life. This volume covers an interesting variety of stories some tales of happiness others of sadness. Enjoy

This volume initially looks at in sections one to three some identities of creatures such as herring gulls, scale insects and termites that are often considered pests. This is followed by sections four and five on some common hang-ups such as putting on weight and the need to establish repetition of new changes in one's health diet and lifestyle. To some people big is beautiful whereas to others butt size is important as seen in this volume. Many people use make up to enhance their appearance. They do not know what chemicals they are adorning their face with. In the past many ingredients caused more damage than wellbeing. Remember, many people still choose inner beauty, not physical attractiveness, when choosing their partner. Stones in different shapes, forms and materials have been implicated in helping increase fertility in women. Stones are rubbed, touched or sat on today or used as talismen by female visitors in the hope that their magic will help them become pregnant and have children. This sixth section looks at different stones as well as the link of egg shaped stones with new life, and the meaning of Easter and the resurrection of Jesus. Christ. It also looks at the importance of chocolate, especially eggs, in helping fertility. Captain Grottbuster appears in this seventh section. Although a small and insignificant creature in this short section he indicates ways to address environmental concerns and wants you, the reader, to choose some things you can change. Remember, every little action, like the butterfly effect, can have an enormous impact overall on the quality of life and climate change and positive actions are winners. The eighth is about a pair of kittiwakes who witness the demise of their nesting places which they had had for many years. Many buildings once looked magnificent but over time weathering has made them pitted, scarified and blackened with many of the fine features lost In the past, we had a rag and bone man with a sack or cart collecting bones to grind up for fertiliser. With a lack of water our primitive ancestors may have used urine for drinking, washing and even cooking. They may also have discovered that putting urine on injuries could act as an antiseptic or as a sterilising chemical. The ninth section questions why we cannot still use these today as a valuable recyclable resource. The word tail often relates to the end and something long and bendy. It can also be used to represent numerous objects such as a stream of smoke, the length of hair, or even a long queue of people and can move. In vertebrates it exists, if present, at the base of the vertebral column and can act as an extra limb. This tenth section emphasises the usefulness of tails which we lack as humans. We often hear words spoken which have their origins in cockney slang, just slang, or even past dialects such as from Dorset. The eleventh section gives some examples of each, in a few days in the life of a man and his wife. The text could be used to illustrate examples by reading it out to students or to others interested in dialects. Finally there are some people who irritate others. There are those who stand in a shop reading a newspaper and never buy it and there are those who really have no manners at meal times and have little consideration for those around them. This twelfth section is about a man whose whole world was completely alien to others, especially at meal times. He was the sort of person you would like to complain about but afraid you would upset him as this was his way of dealing with his life, oblivious to others' comment and remarks.

The first section in this volume is on pattern. Many people wonder why pattern exists everywhere and whether there is a creator behind this. If there was no pattern then this would result in uncertainty, lack of purpose and chaos. One can see an underlying reliance on an existence trying to grab hold of order in this everyday sea of chaos. The littlest oyster was to land he knew not where. If he hit the soft bottom with no firm attachment he would not survive. The only problem there were so many oysters around so how could he grow to a big size? Which sadly he never did in this second story. There is a sadness in some stories and this third story is about a priest in London during the Second World War who eventually falls on hard times homeless and relying on charity to survive. The fourth story is about a woman at the time of despair one person meets the Holy Ghost who gives her, as he can give to you, a new spirit to carry on despite all your problems. In the fifth story a little shepherd boy gives is small gift to Jesus as a baby only to find fate later he is can put in a situation that can force him to commit actions that he did not want. Nobody knows what happened inside the tomb before the stone was rolled away but the sixth story attempts to portray a fictional version of those events as witnessed through the eyes of a tiny spider living at the entrance of the tomb who follows the journey of Jesus to life everlasting. One does not know what time of day, what minute, what second the second coming will come. The seventh story is based around three people who are demons that have started preparing for the arrival of the four horsemen of the apocalypse, who will trigger death and destruction on this earth.. Will the person in this fifth story have the strength to help trigger the tribulation or the ability to stop it? The eighth story rekindles the concept of a soul and how the devil is always ready to take away someone's soul. Paul leases a pawnbroker's shop and finds he is faced with selling something other than jewellery and mobile phones. Something happens that changes the lives of seven individuals who enter his shop. The ninth story follows a piece of cloth which, in Roman times, is cut up into several pieces. One piece arrives in a charity shop and is adapted for another function. Christmas is pure commercialism encouraging the spend, spend, spend, attitude. This tenth story is about a little boy called David who wants to know what Christmas really is, not a commercial vacuum but in everyday life. A spirit puts him in the picture. The eleventh story is about an egg much bigger than any bird's eggs today found by a boy one morning in his garden. Nobody knew where it came from, what it actually was and more importantly what was inside it. The twelfth story is about little Mary who lived with her mother and father at the edge of a small wood. Disease always surrounded poverty this family would suffer losses that were irreplaceable and unreconcilable. The thirteenth story is about two weeds who always wanted to be inside a church. Would they be inside before they died? You need to wait and see. Have you ever sat down in a chair and felt a sudden breeze or chill blowing cold against your heated cheeks when the whole room is warm or felt your car rock on a windy day? Angels may even be sitting right next to you right now as in this fourteenth story. This last fifteenth story illustrates Thanet in a time of turbulence and invasion. Within this came a flowering of Christianity many Abbeys were built. This story is written to knit with fiction a role for St Mildred and her community at this time. This volume brings together stories and beliefs which illustrate how goodness and love can dominate over evil. It also brings into the arena the question of the importance of angels and the Holy Spirit which both can have roles in our everyday lives. Enjoy

This volume is about different women, their ways, appearances or actions. One could definitely say unusual often to the extreme. Many plants have attributes that mimic or compliment features of human behaviour, structure and often exhibit higher abilities. It is not so far-fetched with genetic engineering and gene transfer, to transfer plant genes, and possibly in the future plant cell features, back into animals and even humans. This first short story finds is about a new human breed of women as a result the little lady bought something unusual in a garden centre Some women just love men, but this woman was different, she absorbed them. Unfortunately, they were not fully absorbed, leaving small, brainless and senseless projections attached to the woman's skin. These projections had devastating consequences for the life of Mary among the Sisters in a convent on a small island. This second story begs the question, why do women need males at all? This third story relates an evolutionary relationship between the behavior of sloths and a woman who has similar anatomical structure and behaviour. Put under extreme pressure by her violent, drunken husband she strikes out with her claws, but suffers the consequences of her actions. A supermarket till worker develops bar codes on her skin. These lead to a series of symbols which unlock a secret from the Holy Land held in a local church since the time of Richard the Lionheart. A man in black is determined to prevent the unlocking of this secret. Does he succeed? Find out in the fourth story? In the fifth story Will is looking for a beautiful woman and trying to impress by buying new clothes at a supermarket. On leaving he is confronted by another world and ten beautiful women but will anything come of his encounter? This sixth story is about a young lady whose love of red became an obsession. This was to such an extent that a spell was cast on her which affected her appearance and she had to look for a solution outside the normal realms for humans. Will she solve this dilemma or remain hidden from society for the rest of her life? Many people pick up objects and smell them. Freshly washed clothes, flowers, perfumes and food are some examples. But Nellie in this seventh story was different, she smelled books. Unfortunately there were consequences of smelling books. One day she smelled a very old book and found herself transformed into a different, difficult era where poverty and disease was commonplace which could eventually lead to her death. A woman possessed a sense of smell that ar exceeded that of any human or animal? Her organs for her sense of smell were not only in her nose but on her skin all over her body. This had its uses, but it also had serious disadvantages as you will see in the eighth story. Many women and some men use hairspray to hold their hair in place, or to add shine or lustre. In this last story Daphne not only loved using hair spray she found lots of different uses for it much to the annoyance of many people or anything that came in contact with it. In the end she did one spray too many which had serious consequences. All women are different. They certainly are in this volume some erring on the supernatural side. Perhaps you can identify with some of them? Enjoy

A very wicked witch had lost one of her cats who ran away. In this first story she found it eventually, but forced it to live in her nursery rhyme book forever. While inside it ran amuck so that the rhymes were never the same as before. The second story is also about cats and the arrival of a new cat. Disaster occurs from fracking in the area and one cat is missing. Will it ever be found? It doesn't seem likely. The third story concerns a small boy called Daniel who tries unsuccessfully to win a small bear on an arcade machine. He eventually succeeds on Christmas Eve but an accident means he loses this treasured possession, but has he? A man was born with a long neck a very long neck and how he managed to survive everyday life and his encounter with a giant who lived on the side of the valley is told in story four. In the sixth story Lord Eden and his wife cannot afford to keep their manor house running. A great storm bringing down the large stone cockerel from the parapet and changing all their lives forever. Most people would like a pot of gold, but things are not always as they seem. This seventh story tells of a mother and son who become rich, but a golden life has its consequences. The eighth story is about of an old gentleman who goes to a local hospital for an examination and ends up being faced with different challenges in rooms of balls as he travels through a series of rooms and tunnels in search of the golden ball which was taken from him. In this ninth story a small population of humans remained on the earth but were only a few millimetres tall. They found themselves trapped within a piece of wood patrolled by hungry insects. This tenth story is about a little fruit that cannot fly away and is vulnerable to being ridiculed or eaten by other creatures. Have you ever felt sleepy? In the eleventh story twins have had a spell put on them which made them sleep at the same time. Would they find some solution before they both slept all day long for the rest of their lives? Mrs Light and Mr Dark are in the twelfth story. What happened when Mrs Light left for good? We take bathrooms in hotels for granted. Lots of things travel down holes in the bathroom but no one would expect when opening the door, to enter another world as in the thirteenth story. Tulips out in June? This fourteenth story is about a tulip tree and how it changed those around it. In this fifteenth story George was a sprinter but one day fell in love and stopped sprinting. His love was not what one would imagine but things were about to change. This final section has a fantastic variety of short stories and funny poems developed from young children's wild imaginationIf you want a good bedtime read for your children to take them into the world of fantasy and fun then this section is the one for you. There are many different examples of fantasy and imagination included in this volume as well as short poems and stories for children Enjoy

Challenges through changes in the environment or sheer luck can bring about new forms of life.This first story is built about such organisms which either lived on this earth or came from outer space. Many of you may have had difficulty in looking after certain pets. These demands can be great, but not as much as keeping a dinosaur with the biggest claws in the world as in the second story. Sometimes we get termites in the UK but this is very unlikely in your case. There may be more to this than meets the eye, especially when a genetic mistake forms a mutant the human termite in story three. Pigeons have been labeled pests, vermin and eradicated in cities. In story four it is time for retribution which starts in central London causing chaos and disaster. The 'Glass Anemone'Aiptasia means beautiful, but for all its beauty it is an aggressive survivor and pest that can take over an aquarium. In this fifth story these glass anemones move into fresh water and venture onto land with serious consequences and loss of human life. Creatures from the past, if they existed today, could cause chaos. This sixth story is such a case where man's endeavour to search for minerals in new environments releases creatures from the past. The seventh story is based on an experiment where urchin genes are transferred to humans. This has devastating consequences for one child who is compelled to prey on people who have dined and wined. A huge blast of radiation from the sun had sterilized everything on earth. Humans knew how to create new beings from dividing egg cells but they were clones. In this eighth story a man returns to a small hut he used to play in as a child. Is he safe inside the hut? Will he leave the same person as before or has he lost or gained something unimaginable? You've probably seen films on pest control where hundreds of mice are found living in a barn. Well this ninth story is about mice, more than one could ever imagine or count that take over a village and cause chaos. During Napoleonic times there were many garrisons placed around the English Channel to prevent invasion by the French.During this time a situation occurred which is commemorated today by naming an alley close to the gun emplacement, 'Screaming Alley.' the title of the tenth story. The eleventh story is about a small boy who sees a horse's face outlined in the trunk of a rotten tree and witnesses a transformation which echoes from the past. This twelfth story is based around Dead Man's island.This is a living graveyard which was used for victims of plague ships and English and French prisoners of war on hulks. Many bones have been exposed on the shore. What happened to the souls of all these people? Are they trapped in this lost human refuse tip, unknown and inaccessible to relatives and friends? Richard, a shepherd and smuggler who knew this island and must return one day to perform an unknown task. Every day a man brought his donkeys down a small lane to the beach. This lane became known as Donkey Lane until finally, as the years went by it was given the name Dead Donkey Lane for reasons that will be found in this next fictional thirteenth story. Many people especially if travelling to other countries experience events such as brief encounters with insects. Others may be ridiculed by their surnames or even being polite to other people which is what this next fourteenth story shows. Plaster of Paris bandages have helped bones heal for many centuries. This final fifteenth story is of a master plasterer whose daily job in 'The Plaster Room' in the local hospital extends into a new obsession which has serious consequences for those involved. This volume presents a wide spectrum of different horror stories and experiences many of which stem from local tales. Can such horrific things happen? Who knows often events occur beyond our imagination. Enjoy

This volume looks at ways of helping your business, paralleling examples seen in the most successful plants. It links their structure, behaviour and resolution to succeed with that seen in types of management systems. Sections one and two give you some examples of how plants struggle to get to the top to maximise their potential and produce flowers and fruits. You too can be successful like these plants and reach the top to gain wealth and happiness. As in the game of snakes and ladders you think you can gain a great achievement but in reality things don't always last that long. As they say life is a roller coaster, like a wave with its peaks and troughs. You will always survive, life makes sure of that. The third section looks at ways to change your outlook and change the people around you thus improving your happiness and success. Staying at the top of the ladder involves trust. Trust will always involve risk as in the fourth section. It can involve long term commitments, or can also be an instant thing. Ever since we first existed we have had to trust someone or something in order to survive. Teaching involves trust but principles do not change that much and often go round in circles being influenced by government and institution requirements linked to funding and quality control. This fifth section looks at various ways you can help students progress in education by collecting information as well as improving team work and the corporate image of your institution. Has the situation in Victorian society changed today? -the scene has changed but the ideals have not. Are there poor today? Are there rich who exploit the poor? Do people love money and is that the only thing that matters for true happiness. The sixth section in this volume attempts to outline some of the ways we think today as compared to the past. Have we actually learnt something? Perhaps not. Loneliness has always existed and is hard to define. You don't have to be alone to be lonely but this often has been assumed for those on their own. The seventh section provides many ideas on how to avoid feeling isolated or lonely. Pick and choose things to try out which fit your circumstances at the time so as to enjoy every moment of your day. Remember, lonely people breed lonely people. One day there will be so many elderly people in many parts of the world that the word lonely will have little relevance as this will be a new culture. Lonely people often work in charity shops. Charity will always involve giving something, be it money, goods or your time. The goods or money may originate from donations or raised by some other means e.g. sponsorship or collections. This eighth section gives some ideas of how to maximise profit and work together to successfully avoid loneliness. The volume has many good ideas and examples of good practice based on personal experience and literature, which I'm sure will greatly benefit all those who read this book Enjoy.

We take bathrooms in hotels for granted. Most likely they will have a shower, a toilet, plenty of bars of soap neatly wrapped in glossy paper and a selection of bath and hand towels Lots of things travel down holes in the bathroom but no one would expect when opening the door, to enter another world, but for David this turned out to be the case.

There are many unusual people around, some of them wearing peculiar things. This story is about Ricky who felt undressed if he didn't have an open book on his head. He said houses have roofs on their tops so why can't I have a sort of roof, an open book. He went everywhere with this book but one day something happened to change all that.

Have you ever felt sleepy, probably in a car or in a coach especially when it's warm? This story is about twins who had a spell put on them which made them sleep at the same time. Talking to anyone would trigger sleeping. With age the amount of time sleeping would increase. Would they find some solution before they both slept all day long for the rest of their lives?

Many women and some men use hairspray to hold their hair in place, or to add shine or lustre. The spray also helps with split ends and protects against sun damage. Daphne not only loved using hair spray she found lots of different uses for it much to the annoyance of many people or anything that came in contact with it. In the end she did one spray too many which had serious consequences.

During Napoleonic times there were many garrisons placed around the English Channel to prevent invasion by the French. One gun emplacement was based close to the cliff edge and overlooking the right side of the harbour. During this time a situation occurred which is commemorated today by naming an alley close to the gun emplacement, 'Screaming Alley.' It is believed that even today if you go there at night the screams still echo down this alley

What would you do if one of your senses was ten thousand times as sensitive as your other senses? How would you react to the world? This story is about a woman whose sense of smell far exceeded that of any human or animal? She was not like other women. Her organs for her sense of smell were not only in her nose but on her skin all over her body. This had its uses, but it also had serious disadvantages as you will see.

This is a story about two plants often considered as weeds. They grew outside a local church and always wanted to be inside it. Would they be inside before they died? You need to wait and see.

Plaster of Paris bandages have helped bones heal for many centuries. Often hospitals have specific rooms where bandaging takes place. This is the story of a master plasterer whose daily job in 'The Plaster Room' extends into a new obsession which has serious consequences for those involved.

In rough seas or icy weather, one may find hundreds of starfish washed up on shore. In many cases many die but some may recover enough to survive until the tide returns or before the sea gulls eat them. This story is about a boy who collected these starfish as he thought they may survive but little did he know the consequences of having a pocket full of starfish.

Many people will have visited towns and resorts where buildings such as cathedrals and town halls and other structures are made out of white or brown sandstone. This is mainly due to the availability in the area. The buildings all look magnificent but over time weathering has made them pitted, scarified and blackened with many of the fine features lost. Kittiwakes often nest on such structures. They can see what is happening, but their cry remains unheard as the weathering continues today. This story is about a pair of kittiwakes who witness the demise of their nesting places which they had had for so many years.

PREFACE There are some people who irritate others. There are those who stand in a shop reading a newspaper and never buy it and there are those who really have no manners at meal times and have little consideration for those around them. This story is about a man whose whole world was completely alien to others, especially at meal times. He was the sort of person you would like to complain about but afraid you would upset him as this was his way of dealing with his life, oblivious to others' comment and remarks

Little Mary lived with her mother and father at the edge of a small wood. She was small for her age, had high cheek bones and always had beautiful smiles for everyone. Like all children she had good and bad qualities. Not far away was a busy town where a lot of poor people such as Mary's family tried to scrape a living. Disease always surrounded poverty and this family would suffer losses that were irreplaceable and unreconcilable.

George was a sprinter but one day fell in love and stopped sprinting. His love was not what one would imagine but things were about to change.