Mike Pearce

You probably have visited a seaside where houses in the harbour area are painted light pinks, blues, yellows, even purple. As the sun sets on a summer evening they can seem spectacular and are often depicted on post cards. This story is not about different coloured houses but about a single house that had different coloured bricks. Who lives there and what do they do? It seems nobody knows but will they find out. One day all is revealed.

Today we have forgotten how much the effect of Charles Dickens' Christmas Carol had on Victorian society. Just another one of those old Victorian stories you may say. Has the situation 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, and where does love fit into all this? This book attempts to outline some of the ways we think today as compared to the past. Have we actually learnt something? Perhaps not.

It is common for people to collect figures, be they large or small. Once started then the collector will unknowingly notice these kinds of figures and possibly obtain them for his collection. In many houses mantlepieces and the surface of furniture or glass cases are full of figures, be it small animals, famous people or religious icons. This story is about a person whose collecting stemmed from his childhood to the present day where as an old man he no longer collected. Who says figures have no control over people? They seemed to right up to the end.

Many of you will have heard of the giraffe women whose necks look large because of the brass rings they put round their necks from 5 years old. Their necks can extend to nearly 16 inches (40cm) but their length is emphasized by deformation of the clavicle. This story is about a man who 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.

It is always easier to gain calories than lose them. Many people today are hugely overweight. Society is accepting them as a new norm whereas in the past they could have been exhibited in a Barnham like sideshow. With this increase in size can come serious health problems. Eating for some is just emotional hunger, a habit not a necessity. Breaking this cycle and through repetition of new habits one can create spectacularly changes in one's health and lifestyle. Don't end up as a lethargic, inactive, bloated mass, full of wind on a downward spiral towards a serious health disorder and certain death. This book outlines why we want to lose weight, why to some people big is beautiful and the concern of many with butt size.

How many of you have waited for someone's return but they never seemed to come? This story is about a mother waiting for her son who has gone with fishermen out to sea on a long voyage. She waits and waits but still there is no sign of the brown sails of the boat on the horizon. Will she ever see her son again before she dies? Who can tell if he will return once more?

Evolution templates were inexhaustible. Different themes had been tried at different times. Some forms disappeared, and some remained. Others were wiped out by natural disasters, environmental changes or population explosions. This story began in the sea where the relatives of the holothurians, sea cucumbers and apples, still exist today. In the past with the higher levels of oxygen in the air size could be big and evolutionary experiments in the sea were often more successful than on land. Creatures from the past, if they existed today, could cause chaos. This story is such a case where man's endeavour to search for minerals in new environments releases creatures from the past and a new threat to human existence itself.

Many people will have a favourite colour which they like to have for their clothes or throughout their home and daily lives. This 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?

We often hear words spoken which have their origins in cockney slang, just slang, or even past dialects such as from Dorset. This book 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.

Metal rusts. One only has to look at an iron structure not protected in some way. This story relates to a front gate which has been standing in front of a house for over one hundred years. In its time it has watched different people pass by, witnessed minor events and major events such as wars. It has seen a whole kaleidoscope of happiness and sadness, together with celebrations and reunions which make the world what it is. Unfortunately, it was now in trouble, attacked by rust and losing the wooden post to which it was attached. Would it be repaired? Would it survive or become scrap only to be melted down never to be a gate again?

This fictional story was written in winter. Not like a normal winter. Rain, when it landed quickly, froze and ice completely covered the roads and anything in sight. This affected every living creature, some more than others including birds and in this case a blackbird.

You've probably seen films on pest control where hundreds of mice are found living in a barn. The pest controller lifts up a board and out they scuttle in all directions. Well this story is about mice, more than one could ever imagine or count that take over a village and cause chaos.

In legend there have always been sea witches linked to storms at sea and taking down drowned humans into their world. This story is about a man who jumps into the sea to retrieve his mobile phone and is dragged into a large cavern 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? One can have a sedentary life on the shore but not so under the sea.

Many of us like to eat chocolate Easter eggs at Easter. The supermarkets have them piled up by the entrance and on the shelves inside. This story is about an egg, but not a chocolate one. One that was much bigger than any bird's eggs today. It was 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.

Many people, as children, had donkey rides on the beach. 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 fictional story.

Near a big city lived a very wicked witch. She had lost one of her cats who ran away. She found it eventually, but forced it to live in her nursery rhyme book forever. While inside it ran amuck so that the stories were never the same as before.

Dominance by humans was no more. Evolution had produced a spectrum of various kinds of unusual animals. A small population of humans remained on the earth but were only a few millimetres tall. At this size they were vulnerable to every kind of predator. They found themselves trapped within a piece of wood patrolled by insects and finally, on their exodus, live inside a leaf.

Often churches have empty seats but are these really empty? Is there someone sitting next to you? Could it be your guardian angel? Perhaps it's not only churches where empty seats are occupied by your guardian angels. 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? We all go on our busy lives concentrating on what we are doing or think we must do. We don't take notice of everything around us especially anything unusual or extraordinary. Christians, Muslims, Buddhists and Jews believe there are guardian angels that watch over you and may also guide you. In the catholic catechism it says that, 'From infancy to death all human life is surrounded by the watchful care and intercession of angels.' Angels have been around long before human souls existed, supervised by archangels and activated by God. Some people believe we always have access to angels. All we have to do is ask. There are millions upon millions of angels all around us, but many have a local presence. They will influence your senses and imagination, but not your will and remain with you even in heaven and may even be sitting right next to you right now.

Many years ago, most people believed in God and especially souls. They often gave funds to help gain a place in purgatory. Nowadays the concept of a soul is treated by many as a joke. This story rekindles the concept of a soul and how the devil is always ready to take away someone's soul. He is there every hour, every day, and every year to mess things up. 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

A story that embraces our different appearances or physical deformities as something that all should accept in nature's realm. New attributes can come to the forefront which would never have been seen before. It's not what we look like. Nature has moulded unimaginable forms which through mistakes or accidents may undermine what we think is the norm. Disability should not be seen as a hindrance. Resourcefulness and determination can outshine any handicap. You are yourself, you are you and nothing or nobody is going to change it. You have the right, just as every creature on this earth has, to exist and be who you are. This story is about a little fruit fly born with shrivelled short wings. Unlike the other flies he cannot fly away and is vulnerable to being ridiculed or eaten by other creatures. While living on a plum in a farmer's field he is subjected to abuse by various insects but manages to overcome this and survive through winter.