There are so many things that people do that writing or reading about them needs a focal point. I choose to bracket my stories into nine different groups. Each group gives you a reading choice based upon your primary interest.

Mysteries are not just detective or murder tales. Rather they’re stories to think about then see if you agree that they are or were mysteries. Imagine knowing the facts today that unlock what happened years ago and were never questioned. “In Burnt Letter” the truth is in the hands of an innocent transient trying to stay warm. The prize winning “Face to Face” possibly meets “The Ripper” and never... Read it, enjoy its difference.

Under Kid Stuff meet the boys preparing a treat for their mom for “Mother’s Day Breakfast.” You can follow every step in their conspiracy to surprise her. If you’re a mom or a dad you’ll delight in walking to school with Brian and forever know that being late is a learning experience.

But for the grace of God there go I, to paraphrase John Bradford. Yup, we all do Really Dumb things. However, some of us get tripped up and become the butt of our own stupidity by trying to do everything right and getting caught by our zealousness, as in “The Getaway” or “Two Old Timers.” Or in “Buckle Up” you’ll be asking: can anyone be that dumb?

Ranting and Raving is about our own agenda of what’s important. We have opinions about taxes, suicide, hunger and the environment. And we all approach these topics with strong, opinionated point of view. “I’ll Show Them” has suicide as the answer, but what is the answer if you fail? “Empty” asks an old question. When is a gun safe? How can one person change something? Try “Evening Prayer” as one person attempts to change.

Everything Midas touched turned to gold. Everything Benjamin touches turns to dust. No one could have that much bad luck. Better checkout Benjamin. When “Opportunity” knocks for Benjamin, he’s floored. He gets everything right, 100 per cent right and loses. That can’t be. Like I said, check out Benjamin. Read “The Prize.”

Whatever group of stories you read, there’s something to get you wondering, thinking, hmmm. I didn’t see that coming. “July 5th,” so short, so true. “Traffic Court” has the defendants telling the truth to catch themselves. Fables and Tales should have you remember your Bible, Aesop or the Grimm brothers. See, if you can uncover the most famous of races. Genesis, 3 - verse 6 awaits your discovery, but not in religious phrasing. And, what ever happened to Goldilocks? “The Truth About Goldilocks” explains.

Osmis: the Cursed Egyptian Maiden, by Chuck McCann

Most of us have dreamed of living beyond our allotted time, albeit, under conditions we control and with knowledge already acquired. Nice thought, dream on. How does the story of Osmis, the typical child of the Nile delta born before Alexander the Great, become the property of Tony an American soldier? Why is he sent back to the States while the war is raging in 1945? Here he brings Osmis’ story to life, but why are the translation hidden away, even destroyed years later? Can we believe her story is true? The sudden accidental death of Osmis’s closest friend causes her to accompany her father, tax collector for the Pharaoh, on a trip on the Nile. When he is killed, her pleasant journey becomes a nightmare. Sold into slavery, she must learn a new life style and adjust, but events occur that cause a high priest to condemn her to a very long life. Forced to flee into a frightening world, where being a girl isn’t safe, Osmis becomes, at times, Daniel or Danielle for her own well being. Befriended by a herbalist, she is soon earning her way by doctoring locals with herbal concoctions, but even this must change. As Daniel she can travel as a soldier with safety, meeting Julius Caesar, who in turn opens the way for trips to England, Jerusalem and Pompeii. This is just one of the astonishing people she’ll meet on her trek through her cursed lifetime.. Year after year she encounters the events and people that changed history. We must judge for ourselves what role she had in history, if any? Did Tony and his friends interpret the amazing happenings Osmis wrote about correctly? Why don’t you decide?

Chuck’s first book, Short, Shorter and Shorter Stories was a finalist for book of the year, 2005. His second book, Osmis, the Cursed Egyptian Maiden, “…is a trip through history that makes history fun to read.” wrote one reader. Now, he has collected a second volume of short stories to rival the first book.

Again we have writing contest winners among the many stories as well as Benjamin, the hard luck juvenile. Human-interest tales, crime, war and fairy tales are set into a variety of numerical groups and time frames. There are stories for some of the commandments, for each season, for each month, the days of the week, even a few for a minute of time. As in the first book the stories are intended for the reader with a little time to kill in the doctor’s waiting room, the airport, in the car waiting for the kids to finish practice or get out of school or just to spend some leisure time.

Not to give plots away, but just imagine a complete story in four sentences, with a reversed ending you didn’t expect.  Or being so familiar with the characters in a story that you never thought it could end differently, but it does. Be prepared to enjoy the unexpected, convoluted endings to some stories, then, when you think you know what’s coming...No. I’m not going to spoil it for you.