FLIGHT OF DESTINY commences with a problem that everyone faces at one time or another:  The task of placing a name, can be niggling, but what if this task becomes an obsession and the person behind the name a dark specter? In the second story, two parents’ worst nightmare emerges when their cherished infant goes missing. In this case it’s the fault of the father, and while neither can forgive him, does all the blame really lie with him? The third story, “Opium” explores Oscar Wilde’s statement: “The only way to get rid of temptation is to yield to it... I can resist everything but temptation.” In this story, a righteous man is driven down a bumpy road of temptation, the result of which will hopefully be a surprise to both characters and reader. The next story, “Bugeyes,” explores the world of body image stereotypes being constantly perpetuated by the media. Those unfortunate beings, born with abnormalities, often face a lifetime of cruelties, and in this case rejection.  Other stories deal with insanity,  sibling jealousy,  and how money corrupts the soul. The last story, the final one in this FLIGHT OF DESTINY called  “Cast from Hell,” revolves around a rejected male from Hell who is returned to the world in the form of a beautiful young woman intent on wreaking havoc.



One of the several common denominators in these stories is that, in the end, the oppressed rise up and by a quixotic combination will, quirk or circumstance, succeed in the end, often accompanied by some kind of poignant revenge. The stories include some of the most loathsome characters I could imagine, like, for example, Maggot, the despicable circus owner, who sells both his daughters to an equally despicable tyrant. Then there is Little Mite, a young girl whose evil act brings ruin to her family, and The Duke, who faces a death sentence with nonchalance and executes a  truly heinous act to save his skin.

A book that I read while at school that still sticks in my mind to this day is “Kiss Kiss” by Roald Dahl. I would like my stories to have a Dahl-like quality, with sudden twists at the end, but with a more modern edge. I don’t want these short stories to be dubbed “horror stories.” They are more than that. Look closely and you will find humor, moral statements and social criticism also. FLIGHT OF DESTINY is a book of fairy stories for adults.  It explores in depth the dark side of the human psyche while providing a few laughs along the way.