Stories for the Seasons

Courage, compassion, sacrifice, redemption and resurrection are recurring themes in the 24 short stories that make up Stories for the Seasons -- tales that take place at Christmastime, Easter, Valentine's Day, Halloween, and during the days of summer.Locales and time periods in these stories range from Southern California, the Middle East, ships at sea and Mexico to Biblical times, post-Civil War Missouri, medieval Europe and early 1900s small towns.Facing the challenges life thrusts upon them are assorted protagonists, including a Mexican boy and a donkey he rescues from the desert, a quiet cowboy who shows hidden strengths among a group of strangers, a sailor whose love of music reaches across the Pacific Ocean, a former Confederate cavalryman forced to face his tragic past, a simple-minded field worker whose life is enriched by a friendship that lasts two-thirds of a century, a lonely widow victimized by Halloween pranksters, a sidewalk Santa Claus for whom Christmas takes on a new meaning, a European immigrant confronted by town bullies, an over-the-road truck driver who unexpectedly finds love, the shadowy resident of a mysterious mansion, an elderly school cook who offers an unexpected gift at a graduation ceremony, and a pair of animal friends that befriend a miraculous stranger.The stories in which these characters and others appear were first published in a weekly newspaper column in Fayette County, Tenn. The column, Country Tales, focused on various aspects of rural life from the perspective of someone who had lived in an urban environment the first 40 years of his life. The parameters of that column allowed the author to include the 24 pieces of original short fiction printed here.Discover the characters in Stories for the Seasons and rediscover within yourself the strengths they display: courage, compassion, sacrifice, redemption and resurrection.