Fantastic Adventures, July 1946 The Softly Silken Wallet by David Wright O'Brien illustration by William A Gray A wallet is for one purpose only, to carry money—but it can be made of a variety of materials... The wallet was soft and silky, but there was something horrible about it, like death... 6000 Words

Nicolbee had nightmares; but his life was a nightmare too, and sometimes he couldn't tell them apart, or which was most real ...

Sent to the workhouse as a child, all Ella Hathaway can remember is a voice whispering, 'Dearie, promise me you will never forget what you saw. Your Ma was killed deliberate . and someone oughter pay for it.' When young, wealthy spinster Letitia Fairchild witnesses Ella being ill-treated, she takes her in as a scullery maid. But as Ella grows up, she is determined to find the truth about her mother's tragic death and appeals to Letitia for help, revealing the contents of her only personal possession, a black silk purse. Intrigued, Letitia agrees to begin a quest to solve the mystery of Ella's past. But neither could have imagined the astonishing and dramatic consequences. From the miseries of life in a London workhouse, to the splendour of a beautiful mansion, will Ella find the love and security she longs for?

A collection of short stories from all over the world from some of the best international writers available today. Authors in the edition are: Michaele Jordan, Mike Jansen, Richard Zwicker, Gustavo Bondoni, Purluca, Jonathan Shipley, Sergio 'ente per ente' Palumbo, Eric Del Carlo, Kain Massin, Peter Hagelslag, Floris M. Kleijne, Ville Meriläinen, Dennis Mombauer, Laurence Suhner, Bo Balder, Felice Picano, Emad El-Din Aysha, Nicola Lombardi, Marcie Franks, Tais Teng & Jaap Boekestein, Maarten Luikhoven and, Agrippina Domanski.

Reflections in the Mirror is Gary Bateman’s second book of poetry. This marvelously conceived and captivating new book is a literary collection of selected poetry spanning the years of 2014 to 2019. In this book, Mr. Bateman presents to the reader a very interesting and an eclectic selection of diverse types of poetry and themes. His literary focus and approach are designed to highlight the importance and relevance of poetry in today’s world, and to give the reader a true feeling for and an appreciation of the sense of enchantment and fascination that poetry engenders as the reader is exposed to a vast spectrum of ideas, concepts, fantasy, myths, and realities. Mr. Bateman believes in the dynamic nature and symbolic power of poetry to capture the imagination, emotions, and passions of the reader as he or she enters into a reflective state of thought, a heightened sense of intellectual curiosity, and a deeper realization of the complexities and challenges facing the mortal world of mankind, and what lies beyond mankind’s mortal reach in the greater cosmic world of the spiritual and the unknown.