Expect the unexpected in a collection of six stories which explore the intrinsic connection between man and nature. The overriding tone is dark and unsettling, carrying a feeling of mild dread, though ends on a note of optimism. These are characters who have reached a pivotal point along life's path; anything might happen and nothing is quite as it seems, giving the reader much to reflect on, both on and off the page.
There was a chill in the air but she didn't feel cold. It felt clean in her lungs, the way forest air often does. The trunks of the pine trees looked damp. No birdsong, no insect sounds. Just this stillness between the dark trunks with their coarse, twisted branches. This was an ancient forest. Not that cultivated, monotonous, basic kind that you mostly saw along the tracks. This was something different. From what she'd read, you identified really old pine trees not by their height, but by their bark, and the branches, which would have begun growing back upon themselves. For most of their lives they were on their way outward, getting longer, taller. Then came a transition, an insight. Turn back and protect, twist around yourself. They suddenly became so human.
