SOUTH OF DEPRESSION – NORTH OF ECSTASY. Emerson Rhodes forms a friendship with piano player Nina Davidson when he goes to a piano bar as a pleasant musical end to the week. When he becomes a paraplegic as a result of a car accident she is a light of hope in his dark days. NIGHT OF PERIL – Fisherman Mark Winton has an unexpected boat trip when he and his lady friend are taken hostage by three escaped prisoners; THE INSURANCE POLICY – When Charles Peterson dies of cancer his wife, Margaret, has to come to grips with a life alone and the confusion of a positive financial future when she finds the mortgage and car loans have been paid out. THE MUSHROOM CLUB – Lawrence Porter supplements his writing income by teaching creative writing. He sets the class a project to examine how those who died in the wars through the 20th century would feel if they could see the citizens of today. Would they feel they had laid down their lives in vain? THE WINDS OF DESTINY – A fable that follows Ki, a young boat builder on a Pacific island. He struggles to reconcile where he stands with his craftsmanship, the influence of religion presented by the missionary and his love for Lia. The stories noted have previously been published in the following magazines, or broadcast on radio: NIGHT OF PERIL – Published in Australia and Norway THE WINDS OF DESTINY – Broadcast on Sydney Radio