As a reader, I love a good short story collection. The beauty of a short story collection is that you can read each story individually, and it's a quick way to pick up a book and escape from reality without having to commit to reading from cover to cover.
But, as a writer, I know there is something more. Stories are the way we make sense of the world. Why do people love a good story? It's something that's been part of the human experience for thousands of years.
I penned down the stories in this collection mainly to bring the thoughts, feelings, and ideas to read and reflect on. These stories chronicle the dark, hidden parts of human nature.
In Dark Vengeance, I invite you the reader to enter the world of a woman who had suffered untold abuse and now sought vengeance. However, there is a dramatic turn. The woman couldn't execute her plan for vengeance but the abuser did not go unpunished either. What is left is a tale of gore and blood that provokes as much sympathy as it does repugnance.
The second story, The Turnaround, is more hopeful. It's a story of unrequited hatred where the hated eventually rose to become a star. Did this happen because of pure luck or does the strength of the human character contribute to success? The answer is yours to figure out. What matters is how the story describes the shadows in human beings from the perspective of the victor.
The stories we tell in the world of fiction are one of the most powerful communication tools we can utilise in humans. This communication is so powerful. In fact, within each story lies the power to journey into a person's mind and touch their emotions by showing characters in a world and in a position where they would react and behave how they would in ours.
In these stories, you may stumble upon pieces of your character but what matters is not the individuals in the story. What matters most is the narrative, how we imagine these situations in our society.