Encounters. Whether with magic or science, expected or unexpected, they can change our minds, our destinies, even our world...In this collection of twenty-two short tales, journey across multiple genres alongside various characters, including:~a mother who gathers dragon scales to provide for her family despite a perilous jungle and her own self-doubt;~a young half-human, half-mermaid girl on the search for her father with murderous soldiers on her heels;~an opera singer-turned-ghost-hunter attempting to thwart a Phantom who just won't stop interfering with her act;~a family at risk of losing their humanity to the Moon as its magic wreaks a monstrous change within them;~and an alien on a rescue mission to save her best friend's children from those who wish them harm.Full of comedy and tragedy, heartache and hope, monsters and magic, these stories are an encounter that just might change you too...