The stories in this collection span a time period from 2003 to almost 2023. They are offered as my witness to the planetary moment I've been part of, the continent of Africa that I was born on, and the difficult country that formed me. They reflect the changing times, contexts and concerns that have engrossed and troubled me. The golden thread that binds their disparate voices and themes together is my own lifelong wresting with the deep questions of our bipolar human journal of a wobbling planet. Elana Bregin is a fiction writer. Her books include Survival Training for Lonely Hearts , Shiva's Dance and The Slayer of Shadows.