At first I blamed it on a sensitive and vivid imagination - a legacy from my childhood. Ever afterward I am destined to shrink at the first sound of a raised voice, or the sudden chill that halts a previously warm conversation. A car back firing renders me so panic stricken that I have become a master of disguise to those observing me. This has taken me decades to perfect. Anything to escape t...

The door creaked open, revealing a long forgotten room. Emma paused, half expecting the lop-sided mirror to jump of its own accord to the floor. She ventured in, feeling more confident but inwardly chiding herself for being so scared. The attic room had an air of melancholy about it. The old dressing table covered thickly with layers of dust and neglect was set with a tortoiseshell- handled br...