One Day in a Lifetime

This collection of short-stories, written over several years, demonstrates how anyone's life can change, unplanned, for better or worse, in an instant. Fate, kismet, chance or destiny, whatever you call it, none of us knows what tomorrow will bring or what surprises are in store. The author imagines unsung characters, unknown to the wider world, but still somebody's loved one, and what part they play in an event, large or small. It could be you, a partner or a friend. Everything that happens in life, whether it is as a result of a major world event, or simply something which plays out in a local pub, in a bookshop, at a racetrack, on a visit to a seaside town or privately, behind the closed doors of a family home - every decision you make, affects somebody in some way. Some of the stories may resonate with your own life. If not today, perhaps one day soon ... But one thing is certain -your choices today will shape your tomorrow. Most of us enter each day with little thought of tomorrow. Many of us never consider that what we decide to do today can have an enormous impact, not only on tomorrow, but on the rest of our lives. In our youth, we take life for granted; tomorrow will take care of itself; why worry? So sometimes we choose the wrong lovers, or the wrong hobby, or the wrong career. Does it matter when we are young? Probably not; we are invincible ... until something comes along and changes that belief. Did the excited passengers on the 'unsinkable' Titanic worry as they left Southampton? What if you missed meeting the love of your life by taking a wrong turn? As you ride your surfboard on a ocean wave, do you consider, 'what if'? Or perhaps you set off to work one day - and you never return. Perhaps chasing your dream of being a champion comes at a far higher cost than you ever imagined. As you wave your daughter off on her first solo exotic holiday, do you ever consider that you may never see her again? How would you react to discovering your husband's infidelity? Perhaps after many years you fortuitously meet up with an old flame, rekindle your love, and then, the unthinkable happens. Or the love you thought you would have forever is cruelly taken from you due to a politician's ego. An unexpected encounter - a relationship starts, but where will it lead? Love, marriage, eternal happiness; or tears, pain and torment. When that love affair begins, nobody knows for sure. Perhaps our past catches up with us, and we simply get our comeuppance ... It happens. Your destiny is not yet decided. You can still shape your future ... But sometimes, fate steps in.