The ten stories in this anthology shine each at its own speed of light--dimmer, hidden deep in the darkness, or brighter, burning faster. Through tales of secrets, loss, and identity, empathy illuminates the path, lengthening the shadows of the human emotions laid bare. When a young boy collects secrets like another boy would collect rocks or stamps, darkness envelops the man he becomes. When a young mother accepts a ride from a stranger, the truth about her situation is revealed to her. A penumbra outlines the dark core of one mother's loss as another mother's gain. Through stories of divorce, memory loss, struggles with mental health, and estrangement, loss reveals what we are capable of doing to cope, to recover, to heal, and what we can become as a result.