Aurea Mediocritas
The term, Aurea Mediocritas, refers to the golden mean, a balance between two extremes. The characters in "Queerious", faced with insurmountable odds in a society unaccepting of same-sex relationships and the hidden secrets which have divided the family.
The story "In a Nutshell," features an expedition in the Amazon, where an ancient ritual amulet is discovered by a young boy. He makes a wish on the amulet and rapidly began to age twenty-five years older. The boy's father makes a bargained and faces the consequences of his sacrifice at a price too dear to pay. The father desperately searches to find a balance between dealing with his own demons and striving to save his son.
In "For the Sake of my Enemies," a young Japanese girl immigrates to the USA and joins the international police task force she was assigned to a US Federal case. On an assignment in Japan to bring back a crime boss who has fled from prosecution, she unravels an old Japanese cold case and found the man who killed her father and brother. She struggles to find balance, revenge or her mission.
-- Gaston D. Cox