Stained: Short Stories for the Unkempt Woman (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9781707626588)

Stained: Short Stories for the Unkempt Woman is a collection of four short literary pieces of fiction that are heartbreaking, inspiring, funny, and delightful. These short stories by author and poet, K.D. Hagen were written to express the best and worst of our fears and triumphs as women and of those around us.

Keeping the Swine

A young woman awakes to find herself trapped within a circle of trees with nothing but a haughty group of pigs to care for. Complacent in her task, an unexpected visitor fuels a buried desire for something more.

Rags

An observant young boy in Eastern Washington tries to cope with bullies, growing up, and the complicated emotions of his parents.

The Hard Lives of Squirrels and Women

An elderly woman, recently widowed encounters an unconventional little beggar and realizes what it really means to accept help.

In the Dark of Day

A familiar smell haunts a blind woman as she drops off her only daughter at school for the first time and understands the dangers that can arise when fear takes control.

Excerpt from "The Hard Lives of Squirrels and Women"...

"The nights were getting colder and as Katherine pulled herself away from the window, she saw the electric fireplace jolt awake. "Thank you for that simple thing," she muttered to Charlie, glad that he had the good sense to replace it before he passed. Katherine was never one for stoking fires. That was always Charlie's job and she had left it to him. She did, however, miss the smell of the burning wood and the feeling of carrying in the kindling. The fire came on now all on its own.