Elements: Thirteen Stories by Peter Freeman is a richly layered collection that explores the quiet power of human resilience and the profound impact of connection. Spanning genres and settings-from speculative fiction and contemporary realism to psychological drama and cultural commentary-each story is a standalone gem, yet together they form a compelling narrative arc about facing adversity and making courageous choices.

Across these thirteen stories, Freeman offers readers a mosaic of deeply human experiences. A group of skateboard punks discovers the terrifying consequences of time travel, while a political activist imprisoned in a foreign country must navigate the perilous tension of sharing a cell with a murderer. In a tale set in 1960s Australia, a boy confronts a monstrous rat-and the deeper menace of his cruel uncle. A Sudanese refugee clings to hope and the kindness of strangers as he searches for his missing wife, navigating the unfamiliar terrain of rural Canada.

The stories also dive into moral reckoning and emotional truth. In the wake of the #MeToo movement, a middle-aged man wrestles with guilt and seeks redemption for his actions as a teenager. A traumatized boy finds solace and justice through a divinely inspired computer game. A university professor orchestrates a clandestine tryst, only to have his carefully laid plans upended by his wife's unexpected presence. On the western frontier, a farmer risks everything to face down the despotic businessman who controls his town in a tense knife-throwing duel.

Mountaineering, motherhood, medical waiting rooms, and digital escapism all make their way into Freeman's narratives. In one story, three mountaineers shelter in a battered hut as tensions escalate. In another, a woman grapples with an unplanned pregnancy and turns to her closest friends for guidance. A middle-aged man in a clinic waiting room muses on life's complexities. One man's quest for youthful thrills in a fully immersive virtual reality simulation spirals into a sobering wake-up call. And in the final story, a determined group of Salt Spring Islanders bands together to resist the commercialization of their land by a ruthless water bottling company.

With storytelling that is both elegant and emotionally resonant, Freeman delivers narratives infused with heart, insight, and subtle wisdom. His characters are flawed but courageous, his plots surprising yet grounded in emotional authenticity. Whether wrestling with morality, navigating fractured relationships, or pushing against societal norms, the protagonists in Elements compel readers to reflect on what it means to choose integrity-even when the stakes are high.

Told with warmth, wit, and clear-eyed compassion, Elements: Thirteen Stories is a vibrant tapestry of courage, community, and quiet transformation. Perfect for readers who enjoy literary fiction with substance, this collection is an invitation to rediscover the extraordinary in everyday lives-and to witness how even the smallest acts of kindness can change everything.

Author background=================Peter Freeman lives on Salt Spring Island on the west coast of Canada. He writes nonfiction and fiction novels, screen and stage plays, short stories, magazine articles, and poetry.Peter grew up in what was once the sleepy fishing village of Noosa Heads on the Sunshine Coast, just south of the Great Barrier Reef, Australia. He started his career as a cadet surveyor and then as a journeyman fitter and turner before focusing on computer science at the University of Tasmania.While in Hobart, Peter joined the local rock climbing club, where he later met Max Dorfligger, a carpenter, shipwright, and famous Swiss mountaineer. Peter sailed across the Tasman Sea with Max in the thirty-two-foot sloop, Sunshine, that Max had built to New Zealand, where Peter then spent the next few years driving trains and building his sailboat, Laivina.Eventually, Peter sailed from New Zealand to Australia and then to Canada, where he incorporated an Information Technology company that produced and sold scientific and business software to universities, governments, and the private sector. In 1984, Peter departed Victoria, British Columbia, to sail his thirty-two-foot sloop, Laivina, on a solo, non-stop circumnavigation of the globe, breaking the existing world record with a time of 236 days. His book, Cape Horn Birthday, is an account of this journey.Peter is a masters athlete who has represented Canada internationally in world championships, competing in Italy, South Africa, Australia, the USA, and Canada, and has won gold, silver, and bronze medals in these competitions in the 100, 200, 400, and 800 metre events. In 2003, at 51, Peter was ranked 11th in the world and 1st in Canada in the 400-metre event for his time in Puerto Rico of 55.10 seconds.Peter has twice ridden his bicycle across Canada and, at the age of 61, bicycled the 15,400 kilometres around the perimeter of Australia, unsupported, in 79 days, averaging 200 kilometres a day.His colourful history has given him an endless vault of story ideas to write about, as his publishing experience illustrates:Awards====== . Winner - 2019 University of Saskatchewan, The Fieldstone Review's literary prize - "Hidden Message" . Best Short Story (Shortlist): "In the Waiting Room" - Best of 2018 Adelaide Literary Award . Best Poem (Finalist): "Last Beating" - Best of 2018 Adelaide Literary AwardPublished========= . Books Novels Deadly Delivery - 363 pages - Ensilwood Publishing, SSI - 2025 The Silenced Boy - 266 pages - Ensilwood Publishing, SSI - 2025 Fleeing the 51st State - 274 pages - Tablet Publications, Vancouver, BC - 2025 The Worm Lady's Daughter - 256 pages - Ensilwood Publishing, SSI - 2025 Nonfiction Cape Horn Birthday: Record-Breaking Solo Non-Stop Circumnavigation - 348 pages - Seaworthy Publications Inc. FL - 2018. Short Stories Elements: Thirteen Stories (2nd Ed) - 305 pages - Ensilwood Publishing, SSI - 2025 Screen and Stage Plays Alchemy Alive: Twelve Screen and Stage Plays - Fiction - 382 pages - Ensilwood Publishing, SSI - 2021 Anthologies In the Waiting Room - Best of 2018 Adelaide Literary Award - Short Stories - Adelaide Books, New York. Last Beating - Best of 2018 Adelaide Literary Award - Poetry - Adelaide Books, New York. Poetry Growth: Life's Flow in Poetry (2nd Ed - #1 Growth series) - 141 pages - Ensilwood Publishing, SSI - 2025 Regrowth: Reaching for the Poetic Sky (#2 Growth series) - 119 pages - Ensilwood Publishing, SSI - 2025