Herein is collection of twelve very different short stories, each in its own way illustrating the ability of our old friend Fate to interfere with the best-laid plans that we humans can devise-sometimes for the good, and sometimes for the disastrously bad. For example, "A Royal Issue" tells of the king's difficulty in selecting a suitable husband for the royal princess. How will they choose the right one from such an unpromising list of available males? Or that of a weather disaster that turned into a riot that turned into a bonus in the story entitled "Zoo."