Danielle Ferguson is a lonely nine-year-old little girl locked from her apartment by a man who, she thinks, is her father. She oftentimes sits in the darkened stairway listening for his footsteps and planning her escape into a darker part of the building where he can't see her when he leaves. She is afraid and makes herself as invisible as she possibly can from the man who visits her mother. Residents see her often sitting in the darkened stairway but mostly she is ignored She is so afraid that the bare flickering overhead light will go out leaving her completely in the dark but mostly she is afraid of him. Danielle finally seeks refuge from an elderly neighbor who showers her with attention and love. Danielle adores the little childless black woman who loves and cares for her. Her thoughts are never far from her mother, Suzanne, or the man who fathered her, but her heart belongs to the woman who took in the abandoned child.

Anna Fisher lives in the exciting City of Atlanta, Georgia, where darkness not only brings out those who prey on others but the young, fearless, adventurous residents and visitors from all walks of society who party all night. Anna's life exists in a very small section of the city where she works and lives. Her dreams are haunted by the man who fathered her child. A few afternoons a week, she sits alone on a bench in the park and allows herself to see her child playing there. The child calls Anna the sad lady in the park. To Anna, the little girl is "my stolen child."

Pain is one of medicine's greatest mysteries. When farmer John Mitson caught his hand in a baler, he cut off his trapped hand and carried it to a neighbor. "Sheer survival and logic" was how he described it. "And strangely, I didn't feel any pain." How can this be? We're taught that pain is a warning message to be heeded at all costs, yet it can switch off in the most agonizing circumstances or switch on for no apparent reason. Many scientists, philosophers, and laypeople imagine pain to operate like a rigid, simple signaling system, as if a particular injury generates a fixed amount of pain that simply gets transmitted to the brain; yet this mechanistic model is woefully lacking in the face of the surprising facts about what people and animals do and experience when their bodies are damaged.

Patrick Wall looks at these questions and sets his scientific account in a broad context, interweaving it with a wealth of fascinating and sometimes disturbing historical detail, such as famous characters who derived pleasure from pain, the unexpected reactions of injured people, the role of endorphins, and the power of placebo. He covers cures of pain, ranging from drugs and surgery, through relaxation techniques and exercise, to acupuncture, electrical nerve stimulation, and herbalism.

Pain involves our state of mind, our social mores and beliefs, and our personal experiences and expectations. Stepping beyond the famous neurologic gate-control theory for which he is known, Wall shows that pain is a matter of behavior and its manifestation differs among individuals, situations, and cultures. "The way we deal with pain is an expression of individuality."

Pain has many valuable functions. It can be a warning or force us to rest our bodies. Yet most ongoing chronic pain, such as unrelenting backache or headache, has no discernable cause and diminishes countless lives. Over the years a scientific revolution has taken place in chronic pain research and therapy. A major catalyst for this was the introduction of the 'gate theory' by Professor Ronald Melzack and Professor Patrick D. Wall, which argued that pain is a unified stream of experience generated by the brain, incorporating a whole host of psychological functions. Their now-classic book, with a new introduction taking in all the latest medical developments, examines every facet of pain: the psychological and clinical aspects, the physiological evidence, the major theories of pain and the developments in its control. The challenge in the twenty-first century is to look at how memories, personal and social expectations, genetics, gender, aging and stress patterns all play a role in pain, and how understanding this could lead to the relief of the suffering endured by millions.

Married in black meant wish you were back. She didn't really know how far back she wished she were. She thought about her mother and Samuel. He would have been called Sam. She didn't remember either one of them but she knew things would have been different if they were alive. The twins would have been born and their mother would have deserted them so she would probably still be in this dilemma. Sam browsed the very slow internet pages and found a sleeveless wedding dress she liked at a small shop in Tupelo. The skirt and bodice were black. The dress was full and floor length but the front panels of the dress were cream-colored taffeta with a thin black mesh overskirt with designs in deeper blacks. It was fitted at the waist and the top was made to mold to the body. It was soft midnight black with even darker designs in the bodice. At the waist on the left a small black mesh flower was attached. She picked out a mesh see-through black veil which would attach to her hair and hang down to her waist, but would not cover her face. Sam realized that she was actually going to look like a gothic bride but she would not paint her fingernails black. She looked down at her hands and realized that she had never had a manicure.

Anna Fisher lives in the exciting City of Atlanta, Georgia, where darkness not only brings out those who prey on others but the young, fearless, adventurous residents and visitors from all walks of society who party all night. Anna's life exists in a very small section of the city where she works and lives. Her dreams are haunted by the man who fathered her child. A few afternoons a week, she sits alone on a bench in the park and allows herself to see her child playing there. The child calls Anna the sad lady in the park. To Anna, the little girl is "my stolen child."

Danielle Ferguson is a lonely nine-year-old little girl locked from her apartment by a man who, she thinks, is her father. She oftentimes sits in the darkened stairway listening for his footsteps and planning her escape into a darker part of the building where he can't see her when he leaves. She is afraid and makes herself as invisible as she possibly can from the man who visits her mother. Residents see her often sitting in the darkened stairway but mostly she is ignored She is so afraid that the bare flickering overhead light will go out leaving her completely in the dark but mostly she is afraid of him. Danielle finally seeks refuge from an elderly neighbor who showers her with attention and love. Danielle adores the little childless black woman who loves and cares for her. Her thoughts are never far from her mother, Suzanne, or the man who fathered her, but her heart belongs to the woman who took in the abandoned child.

Anna Fisher lives in the exciting City of Atlanta, Georgia, where darkness not only brings out those who prey on others but the young, fearless, adventurous residents and visitors from all walks of society who party all night. Anna's life exists in a very small section of the city where she works and lives. Her dreams are haunted by the man who fathered her child. A few afternoons a week, she sits alone on a bench in the park and allows herself to see her child playing there. The child calls Anna the sad lady in the park. To Anna, the little girl is "my stolen child."

This scarce antiquarian book is a selection from Kessinger Publishing's Legacy Reprint Series. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment to protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature. Kessinger Publishing is the place to find hundreds of thousands of rare and hard-to-find books with something of interest for everyone!

This scarce antiquarian book is a selection from Kessinger Publishing's Legacy Reprint Series. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment to protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature. Kessinger Publishing is the place to find hundreds of thousands of rare and hard-to-find books with something of interest for everyone!

This scarce antiquarian book is a selection from Kessinger Publishing's Legacy Reprint Series. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment to protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature. Kessinger Publishing is the place to find hundreds of thousands of rare and hard-to-find books with something of interest for everyone!

Blade (Wesley Snipes) is every vampire's nightmare: possessed of the same powers as his bloodsucking brethren, but without the weaknesses that can destroy them. Acting as a modern day Van Helsing, Blade sets out to foil a plan for a legion of the undead to wipe out mankind, masterminded by vampire overlord Deacon Frost (Stephen Dorff).