Three Kinds of Fire

In this collection the author takes us on three journeys.
In one, a young man paddles off across the lake to escape the pain that's erupted in his family. But he discovers that the pain comes with him, and he must take an honest look at himself in order to deal with it.
In the second, we join a traveller as he takes a day trip up into the mountains of an exotic island. In his attempt to visit a friend, he is invited in by a poor man living in a tiny stone hut. Can the outsider overcome his prejudice to see the man for who he really is, and hear his story?
The final story is longer and imagines an English teacher in the Middle East who is challenged to live what he believes. A young woman who he's met only once has been kidnapped elsewhere in the country. Where will his daring take him?