Those of you who spend much time at Passions know I often capitalize the word "Truth," and treat it as if it really existed. It doesn't, you know.

If you read this as a science fiction story, you will walk away with one Truth. If, on the other hand, you read it as mainstream fiction, you will find an entirely different version of the Truth. Is one more valid than the other? Or is Truth something that exists only within the human mind?

Human beings, by our very nature, are territorial and possessive. We are always looking for something to call our own. This short story explores what it would be like to live our entire life without anything uniquely our own, to finally find something, only to have it taken from us.

And then, in an unexpected way, to have it returned.

Mental illness has long been a subject that's taboo for a lot of people. We don't admit to having it and we shy away from reading about it. But sometimes, it's right there in front of us.

This is the story of a girl, living in the closet of her mind.

This tale was begun in the very forest the greater part of this story takes place in. It was a small nature reserve in the beautiful St. Croix river valley, truly a place of great wonder. It was with the inspiration of that place and the image of my own girlfriend that this was written.

I set this tale in the future, in a time when moral values and the quality of life had decayed. A world broken and filled with skeletal remnants of humanity. In this tale is woven a lesson on intolerance.