Pre-teen Samantha Marrel's life is inauspicious. A pariah, both at home and socially, she digs deep, exercising her self determination to find her own way out of Goose Creek to an unidentified greater future. She is convinced that dedication and work are the best bet at breaking her family's trend of detrimental decision making.

An exceptional scholar athlete, Samantha studies hard and runs fast towards what she sees as a better reality, deadening her reaction to the slights from people around her. Goose Creek alters her expectations along the way with drop-downs in emotion and pop-ups of commotion, yielding wisdom and understanding of the very people and circumstances she is escaping.

How far can we get from our reality before we accept that the very thing we are running from is among our greatest resources?

Erica Louise Dretzka