Brad Raby should not have turned out like he did. The farm said no. The poverty said no. The frozen winters, the screaming, the nights spent fighting something dark that wouldn't hold still - all of it said no. Nobody was watching. Nobody was coming.
Except something was.
He couldn't prove it the way a science teacher proves things. But it showed up every time the road ran out - a voice, a hand, a knowing that arrived without explanation and left without taking credit.
This is that story. Unvarnished, occasionally funny in the way that only real pain can be funny, and honest in ways that will make you uncomfortable and grateful simultaneously.