Long Road Through the Forest

An old woman, not that she thinks of herself that way, sits quietly reading as she has done every evening for years. The night is rainy, dark, but she ignores the weather, as she does most negative scenes, until she hears a knock, a plaintive knock, at her door. Too plaintive to be a threat. A wet, red-headed, dirty teenager stands at her door, the kind of street kid Alicia has crossed the street to avoid on her occasional visits down town. In a few weeks, Alicia will learn about Tarantino, food without eyes, STD's, Cheetos, will make a new friend, go shopping for teenage bras, plan a trip to a spa, sell most of her burdensome belongings.

But the teenaged boy, Moon, must figure out how to get rid of his once-pimp who tries to move in on the posh home he has found. He makes several plans to keep Jake from robbing Alicia's home, but realizes that he is under his thumb because Moon cannot reveal to Alicia what he has done in the homeless camp under the overpass without losing his almost-grandmother. Desperate, not willing to tell Alicia the truth, he decides to go along with Jake's plan, hoping that somehow Alicia will never find out about his past. He agrees to help Jake rob Alicia of her valuable belongings.cwho brings a new friend of Molly's, Regan, into the plot.

At the same time, in a move to simplify her life, though, Alicia sets about selling the paintings, silver, and china that mean nothing to her any more. She herself has a past, a husband she would like not to think about any more. The art and most of the expensive objects in her house are part of that past.

When Moon discovers where Alicia hides her cash, he uses this information to keep Jake from going nuts when he discovers all the goodies he has planned on are gone.

Alicia finds a jewelry box opened and note listing her valuable objects and she suspects that Moon is not the innocent person he presents himself as, that he is not to be trusted. She also realizes that Moon has seen her open the vent-safe where she hides her cash. She figures that a theft will take place when she and Regan's grandmother are visiting a spa, a ruse by the girls to get the women out of the city. A disillusioned Alicia plans revenge on both Jake and Moon.

Alicia's plan works, leaving Jake wounded and in jail. Amidst the shambles of the house, Moon finds the strength to tell the truth about his life, and Alicia finds the strength to forgive him. Moon has gained a real grandmother, one who loves him and whom he loves, just as he had imagined.

This story celebrates the resilience of the human spirit. Even the old ones.