For anyone who has ever set out to spend some quality time alone in the wilderness, stumbling across another person out in the middle of nowhere can be disconcerting to say the least. If you had wanted company, would you have hiked out so far to avoid it? The sounds of other hikers, their laughter or their shouts, make you regret the time wasted even having prepared the trip. That much worse if they actually try to engage you in conversation.
Ethan, the protagonist of Jason K. Allen’s Raven Point, seeks to get away from it all. Resting peacefully against his newfound friend—a big old oak—he is shocked to discover that he is not alone. And not only is he not alone, but the intruder is actually lowering her pants right in front of him! Nor is the woman, Junie, exactly thrilled when she realizes that there is a man watching her as she prepares to pee. They both hope to part ways as soon as possible.
Still creeped out, Junie picks up her backpack.
ETHAN
You going to Raven Point?
JUNIE
Yeah.
Ethan sighs, disappointed.
ETHAN
I was hoping to be alone there.
JUNIE
So was I.
She straps on her backpack.
JUNIE
I’ll find a different spot.
ETHAN
Nothing against you, it’s just…
She turns to leave.
But Junie doesn’t leave, at least not right away. Instead, she decides to teach Ethan a thing or two before she departs.
Raven Point is a complex yet sensitive story about two individuals on two very different journeys whose paths cross along the way. Their encounter threatens to detour Ethan in ways he never could have imagined. Audiences will love the twists this tale takes as Junie leads Ethan down a road from which he most probably will never return.
Pages: 11
Budget: Low. The major expense will be the transport of equipment to a wilderness site.