She looked exactly like an interviewer studying my resume. “Based upon your character and actions, the admissions staff has identified you as a hero.” I snorted. I couldn’t help it. “Hero? I fry chicken for a living.” “Robert Stewart,” she read out loud. “25 years old. Graduated from university at age 22 with an English Lit degree. Manager of a …

Dear Readers, a quick author’s note before you begin: I began this novel as a writing exercise while recuperating from severe illness and major surgery, so I simply took a highly cliché scenario and set off from there. However, I soon found myself writing the underlying story seriously (although I admit, in the spirit of the beginning, I have continued …