A story that grew in the telling. In the far future, a pocket of humanity scrapes existence from the surface of a world with a forgotten name. They are known only as the People. Life has been thus for generations, but now one has arisen amongst their ranks with ideas of a radical future. Her name is Summer Lovejoy, latest in the line of the Keepers, the People's elected knowledge holders. Unwilling neither to risk any life but her own, nor to allow their interference, she sets off alone to chase a new fate for them all. Left to take up her duties, is fourteen year old Vernon. Whilst the cat's away, he'll be left to deal with the mice coming out to play. Those mice have teeth, and very, very different ideas of how life should be than his absent mentor's.