It's 2007 and Autumn has arrived in Port Venston.
We follow Hyunjin "Sam" whose life takes an unexpected and harrowing turn. Mysterious events keep the whole town on tenterhooks, and chaos is inevitable when the Man suddenly disappears.
Fate thrust...
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8th October 2007. Port Venston
"No, Magret, I'm sorry, but I can't read something that is nothing but humbug. Don't you agree, ladies?" The leader of the housewives' book club, Ella, scrutinized the faces of all the members, looking for the forced approval she had planted in their minds from day one, and turned back to Magret. The new one, the bug that had flown dead into the middle of a spider's web.
The young woman bit her lip and clutched Stephanie Meyer's Twilight in her lap with fumbling hands. "Might I add that it's pure fiction, well written in fact..." Her plaid skirt ruffled at the edges of the book, but couldn't quite hide it. You shouldn't judge a book by its cover, but this one did her no favors when she defended it, or tried to at least.
"No, you mustn't do that. Focus your thoughts on the things that are above, not the things that are supposed to be on earth, dear," she said. "I know it's tempting, but there are far more educational books to read than.... Vampires." She pulled a face at the last words, spraying spit into Magrets face.
"And werewolves," Magret added, muttering to herself. She missed her dark romance novels, the smut and the "taboo" themes on her old bookshelf. Ella continued with the book club, not sparing Magret a glance in her direction.
Her every word went in one ear and out the other. Magret simmered away in her own boredom like the soup she had on the stove at home. "Don't worry, Hun, you're still young." Another member, Lisa, smiled and rubbed her arm briefly. "I imagine it will take time to get used to it." Her warm smile made Magret smile too. "Thank you," she mouthed back.
She was younger than all the other women here and had just married the town organ player of town. This was certainly not what she had expected when she married a musician, and it was at that very moment that she began to regret her decision.
One look at Ella was enough to know that this was not the life she wanted. Ella was 32 years old, but everyone would have thought she was older if she hadn't corrected them from the get-go. When her husband introduced them, Magret spoke of her age first, as if the gray streaks in her hair and pale skin were the biggest concern she had.
Judging by the veins that adorned her forehead and hands, forming nature's own labyrinth. Her skin was so thin you could see the blood running through them – it wasn't age that was the problem, but her health.
But for Magret and her fragile little world, aging was a problem. Magret turned 25 this year and she desperately wanted children. Badly. And she didn't want to be an old hag who could no longer run and play with her children. When she looked at Ella, who seemed like if she jogged for more than a minute, she would be thrown out of her shoes and into a coffin. The thought sent a shiver down Magrets' spine.
She didn't want to grow old. Not like this. So... here she was. With a man who had the personality of unseasoned pasta and was as sharp as a butter knife – and who she basically used for children she could actually love.
