Rheatown

The People

Families, classmates, and one truck driver are drawn into the aftermath of a death that should have ended the story.

Age 14

Dennis Cooke

Before the accident, Dennis is an average student and a shy boy who does not draw much attention to himself. He is the only child of Patrick and Myra Cooke and has grown up in Rheatown surrounded by people who have known his family for generations.

After the morgue, he is different. Extremely intelligent. No longer shy. Calm, observant, and strangely naive about the emotional rules everyone else takes for granted. His body is Dennis Cooke's. What is looking out through his eyes is something else.

Student

Samantha Greene

Samantha is a good student, outgoing, confident, and part of a well-known Greene County family. She has had a crush on Dennis for about a year, long before he changes.

Her father is the mayor of Greene County. Samantha knows Dennis as the shy boy from school. The boy who returns after the accident is suddenly far easier to talk to, far more intelligent, and far harder for her to understand.

The Cookes

Patrick & Myra Cooke

Patrick and Myra grew up together in Greene County and passed through the same public schools as friends. They began dating in high school and later married.

Myra went on to college and became a teacher at the high school. Patrick wanted something larger for his own life, but when his father suffered a stroke, responsibility pulled him back to the family grocery store. He never went on to college and instead became the person who kept the business alive.

Patrick is wildly in love with Myra. Losing her at the intersection leaves him grieving, angry, and unable to accept that the man driving the truck can simply go on living. Getting Dennis back does not heal that wound. It gives Patrick another mystery to fear.

Truck Driver

Greg Baumfield

Greg has a wife and a son. Money is tight enough that the family is living with his mother while he works toward getting them into a home of their own.

He drives a red Mack semi and spends as much time on the road as he can, trying to earn enough to move his family forward. One moment at the intersection changes everything. Patrick sees Greg as the man responsible for Myra's death.

Dennis and Samantha at Greene County High School

A New Beginning

Dennis & Samantha

Samantha has liked Dennis since before the accident. Dennis barely knew what to do with that attention. After his return, the balance changes.

Samantha sees confidence where there used to be shyness and intelligence that seems to have appeared overnight. Dennis sees Samantha with the curiosity of someone learning human connection from the inside.