The Nature of Things

  If you drive for a bit over an hour southeast from Memphis, you might come across the little (fictional) town of Pitchlynn, Mississippi. Pitchlynn is virtually indistinguishable from dozens of other dusty, hardscrabble, mostly rural towns scattered over the northern part of that state, but to those who live there, it is a place like no other. It is home. The people who live in Pitchlynn have mostly lived there since birth. Most have never traveled very far afield. Some did move away for short periods but have inevitably returned as if they couldn't be comfortable living anywhere else. One of those who went away and came back was Colleen. She joined the army right out of high school and was eventually deployed to fight in Iraq. She returned home after her service and stayed with her parents. The scenes from that war continued to haunt her. She suffered from PTSD and sought relief in drugs. Her life was seriously headed off the rails until a local beautician befriended her and made...