Paper Dolls

The opposite of love is not hate, it is life in Hatchet Prairie, steeped in long-faced legalism. Someone once said: "The world is a very unforgiving place, so don't ever apologize for who you are." Well, in Northernmost, Alberta, cold religion constantly demands amends for broken rules that break people and leave the soul colder than ever. When the Gardener farm is threatened by bankruptcy, the family in tumult because of a rebellious teenager, the insurmountable poverty, death and birth in the family, there is no compassion from the powers-that-want-to-be in the church or community. So how do you pledge allegiance to or align yourself with a God for comfort who has been so grossly misrepresented, and leave religion for a real spiritual relationship with the ultimate Father?