Manifest

A train disaster in a small town, multiple suspects, and the complicated lies we tell ourselves and each other...

In Clayton, the smelter sits at the center of town and dominates the local economy and narrative. Curtis Lane, a homeless man, spends his days sitting outside the drugstore in town issuing dire warnings about the trains that transport chemical waste from the local smelter. Is Curtis crazy, or does he know something? James Allenby, the son of one of the smelter executives, sets out to film a documentary about Curtis and the trains and learns more than he had intended to about the smelter, and his comfortable life.

Manifest is a 10,000 word short story and the first in a series of shorts. The second will be released in October 2014.