A Prelude to Nothing

After suffering years of physical and verbal abuse at the hands of his father, young Tom Rollins takes off on his bicycle with the intention of never returning to his hometown. Life on the streets is lonely at first, but as he makes his way toward Boston to become a crab fisherman, he finds it manageable. He even meets a girl who makes him forget about the high school crush he left behind, and things begin looking up.

"The way people stumble upon each other's paths and affect each other's lives is unimaginable and undeniably happenstance, directed entirely by personal needs and goals and moods. It's just crazy. I wonder about how my life would be changed had I made a single decision differently or walked down a different road... All these consequences are absolutely nuts. How are we able to ever take on all this responsibility, knowing that if we totally screw up, we could ruin, or even kill someone?."

Summer can only last so long, though, and when autumn moves in, it brings with it something sinister that rots the edges of Tom's soul. On his travels, he meets up with some fellow runaways, and together they hatch a plan that will not only bring Tom's life full circle but will also change any hopes he may have had for a better future.