This story was submitted as an assignment for a beginning course in fiction writing that I took in my first year of college. That is to say, it was written quite some time ago now. It has not been touched since then and as such, does not reflect my current writing style. However, it is one of my favorites because it marked a departure from the many adolescent and naive stories I had written at that time and journeyed towards more adult ideas. I feel that the ending is very weak, partly because of the word limitation imposed upon the assignment but also because I lacked the desire to put the characters in further danger or pain.

Some readers may notice a strong Redwall influence. In the years prior to entering college, I had voraciously read through the series and at the time of writing had only just begun to enter the world of online role play.

There is no real reason for the off-screen violence inflicted upon the characters of the story. I simply got an idea and began expanding on it.