John Klock

A Distant Valley John Klock

Across the west, a decade of drought has devastated the water supplies, social institutions have collapsed, and people are on the move. Wild fires burn constantly, creating a "shadow wind" that darkens the landscape for years and the countryside has become sans lumière. For years on end, thousands of refugees pour into the territory of Oregon, searching for an illusory sanctuary. Amidst these tragic conditions, a nativist insurgent group called the Pacific Crest Liberation Front captures key water supplies in the Cascade Range. Now, a weakened state authority struggles to regain control of its water. In this pre-apocalyptic setting, two families set out in search of a better life. A mother and her synesthetic daughter from Reno migrate north to find a place of spirit, where citizens have banded together to restore communities and bring back the arts. A second family, uprooted from the parched agricultural fields of California, struggles to reunite with their loved ones. The migrants yearn for something more than just survival. They want to experience the joy of being human again, to feel, and to love. For those vigilant émigrés, interpreting the clues of the road is crucial to survival. In Oregon, the exiles went searching, a few found what they were looking for.