Fern Hill is a coming of age story about four 13 year-old boys on a weekend in 1987 into the mountains of Colorado searching for a wrecked plane and a lost father.
7 years ago, Colin’s father’s single prop airplane disappeared from the radar on one of his routine business flights from the city. After months of search and rescue efforts, nothing was found. He and his mother were forced to move on without closure.
Turning 13 years old, adjusting to a new, overbearing stepfather, and experiencing a vividly revealing dream the night before, Colin decides it’s time to find his dad… or at least try.
Colin, Kenny, Seth and Bob were best friends growing up in a beautiful mining town in the middle of the Rocky Mountains. And already at 13, each had a battle of their own. But when Colin tells of his plan, there’s only one option, and they’re it… Strapped with little more than backpacks and fear, it’s the trip to an ominous and legendary place called Fern Hill, a wilderness area that Colin’s father called is favorite place in the world.
Rallying together on the eve of a three-day weekend and sneaking away from home, they are off into the night and the woods, hoping for something, and questioning everything.
The woods at any age hold fears that lurk behind each corner. But the memory of a father and an old map are enough to keep them moving. For Bobby, these are ample reasons to forget the whole idea, especially when the map is lost, the rain unceasing, and night is black.
But somewhere in the meantime, courage is tested, reality is confronted, and friendship is trusted and true. Questions surface, and answers, if they land, are quiet.
For Colin, Fern Hill was a path that had to be traveled. For the others, it was friendship, and an excuse to get away at the same time. Everyone needs a little hope. Sometimes you have to find it for yourself, and sometimes it’s buried by pain and loss. But if you find it, you never forget it… and life is changed evermore. This was their story to Fern Hill. |
#9
12 and Holding
