A Better Place

Angela Gulner,Garrett Wareing

Jeremy Rollins is a young man with a very strange affliction. He has the uncanny and uncontrollable ability to deflect any physical attack and its associated pain and injury to the attacker's closest relationship. Born with this condition, Jeremy's mother had the foresight to home school him and limit his contact to the outside world. She feared that if he were ever discovered, men in white coats would conscript and subject him to unspeakable experiments. This upbringing makes him awkward and childlike, and upon the unexpected passing of his mother, Jeremy is forced to confront a corrupt town and face the realities of a harsh society and the cruelties of its people. He encounters a variety of unsavory town folk - a dominating bully who is the sheriff's son, the sheriff who is in the pocket of a corrupt banker, a gold-digging temptress and a reverend who has lost his way. But a local waitress, Jess, who sees something very special in Jeremy, befriends him. Through a series of physical altercations with the town locals, Jeremy's strange condition is slowly unveiled to Jess. When confronted by her, Jeremy reluctantly discloses his "powers" and its consequences. With each altercation, Jeremy gains additional insight about his condition and its nuances. When Jeremy later learns the truth surrounding the demise of his mother, a showdown between he and the town's authority results in the death of the sheriff's son. Upon seeing this and for the first time in his life, Jeremy takes action that is not rooted on confusion or fear, but from acceptance of his condition. Jeremy channels and embraces his gift to express the teachings of compassion at the ultimate level.