Circa 1987: A war-torn Middle Eastern nation struggles to come to grips with a new reality. And a brutal new regime. The enemy, taking advantage of a post-revolutionary upheaval, has made major advances, resulting in a bloody war between the two neighboring countries with no end in sight. An influential family of four, including two teenage boys, is forced to leave the comfort and luxury of the big city and move to a war-torn region close to the war zone. The narrator is the older son, who has always felt out of place, but this feeling has never raged more strongly than after the move, until he meets a mysterious, quiet classmate, who seems to be the target of rumors and innuendo. He is warned more than once to stay away from this person. Perhaps the warnings, as well as subtle and inobtrusive acts of kindness, compel the narrator to ignore everyone. And when he finally allows himself to fully immerse in the relationship, he finds comfort and a sense of belonging he has never experienced before. Their love grows, as do the dangers of the ongoing conflict. The enemy has planted landmines across the long border between the two warring nations. Fearing continued setbacks, the new, ruthless post-revolutionary regime is desperate, so much so that, to spare the infantry, teenagers are “volunteered” to walk the landmine-infested fields. Doors close one by one, most significantly as a result of a betrayal by the narrator’s younger brother. Is there hope for the two young men to escape or survive the brutality that could be waiting? Mine is a fairy tale, taking root in an utterly inhospitable and very real setting that swallows hope, an undercurrent of injustice that cajoles the youngsters toward an unknown in the name of Heaven. What awaits at the journey’s end