Kindred Spirits

A few days before Thanksgiving, eleven-year old Rad Sergeant found Lance Corby, a boy about his own age, living in the Peak Mountains behind his ranch. The boys connected immediately, talking for hours, revealing their most private thoughts. Lance boasted about huffing and breathing inhalants; although Rad loathed Lance’s dreadful habit and told him so, he felt pity for a kid living alone in the mountains.

Then one day while checking on Lance, Rad found him passed out and immediately called...