Michaela, a lost and lonely young woman, gets a mysterious message from the father she never knew, sending her on a journey to discover twisted family secrets. As she uncovers each piece of the puzzle, she descends even deeper into their warped world of pilgrims and pyromania. Dragged out to the desert, and pushed to the very edge, Michaela is forced to make a choice: preserve the delicate web that history has woven for her family, or strike out on her own and destroy the cycle of evil in her blood. That is, if she can survive the fire.
The blazing heat, the scorching sun; Arizona feels dead in the middle of the day, but she fills with life when the sun drops down into desert. Like the saguaro cactus, thousands of desert stories are taking their time to grow into fruition.
April Wade, 24, and Lira Kellerman, 25, could feel the story of small town characters slowly growing to life in the Arizona desert. Characters who uncover family they never knew about, thereby uncovering themselves. . “Folks are more familial here, much friendlier, which seems paradoxical when so many of them come to Arizona to get away from larger busier cities, to leave everyone else behind.” Kellerman said. “We wanted to explore how even those who consider themselves hermits, need family in order to understand who they are to themselves and those around them.”
Apache Junction was the perfect small town to explore the story. “The majesty of Superstition Mountain juxtaposed against a resurrected ghost town is the perfect setting for our story. On one side, we have Goldfield Ghost Town, a tourist attraction celebrating our past, and on the other, Superstition Mountain, which reminds us that only the mountains will stay the same in the future”.
Local businesses and residents have been generous towards the two women. “The people understand what it means to create art and need help in order to do it. We’ve received countless calls from locals offering their assistance.” Wade said. “Everyone is excited to be a part of the storytelling process.”
Perhaps the main reason the locals are so excited to lend a helping hand is because they understand how one can feel isolated in a large desert, but like family in a small town.
“Our protagonist, Michaela, is a young woman on the verge of adulthood; seeking out the father she never knew and discovers more than she bargained for about her new family.” Wade said. “Everyone can relate to the need to get away, to lose yourself in order to find out who you really are. The desert is the place to do so.”
“No matter what we say we are, who we think we are, it’s our family who really defines us.” Kellerman said. “These are universal themes.” And what better place to set it than Arizona, where the possibilities and the universe are endless.