Background

Lily, or “Lily-Mae” as her mother called her, was born in their family home, tucked into a remote part of the Appalachian mountains. Alcoholism had taken her father, as it had done to many in the area, before she had a chance to know him. Her mother didn’t talk about him much, but Lily always got the impression when she did, whatever love her mother may have felt for him was gone long before his death. They were poor, as many of their ancestors before them, making what little money they did by brewing and selling, or trading Moonshine. Lily was at home in the miles of wilderness that surrounded their small ancestral home, and she knew those woods like the back of her hand. Any chance or opportunity she got to run off into the trees, such as running Shine to the nearest neighbor,she would take. The trip back home always took longer, sometimes hours. Whether she stumbled upon a dead log to flip and check for bugs, mushrooms or berries to pick, a cool rock, or some sort of animal burrow, there was plenty of opportunity for her to get distracted. As a teenager Lily’s mother became ill, and was referred to a “fancy doctor down in Louisville” as she put it to her daughter. She’d see the doctor a few times over the years, always alone. Lily never knew what was really wrong with her, and when she asked once she was simply told “Momma’s very sick, gonna be her whole life..all ya need to know darlin’.” In February of 1993 her mother’s doctor called one day to say they wanted to test a new experimental medication, but she would have to stay for over a week for observation, and was due back on March 12th. Lily and her mother had heard the stories on the small worn out radio they had, but like most they disregarded these stories, and her mother would make the trip to Louisville undeterred. When the pounding starting on the 9th of March Lily was out wandering the woods. At first she didn’t know anything had happened, no rift opened among the trees around her, but she would make her way to the nearest neighbor in search of answers when the noise had stopped. Unlike her and her mother, the neighbors had a television and she would watch as much of the news coverage as she could stomach while the realization that her mother could be hurt or far worse set in. March 12th came, and Lily’s mother did not return, and when Lily attempted to call the number left for the doctor there was no answer. Sick with worry she would try and quiet her worried mind the only way she could think of over the next few days. Moonshine. She'd sneak out onto the porch once everyone fell asleep and down into the holler where her and her mother’s home was and drink what shine they had left until she felt she could sleep before stumbling her way back to the neighbors who were putting her up. One of these nights was when she encountered her first rift. She didn’t realize the pounding sound wasn’t in her own head, not until it opened up the hill from her. Lily stared, the fear gripping her and freezing her in place as she gazed into it. The moment she thought she began hearing voices was the moment her legs suddenly remembered how to work again. She'd take a step back, tripping over a rock or raised tree root and tumbling back down into the bottom of the valley. There was no sign of the rift when she woke in the morning. Near the end of March of 1993 one of the neighbors she had been living with returned from a trip into the nearest town sooner than expected, and reported it seemed one of the rifts they were talking about on the television had opened there. They would begin discussing how safe they were, and if they should leave. Lily would make that choice independently from them, however. Packing a bag of mostly essentials she would leave in the middle of the night, making her way on foot through the woods and mountains toward Knox County. She didn't know if she would find her mother there, but she felt she had to try. Traveling from her scarcely populated corner of the Appalachians to Knox County took a few weeks. Though, she was too determined to reach her destination to keep track. In the near two years that have followed Lily has continued the search for her mother despite the fact that no promising leads, rumors, or clues that her mother is still in Louisville or Knox County have presented themselves. As the days pass she becomes more secluded, mostly camping in the woods at night. Her days are spent by foraging, fishing, and trapping to sustain herself. Anything she can’t obtain from nature she trades for or sells things she finds. Any free time Lily has is spent in the pursuit of finding her mother, whether it be searching places she hasn't tried yet, or asking people if they've seen the woman in the old worn photo she carries of her.