Book excerpt: It is an ordinary tale of not so ordinary circumstance, where nothing is as it seems. It is a tale where heroes aren't exactly heroes and villains save the day. It is a test of endurance and a journey that leads to a cryptic discovery that perhaps we are nothing more than scarecrows on our perches dreaming of better lives. It is ultimately the age old tale of good verses evil, but in this case, the lines between those domains are as clear as chalk lines beneath a tempest storm.