The Waterhauler: A Desert Story

The Waterhauler, a collection of sixteen linked stories, follows the lives of a group of loners who populate the fictional town of Goat's Corner in the Mojave Desert. Together they confront progress as it paves its way down the dirt roads of their town. A woman's growing pack of dogs explodes through the kitchen door one night, holding her hostage; a 67-year-old woman lives in a Sears Roebuck shed and is stalked by a social worker; the local feed store owner turns arsonist; a teacher disappears with his entire fifth-grade class. Velma, the water hauler, wends her way through each story, guarding a secret that in the end drives her from Goat's Corner. Bound together by the limits of their environment, these desert denizens struggle to survive with dignity, courage and often misguided choices.