Fifteen-year-old Wayne Pumphrey wishes he were courageous enough to actually send the heartfelt letters he writes to friends and family. He also wishes his father would drive on the right side of the street, his mother would stop packing her suitcase to leave, and his sister would stop listening to Nickelback. But most of all, he wishes that Pete "The Meat" would let him walk to school in peace. After all, how many times can one person eat yellow snow?

These are Emily's last five days in Lightning Cove, a community on the northeast coast of Newfoundland where she struggles to free herself from an oppressive husband. Her life, she senses, is only half-occupied. All of which explains the three plane tickets hidden beneath a loose floorboard in the basement - one for herself and one each for her two youngsters. But a lot can happen in five days. With the town on the verge of a massive collapse because of layoffs and the workers facing a possible plant closure, the air is already tense. And Emily senses that her few close friends may be on the cusp of discovering her secret. Like so many things in her life, Emily's freedom has been a long time coming. Now she knows it won't come without a fight.