He thinks of Allison, the young woman he met, who visits his dreams. She is educated, quick-witted—the kind of "man-eating pagan" that his senile grandfather warned him about but who nonetheless makes him feel alive.

If in order to find yourself you first need to become lost, then Howard is taking a first step toward self-discovery.

John Bennion is the author of Breeding Leah and Other Stories and a contributor to Best of the West 2, Bright Angels and Familiars, and Christmas for the World. He has published in Ascent, BYU Studies, Dialogue, The New Era, Sunstone, and the Wasatch Review; and has received Best Short Story awards from the Association for Mormon Letters and the Utah Arts Council, among others. He is an associate professor of English at Brigham Young University where he teaches creative writing. He and his family live in Springville, Utah.