Michael J Kubat

In Outcast Land, Tropical Storm Ernesto forces an unlikely group of people together.

Jerry Wolf is a recluse who lives in a rambling house in the countryside of Virginia. He has chosen to retreat into seclusion following a personal tragedy that leaves him embittered. He is content to spend his days with his canine friend who he knows will never betray or hurt him.

In the worst of the storm, Professor Scarlett Petersen and a group of her social work students are caught on the road. They are on their way back to school following a practicum at a new adult group home which introduced them to the real world of mental health interventions. Most of the girls are moved by the plights of the group home residents and reaffirmed in their desire to pursue a helping profession, though for some of them, their own anxieties and conflicts resurface, making them feel vulnerable.

Brought to bay by the violence of the storm, Professor Petersen's group come across Jerry's house and is compelled to take refuge there. Jerry knows he has no choice but to accept them into his home, but does so reluctantly because this act of charity robs him of his treasured privacy. He feels defeated as humanity had once more found him.

In the days to come, Jerry, the Professor and the students must live in very close proximity to one another. Enduring each other's company becomes increasingly difficult as prejudices, eccentricities and personality quirks, made more acute by the stress, assert themselves. Each member of the gathering is forced into soul-searching and, often, a re-definition of personal principles.