Trade Secrets

Every parent knows a child can sometimes be incorrigible; a piece of writing occasionally acts the same way. What the author originally conceived as a simple short story involving a flood and its consequences

for those called in to help defiantly grew into a full length novel. Drafted prison inmates had wishes and secrets they did not disclose (and perhaps could not put into words), as did the townspeople they came to help. But, the towering pile of sand bags holding back a flood reflected other ramparts meticulously

constructed to wall out unwanted people or undesirable realities. Ultimately, this novel poses a question. Was this apparently coincidental confluence of people (with their secret wishes) and events due merely to chance or was the gathering contrived by a master planner who employs his own trade secrets to perform miracles even for those not knowing how to ask?