Driven by a secret he cannot bear to examine, thirteen-year-old Benjamin Sorowen leaves his clothes and a suicide note, grabs a large stone and steps into a California reservoir. He releases the stone and strokes away into darkness-not to die but to stop being who he is. After retrieving supplies and clothes prepared in advance, he changes his name, hitches to New Mexico, and begins a new life in a cave near Albuquerque. However, he soon finds running from a place is easier than running from a past. Painful though it is, he finally realizes he must face the truth about what he tried to drown in the reservoir before he will have a chance at the better life he longs for.