Introduction: In the haunted wastelands, where restless spirits rise from ancient battlefields and monsters prowl the shadowed plains, Ruth and her family keep watch over a lonely waystation. Duty binds them to offer shelter to all who pass their gates—if they are truly among the living.When a lone traveler appears at their door on a stormy evening, Ruth is eager for a glimpse of the larger world, but the stranger brings more than stories of distant lands. As Ruth wrestles with the balance between duty and curiosity, the stranger’s ways and ideas begin to unsettle the fragile peace of her life. In a place where the boundaries between life and death are perilously thin, a single misstep could invite disaster.The short story weaves elements of fantasy and horror with a meditation on the nature of memory and identity....