Once upon a time there was a BVM, born in Taiwan, sold at a dollar store, given as a birthday joke, and then essentially ignored for years. There was also a tiny alien, fallen from outer space, picked up in a supermarket parking lot, given for an imagined resemblance, and then patiently contemplating the toes of the BVM for years.

Meanwhile, a mountain, whose granite slopes were gentle enough, and possibly remote enough, never to suggest improvement in the form of generals and snorting horses.

And also: Allison and Julie, whose reasons for visiting the mountain were to do with hope, silliness, and discovery.