The Road Back to Abalone

A young woman living alone in New York battles severe anxiety and the constant feeling that she has to survive everything by herself. Her life is small, controlled, and quiet. That is until her mother calls with devastating news: her father is dying, and she needs to come home. Returning to Abalone is the last thing she wants. The town holds memories she’s spent years trying to outrun memories of childhood pain, humiliation, and the moment she finally escaped. But with no choice left, she boards a plane and heads back to the place she swore she’d never return to. Once home, she’s forced to confront the ghosts she left behind. Old wounds reopen. Old secrets start to surface. And the people she thought she’d never have to face again are suddenly unavoidable. As she navigates her father’s decline, her strained relationship with her mother, and the suffocating weight of her past, she begins to sense that something in Abalone isn’t what it seems. The town feels different, quieter, watchful, holding something back. And the closer she gets to the truth, the more she realizes her past didn’t stay buried the way she hoped. What begins as a reluctant homecoming slowly unravels into a story of healing, mystery, and unexpected connection. One that forces her to question everything she thought she knew about her childhood, her family, and herself.