After a refreshing pause and filling their stomachs, Joy and Adam leave the diner and head for their vehicle.

"Hey, Joy, is it OK for me to sit in front with you?"

"Of course. I'd like that better, as well."

"We left off with your question about why we don't teach Utopian ideals to our children, right?"

"Right. Let's get into it. You surely have earned my undivided attention."

"It's interesting you should say that because 'undivided attention' is sorely lacking in society today."

"Boy, isn't that the truth!"

"Again, there are some basic concepts and definitions we must agree on to develop a better understanding of our school systems. I want to start by quoting the Cambridge Dictionary definition of 'educe' - to develop something or make it appear. The dictionary uses the sentence: Experience empowers students by educing the power that they already possess. That's the usage example in the dictionary. 'Educe' is the root word of education. That is what education is intended to achieve -- having children realize the power we are all born with and developing it to its maximum potential. That is not what is happening in our school systems. You probably already know this from your our teaching experience."

"I sure do. The curricula school administrations hand out these days have fewer and fewer courses related to the arts. Many have already stopped teaching cursive writing and even art classes."

"Most schools today are training grounds geared to create wage slaves. Our children are trained and programmed to perform functions that will serve the slave masters. They will be groomed to become Permanently Obedient Wage Slaves to the system -- POWS is an apt acronym for them. That's the primary reason schooling is mandatory, not because there are any benevolent leaders caring about our kids. The brainwashing starts early in young lives."

"Boy, that's a harsh realization! What can we do?"

"Utopians have no need for wage slaves and focus on actually educating their children. And not only their children. Utopians are encouraged to challenge their potential for their entire lives. There is no limit on what we can learn and understand. The slave masters will continue to make bogus laws to serve their own interests until they come to realize people are waking up."

"But, there are many schools like Montessori that educate children properly, aren't there?"

"Surely, but not nearly enough. Those children and their parents are ideal candidates for becoming Utopians and, in fact, many have already left cities to live in harmony with Mother Earth. When the slave masters start feeling the pressure of having the truth exposed, it will be interesting to see how they will react."

"Look up ahead! There an animal on the shoulder trying to get up."

"Oh, my gosh, it must have been hit by some vehicle. I'll pull over in front of it. Let's see if we can help."

Joy and Adam both jump from the car and run towards the wounded animal struggling to get up and whimpering in pain. They see he has a laceration on his left shoulder bleeding slightly. Joy returns to her car and opens the trunk, fetching a blanket. They gently slide the dog onto the blanket and transport it to the back seat.

"My parents presented me with a chocolate lab when I was four years old, Joy. It was their way of teaching me what unconditional love means. I was devastated when I lost him and never wanted another dog. This one seems to be in good condition except for his injury. We have to find a veterinarian."

"We're pretty deep into farm country, so there probably is one in the upcoming town. It's only a few miles ahead."

The drive had been calm and leisurely up to now, but Joy changed her attitude. The six miles to the next town were negotiated in record pace. She pulled into the first gas station she saw and went inside to ask for help. The attendant was standing behind the counter.

"Hi, lady! What's up?"

"We have an injured dog we picked up a few miles from here. We need to get him to a vet. Is there one nearby?"

"Yeah, Doc Cameron is down the road a bit. Stay on it until you see a bridge and his house is a few hundred yards from there. There's a willow tree on the riverbank that is behind his property. It's the only willow tree for miles, so you won't miss it."

"Thanks."

Within a few minutes, Joy and Adam cross the bridge noting the willow tree and pull up to the house. Before they can even open the doors, a tall man is exiting the house and approaching the car. Joy, upon opening the car door yells:

"We have an injured dog in the back seat. He was by the side of the road a few miles back."

"Let me look. Oh, that's Coco. He lives on the Williamses farm. I just gave him his immunization boosters a few weeks ago. He must have wandered off the farm. Let's carry him into the examining room."

Gently transporting Coco into the house with the blanket, Adam and the veterinarian place him onto the gurney in the exam room. Noting the wound on Coco's shoulder, the vet cleanses it and applies an antiseptic salve before calling his assistant.

"Beatrice, please come here and wheel Coco to the x-ray machine. Thanks. Now for introductions. I'm Jim Cameron. Who are you, good Samaritans?"

"I'm Joy and this is Adam. We're on our way to the Indian reservation a couple of hours ahead. Adam has left Chicago for good and wants to live there."

"Really? The talk around here is that they are doing some great things on that reservation. I may take some time myself to check it out. I lived in the Chicago area for many years, too. City living doesn't appeal to me anymore. This town is where I was born and it is where I will die."

"Do you have family here?" asks Adam.

"No. Grace and I wanted to start a family, but she died before we could make that happen. She was my soul mate and I could never love anyone as much as I loved her. I can still picture her face the day we met."

"How did you meet?"

"I was jogging along the lakefront near the Waveland golf course on a beautiful summer afternoon. My mind was occupied with thoughts of leaving the city. I didn't notice an errant golf ball on the path and stepped on it. It threw me off balance and I crashed in a heap. Grace was jogging from the opposite direction and immediately rushed to my side.

I looked up at her face and felt a surge of electric energy through my body. I'm not sure if I believed in love at first sight prior to that moment, but I surely do now. She asked if I needed help getting up and, although I didn't, I said yes. Nothing can compare to the feeling I got from her touch. We began a conversation that lasted many years.

Before meeting her, I was doing the same things many young men do -- partying with friends, going to sports events, sowing wild oats and generally letting life pass by. That lifestyle was becoming palled and unrewarding for me. Although I was a popular bedmate for many women, sex became more like mutual masturbation than love. Grace taught me the meaning of 'making love.'

She was a pediatric nurse and adored children. She definitely wanted children of her own, but we were still young and we decided to explore the world a bit before starting a family. I began my veterinarian practice in Arlington Heights and we bought a modest home together near it. She was also from a rural area, albeit in Kansas, and loved the countryside as much as I did. Each year, we would plan for an exploratory tour in some exotic country like Madagascar, the Galapagos, Indonesia and other such destinations. Regardless of what else we planned, these vacations were priority one. My memories of walking hand in hand with her on beautiful beaches are permanently etched in my mind."

"How did she die?" Joy asks.

"She died from a gunshot. We had just left a concert and were walking towards the Metra station. Because the sidewalk was crowded, we turned into an alley to save time and make our scheduled train. About halfway through the alley, a young man jumped from behind a dumpster and pointed a gun at us, asking for money and any other valuables we may have. I stepped in front of Grace to shield her as the mugger came closer. When he came close, Grace jumped forward and grabbed the arm of the perpetrator. In the struggle for the gun, it went off and shot Grace through the heart. She died in my arms. When the ambulance finally showed up, I couldn't even speak. The shock of losing her made me virtually incoherent. The days following were the saddest days of my life.

She had wanted to be cremated. I took her ashes to Kansas to have a service with her family and then started making plans to come back to my home town. I intentionally wanted to get this house because of its proximity to the river. Grace loved willow trees, so I placed a starter twig in her ashes and buried the urn on the riverbank. The willow tree by the bridge is Grace. I go lean against her often and speak to her as I had when she was alive. I swear I can her respond whenever the wind rustles her leaves."

"Was the killer apprehended?"

"Yes. He was from the Austin neighborhood and a member of a gang. He was on heroin and in need of a fix when the killing happened. He was tried and sent to the penitentiary for thirty years. During the trial, he was pretty much devastated about what happened and upon sentencing, he turned towards me in tears and asked for my forgiveness."

"Have you forgiven him?"

"Of course. It wasn't his fault."

"What do you mean?"

"Society creates its criminals, not the other way around. When the public defender was pleading the judge for leniency, he outlined the conditions many of the Austin residents live under. Most of them have never experienced what love is, except from some caring grandmother, perhaps. That's not enough. The reason many of them join gangs is because of the human needs to belong, to participate and to be productive. They have been disenfranchised from the general population because of racial bias, intolerance and lack of support in developing a meaningful life. Rather than attacking the real problem, Society sweeps its dirt under the rug.

There are millions of people in jails all over the country. It's doubtful many of them were rich when they were sent up. Bernie Madoff is an exception, but if he had bilked poor people instead of the wealthy, he probably would never have seen a jail cell. We do not have a justice system in this country, only a punishment system. At the courthouse I attended, most of the people facing the judges were elderly, poor or a combination of both. Many of the attorneys offering their services acted like hyenas fighting over a zebra carcass."

The door to the room swings open and Beatrice steps in.

"There aren't any broken bones, Jim, but it looks like Coco's shoulder is dislocated."

"That's fixable easily enough. Glad to hear no bones were broken. Folks, I have to end this chat and take care of Coco. If you want to get on your way, I can take it from here."

"Thank you, Jim. It was a pleasure meeting you. Do you mind if we say goodbye to Grace before we go?"

"Not at all. Tell her I'll be with her a little later."