Nobody's Here But Us

Nobody’s Here But Us is a story about the difference between the truth and a lie, and how they both can mold our lives and control every aspect of us. The prologue introduces a short story that replaces the Creation story in the Bible. Instead of “In the Beginning”, it uses the fairy tale words “Once upon a time.” The prologue sheds a new light on the stories and fables that we have heard for most of our lives. The actual story takes place in the mid 1800’s in southern Louisiana, near Orleans during slavery. The main religion in the region is Catholic. The majority of the slaves practices Voodoo and worship the African god Dhumballa.The main characters are twin freed slaves, Octavius and Octavia. Somehow, nature has given then the wrong bodies. He has more female hormones and she has more male hormones. This is shown more as they get older. Their mother, Ma Onnie, has no idea how their lives will unfold because of them being “cursed with the wrong body”. She sends Octavius to the church to learn the ways of the priesthood with the plantation owner's son, Louis, and she sends Octavia to the Voodoo queen, Renee, to learn the Dark Art. Louis is confused like Octavius about his sexuality and they begin a long term relationship that continues while they are studying for the priesthood. Ma Onnie is unaware of how she has opened the gates of Heaven and Hell on Earth. The children embark upon a journey of a lifetime as they uncover many secrets and lies from the slaves and the masters of the plantation. They have to decide what was really is the truth, but will they find out that the truth and a lie are only different sides of the same coin?