THIRTY-ONE BELOW

Synopsis

The vote was taken in the basement of the Lutheran church on a Tuesday in September, forty-one ballots, thirty-four to stay. Marge Halversen counted them herself, twice, and then went home and made supper. She is sixty-three. She runs the grain elevator her husband ran for thirty years, and in October the railroad pulled the spur, which means the elevator cannot ship, which means the arithmetic of the vote is now different from the arithmetic of September. Winter in Wendt goes to thirty-one below and lasts until April. Marge knows which families voted out of hope and which voted because she was standing there. She has a truck, a telephone, and a great many suppers between here and spring.

Who this is about

Marge Halversen is sixty-three, runs the grain elevator her husband ran, and is on a first-name basis with all forty-one people who still get mail in Wendt, North Dakota.

What goes wrong

The railroad pulls the spur in October. Without it the elevator cannot ship, and without the elevator there is no reason for anybody left to stay past spring.

What's at stake

Forty-one people voted in the church basement to stay. Marge counted the ballots, so she knows which of them voted out of hope and which voted because she was watching.

Why it keeps going

Each episode is one week of a winter that hits thirty-one below, one more household finding a reason to go, and one more supper Marge cooks for whoever is thinking about it.

Takeaway

A vote to stay is only as good as the coldest night that follows it.

Shelves

Themes

Story, in the creator's words

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Style

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Characters

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Tech stack

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Schedule

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Production plan

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