Outback in Reliance, South Dakota Ruth, a widow, lives with her parents on a ranch 10 miles north of Reliance, South Dakota. Every weekday, she drives south to Reliance and then east 12 miles to Chamberlain, South Dakota where she works in the county hospital. She has two children. Heidi, an 8 th grader, begins her schoolwork at 8:00 a.m. after helping her grandmother (who is also her teacher) make breakfast for Granddad and Alan, a high school senior. Alan will begin his schoolwork after supper at 5:00 p.m. and continue until 9:00 p.m. Although the family feels fortunate to have a DSL line, they have but one computer, so Heidi and Alan must work their daily school schedule around that fact. This works out well for the family, however, since Alan loves to work in the wheat field helping Granddad harvest the crop. Today, before supper, Alan plans to call the Guidance Counselor at ICAOnline to request that a transcript be sent to the State University where he intends to enroll for the winter semester. Alan will graduate this December.