"Streeterton is a northeastern suburb of Chicago, located 29 miles from Madison and State, a quaintly peaceful and surprisingly prosperous little town primarily noted for the infrequency with which it is noticed, its tranquility broken by little other than a series of much praised and occasionally attended festivals of the arts that dot its year. Long known as the summer escape of the upper crust, Streeterton has long quietly prided itself on the discreetness of its citizens, the endurance of its traditions, and the elegance of its gated communities, whose high wrought iron fences have put minds at ease for over 150 years.

Forests cover its shoreline, which its founders had the foresight to keep as a public trust, and as the summer days fade into night and the fairy lights of the ancient gaslamps begin to flicker between the leaves, the faint sound of music gently played by loving, if inexpert hands, can often be heard drifting out of the woods, as a few gentle souls celebrate the beauty of another day now ending. While Streeterton has been a playground of the very rich for most of its existence, it welcomes physicians, lawyers and others among the less fortunate without judgment, hoping that they will enjoy their brief visits. If you should decide to join that happy throng, I would offer one simple piece of advice so that you might get the most out of your excursion.

Bring your water wings. If you're 29 miles northeast of State and Madison, you're maybe about 20 miles out from shore, in about 250 feet of water, and Lake Michigan has no deep water islands. Streeterton doesn't really exist, except as a backdrop for the stories on this amateur fiction blog, and in half-imagined form at that. At present, I'm picturing it existing on a collection of small islands connected by bridges over the shallow channels that divide them - kind of like Venice, only without the Italians. Or the culture. Or the actual professionals, for the most part, because our gentlefolk are usually far, far too genteel to ever exert themselves enough to earn more than the gentleman's C that is their ticket to the sweet fraternity living, and a lifetime of soirees to come, not a one of which they dare miss and need not, so long as they have inheritances to invest ...