Miserie 1867 Charles Bowles sits with his wife Mary before a fire in their small farmhouse.

They hold hands and sit quietly as the orange flames dance in the wood crackles.

They sit, but don't speak, because they've said it all before.

Instead, they rest in the peaceful tranquility of two lovers relishing each other's presence.

They don't have much, this house, this fire, four daughters sleeping in other rooms.

A little bit of land and the crops they try to grow, mostly unsuccessfully, to get by.

They live hand-to-mouth, spending most nights worrying about how to provide for their children.

It's not a luxurious life by any measure, but in moments like this, they find the peace

that keeps them going.

To some, maybe even many, what Charles and Mary have might look like the American dream.

They have a happy marriage, four healthy children, and a plot of land.

But there's something burning inside Charles Bowles.

He and his family deserve more.

He knows it and longs to make it happen.

Yet in this moment, sitting before the fire, he suppresses his discontentment, these ambitions,

and squeezes his wife's hand a little tighter.

Yeah, it's enough.

It has to be.

And why not?

He has love and comfort.

All anyone ever needs.

And yet, he wonders, how long can he, Charles Bowles, cling to this lie?

...