Voles are small rodents that are relatives of lemmings and hamsters. They’re sometimes known as meadow mice or field mice and are plentiful in North America and Australia.
A vole named SOD lives with his little vole community under a suburban garden in New South Wales. All his life Sod has dreamed of “Overworld” where legend tells of a bright ball of fire burning in the sky (the sun) making everything warm, toasty, and green.
But voles are naturally myopic, in sight and disposition. Sod’s enthusiasm for “Overworld” is met with rolling eyes by his vole community. They would rather Sod “stick to the program” and DIG— always digging, which is a vole’s primary vocation— digging more and more tunnels that loop and meet, tunnels created, demolished, and always created again. Sod does his share of the work but feels himself to be a very “un-vole-ish” vole.
Luckily Sod finds a kindred spirit in a new friend LEAFYTEETH, a vole who claims to have seen Overworld and the big bright “sun” that hangs in the sky. Leafyteeth offers to take Sod to Overworld but warns about the Death Trifecta. When voles refer to the Death Trifecta they’re talking about the three main things in Overworld voles fear most: floods, mowers, and especially CATS... one particular CAT— the cute and adorable abomination known as SIN-AMEN (Cinnamon, as the humans call her) who lives and hunts in the garden.
“Cute? How could she be cute?” Sod asks Leafyteeth.
“Oh, she’s cute!” Leafyteeth answers. “And good too, as far as cats go. Except for the fact that she’ll kill you. I guess that’s why they call her Sin Amen. She’s a whole lot of good and a whole lot of bad at the same time! Good for the giants who live in the house— bad for us I suppose. But what do you expect? She’s a cat! “
To achieve his dream of reaching Overworld Sod must break from his culture— and teach his friends the very underrated virtue of changing your mind...