Story Genesis: Orderville Pants Rebellion

I don't confess to reading a lot of so-called Mormon lit. I do enjoy Jack Weyland's short story, "The Phone Call," but it's more for the goofy film than for the fact that Weyland wrote it.

But I've got the genesis for my own little Mormon lit novel. Here it is, or at least the opener:

If Pa tells me one more time about how hard it was living on the Big Muddy, I'm going to Moab.

If Pa tells me more time we've got to be like the people of Ammon, I'm going into the canyon and I'm never coming back.

And if Pa tells me I can't have a new pair of pants, I'm jumping the train at the depot and not getting off until Ogden. Or maybe even Pocatello. I can't take it any longer.

And here's the inspiration.

I just think this could be a fun story. Not that I like the idea of the United Order being toppled by one kid wanting a new pair of pants when the community decided they couldn't afford it. Okay, so I do like that angle. But of all the things to get wound up about -- a pair of pants.