From KCRW, I'm Bob Carlson, and this is Unfictional.

Unfictional is a program of stories and personal documentaries told like a journey,

radio movies, inner lives.

And even in a place as isolated and uncompromising as Alaska, some of the most profound moments can happen in a garden.

I could talk with the plants.

If other people didn't want to be around me, it didn't matter, you know, I could be who I am in the garden.

Amber always knew who she was, even when those around her said she was wrong.

But she'd been through beatings and car crashes,

wrestled with addiction, and all it did

was build an armor.

From KCRW, it's unfictional and I'm Bob Carlson. This is a short and small story, but small stories can sometimes hit the hardest.

It's about a personal journey of finding yourself, having the confidence to know when you are seeing the world clearly, even when everyone around you says you're wrong.

It's unfictional and her name is Ember.

You know for a long time I'd take little Post-it-notes and I'd write things like I love

you and and leave them on the mirror Or I'd hide them in places.

I'd write little notes to myself

and hide them in places where I'd forget.

And then a month or two later,

I'd find them and I'd feel my heart open. Better to find joy and peace and contentment in yourself than to worry about what others think of you.

There's a lot of bigotry in Alaska still. My power is just claiming

the reality that I experienced. All right.

Right.

...