Between August 2020 and January 2023, independent research into the root causes of crime in Alice Springs was undertaken by Sustainable Justice Australia. Hundreds of people from all walks of life were consulted informally through conversation and story. From these conversations, a way forward emerged. An open model, the lychee model, is presented as one way toward sustainable justice. ​The study examines how we think about crime, problems within the law, and trauma in the community and lists the hurdles we have to overcome to solve this highly complex problem. ​The reader is invited to participate in several thought experiments that use stories about animals, trees and lifeless things in nature.​