Amelia

5

A massive search ensued. For two weeks, they combed every inch of the area trying in vain to find any clue that might lead them to the missing toddler. But the little girl, like the missing aviator, had vanished into thin air.

***

Forty years later, a South Carolina hog farmer named Boots Ramsey lay on his deathbed. Pumped full of morphine, Boots yelled and screamed that his soul was damned for eternity.

When his only child Misty arrived by his bedside, the aged farmer begged her forgiveness.

The nurse in attendance was a forty-year veteran named Zelda.

"I'm telling you, Zelda," Misty said, "I've never seen him so adamant. He says he's a thief. A thief. I've known the man all my life, and he's been nothing but good. A good man. What he's saying is like a movie. A bad movie."

Zelda looked at Misty and smiled.

"I don't mean to sound harsh," Zelda said, "but he's so pumped full of drugs. He doesn't know what he's saying."

Zelda looked down at her scuffed white nurse's shoes, twisted the wedding band on her finger, and chuckled.

"Last week," the nurse said, "I had an elderly man swear to me he was Al Draper. You know, honey, that serial killer who escaped after killing his wife, his kids, his mother-in-law, and three others. I've known this man since childhood. He's lived in this community for over seventy years. The drugs do funny things to folks, especially if they're not used to them."

Misty smiled.

"I understand," Misty said, reaching into her oversized purse and pulling out two candy bars.

"A Choc-O-Chock Full-A-Nuts bar!" Zelda said. "I haven't seen one of those in years."

"You can't buy them around here," Misty said. "I have to order them special."

The nurse bit off a huge chunk, her cheek resembling a chipmunk with a mouth full of seeds.

"Mmm, Misty," Zelda said. "This is as good as I remember."