The Missing Boy

Nathan pulled off the road at a scenic overlook. What he saw drove him to flights of fancy. The setting sun made a silhouette of a Queen Anne-style home sitting on a small rise. He fell in love with it. This one must be filled with stories, he thought. He was a thoroughly fact-based, science-based design engineer. He didn’t believe in haunted houses or any such folklore. He found it merely entertaining. However, this was wonderfully visual and better than a postcard.

While he stopped, he called home. “Where are you?” his adopted mother asked. “I’m almost in the little town of Prosperity Flats. You would like it here.”

“I’m just fine where I am, Nathan. Something caught your fancy?”

“Yes, a delightful Queen Anne house. Looks like a haunted house but gives me a fanciful feeling and a funny sense of déjà vu. I think it reminds me of this town's bygone prosperity.

“How's the project going”

“Found an abandoned building for the new location. It looks ancient but solid. It sits close to a trout stream.”

You always were romantic, his adopted mother said.

“I’m thinking our creative crew can go fly-fishing at lunch break”.

“Always visual and imagining and envisioning that which you will make become,” she said.

“Yep. It’s my job; comes with the territory”

“Are you getting any feel about those missing memories, Nathan”

“No, Mom. “Sometimes there is something familiar but nothing definite”

“Don’t forget you showed up from the social services for adoption with brain trauma and loss of all memory of your childhood”

“Yeah. But I was only 10; that’s not much considering that was 30 years ago”.

“I am very grateful for all those wonderful memories of the 30 years after that with you and dad”

“Gotta get back on the road to town. It’s feeling late here”

“Yes, Nathan, be careful. Miss you”

“Nathan, I hope the new location will help jog your memory. You must have a lot locked up, as if secrets in your memory. Secrets that only come at night or when you sleep,” she said sympathetically.

“Miss you too, bye. “He said, ignoring the memory issues.

Nathan made it into town just in time to peruse the old hardware store. He loved hardware stores and always had a project in mind.

“Can I special order paint colors through you?” he asked the clerk.

“Of course. Say, are you new to town?”

“Yes, I’m moving here and working on a new custom manufacturing facility here.

“Oh. I saw that in the paper. I like it. Not too big, not too small”.

Nathan was flattered and hopeful. “Yes, I like the style of the town. We are artists in our own mechanized way. “

“By the way, what do you know about that stately Queen Anne style house on the hill on the way into town?”

“We’re closing soon. Should be closed now, in fact.”

“ What about the house on the hill?” Nathan asked as the clerk locked up the door.

“Too many stories about it. Folks mostly stay away. Unfortunate things happened there. It’s been abandoned for a long time”

Nathan continued down the street. He passed by a real estate office. He turned around and went back to take a second look.

In the window was a photo of the place on the hill. Standing next to it was a woman. He saw other photos of her in the window advertising her real estate skills.

The photo seized Nathan. She looked familiar. Where? How, or when?

Although it was getting late, he tried the listed phone number.

It rang, and a voice answered.

“Hello?”

It sounded like something in distant memory.

“If this is Helen, I’m interested in renting that charming old Queen Anne house that sits on the hill.” He was falling in love with the old house and realized he was getting impatient to finalize his plans and move into a new home and a new job.

“Nathan?” She asked.

“Your photo in the listings looked familiar.”

“Helen, have we met before?”

“You don’t know?”

“The old house has been vacant for decades. I don’t think you could rent it.”

“Are you sure? I'm good with fixing things.” he sounded eager.

“It will take some looking into. It may be falling apart and not suitable for living in”, she said cautiously.

To console him, she asked, “How about I show you another property similar to that?”

He tried to argue, “There is a lot at stake here. I’m relocating a business to Prosperity Flats. You need it. The prosperity of Prosperity Flats has waned. It’s left a charming town. But you need an economic boost. Secondly, what about me? I’ve fallen in love with the old place. “

“Yes, Nathan, those are good reasons. But it’s abandoned property.” She said with a tone of finality.

“Can I at least drive by? “

“Yes, Nathan, but do it quietly so as not to disturb the neighbors. They’re in that small place on the other side of that hill. They don’t like strangers poking around.”

“Thanks, Helen. “

He hung up, feeling frustrated and angry.

He was busy negotiating to take over the old brick building by the stream; it would be a great place for his team of prototype builders.

It was getting late, and he drove out to the old place as the sun set and the sky turned from orange to blue. It was peaceful and had a familiar feeling. He was having feelings that he couldn’t trace to a cause. He was rational and logical. It didn’t make sense.

He approached the old house and was surprised to see windows with light streaming out onto the yard. He heard a piano playing.

He found an old dirt road that separated the property from the neighbors and drove it to see more details. He saw a young man playing the piano and a young woman sensually draped over it. It looked like a vintage photo. I’m dreaming, he thought.

His way back to town was interrupted by the sheriff pulling him over.

“Show me your ID”

“ Is something wrong, officer?”

“No, It’s just people liking their privacy and peace out here”

“Yes, I was just looking at the old house. It’s picturesque”

“Glad you like it. It’s beautiful but abandoned.”

“Wait. It didn’t look abandoned to me, officer,” Nathan answered, not wanting to sound drunk or stoned.

“Step out “

He passed the breathalyzer. He satisfied the sheriff that he wasn’t drunk or on hallucinogens.

“Well, Nathan. Go back into town. Glad you enjoy the view here. The house has a very sketchy history.”

“What happened?”

“My own father disappeared mysteriously while he was investigating a case of a missing child here.

“I understand. I’m sorry “

“Well, son. Drive safely and get back to town. You staying at the Holiday Inn?”

“Yes, thank you, officer. “

The rest of the night passed without incident. The sheriff greeted the morning with a call to the phone linked to Nathan’s ID.

“Hi, this is the sheriff of Prosperity Flats. I’m making a courtesy call about Nathan.”

“Yes, officer, he is my adopted son. He says He likes it there.”

“ I met him on an obscure road out of town, and he claimed to see some things that weren’t there. Does he have a history I need to know?”

“He was 10 when he was adopted about a few decades ago. The doctors said he had an accident and head trauma.”

“Any peculiar symptoms? He responded to my questions in a way that left me wondering, if not worrying.”

“Do you know what sundowning is?”

“Yes, I thought only old people got that when they have dementia”

“Well, he gets it. Combined with his vivid imagination and a designer's creativity, he sometimes sees things. Chalk it up to an overactive imagination”

“I’ll try, ma'am, but he’s determined to rent an old place that's abandoned. He thinks it’s not.”

“Anything else I should know? Maam.?

“He has memory loss. His memory seemed locked in the secrets of whatever his life was before we found him. Sometimes, it haunts him terribly.”

“Sorry to sound so nosy. This is a small town; we look out for our people here.”

“Bye”, was all she said.

It was another great day, and Nathan had an appointment with Helen.

Over coffee in a local hang-out, Helen began questioning Nate.

“Nathan, why did you tell the sheriff you thought the old house was still occupied?”

“Helen, that’s what I thought I saw”

“But it’s empty. I’m not sure people are allowed in there for safety reasons. We’ll have to look into it.

“Helen, for some reason, I fell in love with the place. It’s picturesque and unique. And it has a familiar feel to it.”

Helen smiled and tried to look sympathetic. Her expression changed when he said it looked familiar.

“OK, Nathan, the history is sketchy. The sheriff's father disappeared, and it’s known for the disappearance of a young boy.

“Wow? Nathan said. All of this seems very strange.?

Helen added for emphasis” Maybe you should leave it alone”.

“Sorry, I’m in love with the place. Find out what I can do and let's get some answers”

“Not sure you’re ready for answers yet, Natey Boy”. Helen said it with emphasis on a nickname Nathan vaguely remembered.

“How could you know my nickname? I barely remember it. My adoptive parents told me about it.”

“Ok, I’ll try to see what we can do.

Nathan found the local paper and looked through old editions stored away in a dank basement. Going back 30 years, he found numerous articles about the house and the boy who vanished. And later, he found the story about the missing sheriff, who was the father of the current sheriff.

It gave Nathan chills. He felt edgy.

He called Helen and announced, “I’m sort of on your side. That place is kind of scary. It nudges my memory. I feel I’m in a not-good place, but I want to look into it further.”

Well, Natey Boy, you don’t remember. I do. I was present there when the boy disappeared”

“Helen, is it a coincidence? I arrived with a traumatic brain injury, and the boy disappeared about the same time. Roughly, but close”

Helen paused as if weighing her answer. I told you I was there. So were you. Your memory was erased.”

“Helen, do me two favors. Find out if I can arrange to live there. Secondly, Let's pay a visit and let me see the place up close and in daylight.”

A nearly sleepless week passed by. Helen arranged a visit. And it turned out he could stay there, provided he signed a waiver and agreed to help with cleanup.

They scheduled a walk-through. He ended up with the keys and planned to stay there. During the walk-through, Helen showed him things.

“Natey Boy, does this jog your memory? She showed him a room with toys suitable for a 10-year-old, along with a photo. He recognized Helen in the photo next to the piano, and the boy at the piano looked like a younger brother.

“Helen, I don’t get it. Tell me what’s going on!”

Helen answered with questions;

“What if the accident didn’t make you forget everything? Was your memory deliberately erased?

“What if it wasn’t an accident but an experiment and it didn’t just make you forget, it made you into someone else?”

“What if only half of the boy's memory vanished?”

“Helen, quit teasing me with hypotheticals?”

“Natey Boy, you don’t remember. Because you can’t”

Later that night, Nathan checked for cell service to see that he wasn’t cut off from the world. He liked the place.

It had an old phone. It was one of the old ones that connected to the outside world by wires. No one uses land-line wired phones anymore. He was sure there was no line from the outside connected anymore.

He shut off his cell phone to find peace and hopefully a peaceful night's sleep for a change.

Impossibly, the phone rang. He picked it up, and there was no one there. It rang several more times.

Finally, when it rang, a voice came on: “Have you found me? When are you coming to take me home? In a child's voice.”