Reunion at Red Paint Bay

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by George Harrar

Simon Howe grew up in Red Paint, Maine. Although he left for school and then a job with a newspaper, he found himself going back to Red Paint when his parents health declined. Simon ended up staying. He bought the old weekly newspaper and along with his therapist wife Amy and young son Davey, felt that life was good. And life was good. Red Paint was a friendly town, he knew many of the people there, had gone to school and grown up with them, in fact. It was a good place to raise a family. He led a fairly quiet and stress free life. Then, the first postcard arrived. It mentioned a funeral, but it meant nothing to Simon, who just put it aside and went on with his life. 

A second and third postcard eventually arrived, and a suggestion of meeting with the sender seemed like a good idea. Simon was, after all a reporter at heart, and this was the way to solve the mystery of the postcards. That is when things began to start falling apart. There was a scare involving his son, whose behavior was becoming alarming in addition to the postcard mystery. A new and unusual patient showed up for an appointment, at Amy's office. A patient that showed up for appointment after appointment and whose behavior seemed odd even to someone who dealt with people and their issues every day. Then one day, things got worse. Much worse. 

Who would have believed that a long ago moment in time would cause so much trouble in a carefully ordered life in the present. Certainly not Simon and his happy little family. But a single moment can matter more than he would ever have believed. The paper would come out again on Thursday, and for the first time in a long time, something big would be found on the front page