chapter 59

word count: 1962

“it’s” presence in the town center had not gone unnoticed.. in fact numerous cell phone calls had been placed to 911,, to report the noxious odor that emanated from sadie's rolling crypt,, as she and jake had wheeled their way through the bustling downtown area, in route to sadie’s  rugged camp site on the banks of the big bear river.

whereas most of the callers had been able to describe sadie in vivid detail,, the few that even suggested that she may have had a male companion, were unable to give the uniforms that responded to the calls a formidable description of jake.. 

due to the fact that the local leo’s were more than familiar with sadie,, as she had become quite a fixture on the quaint downtown streets over the years,, they were easily able to identify her from the distraught onlookers detailed descriptions..

it was a well-known fact that sadie maintained a slipshod ‘residence’ along the banks of the big bear river,, but due to the fact that she dubiously remained within the confines of the law,, and had little if any interaction with the towns people, very little effort had been put into dissuading her from remaining there.. 

the general consensus had always been,, that as long as she seemingly complied with all other aspects of the law,, it was in the town’s best interest to leave her where she was.. after all,, in the past, every time they had evicted her from her little haven by the river, she had taken up residency in the cities well-manicured town center,,  and if the truth be told,, her very presence there served to mar the otherwise picturesque appearance of the midsize town of weston.

although little more than a flyspeck on the state map,, weston had long held the reputation as a trendy day trippers dream.. nestled along the banks of the rollicking big bear river, weston was home to a thriving kayaking business,, several critically acclaimed eateries,, a menagerie of unique shopping venues,, and some of the best bass fishing this side of the mississippi.. therefore,, maintaining the towns pristine image was of great importance,, and having the likes of sadie and her ever brimming shopping cart camped out in the town square was something the town council sought to avoid at all cost.. 

of course it had not always been this way..  there had been time,, as unfathomable as it may seem in light of her present caricature,, , that sadie was a much loved and well respected citizen of the town of weston.. 

a school teacher by trade,, sadie had relocated to the then small town of weston roughly 15 years ago to fill a much coveted spot in the arts and sciences department of the academically acclaimed faculty at william weston junior high school..  

although never what could be described as a handsome woman,, sadies exuberance in the classroom as well as her brilliant ability to bring the subject of biology to life for her students,, quickly outweighed whatever it was she was lacking in the terms of physical presentation.. 

sadie’s timid husband, herself, and their young  son isaac,, had been welcomed into the close knit community, that made up the populace of the town of weston, with open arms within the first months following their arrival in the small town.. 

although no one in town had ever claimed to have come to know much about her husband, sadie’s excellence in the classroom gained her quick critical acclaim.. the reverent portrait of her that was painted in the hearts and minds of the community,,  was surpassed only by her son isaac’s sweetness of disposition,, well-practiced good manners and aryan good looks.. 

the adorable tow headed boy was an instant hit at weston elementary school,, quickly becoming not only the object of every little girl’s affection,, but the most sought after team member in the entire  school when it came to sports of any kind..

from a young age, isaac had displayed a propensity toward any activity that involved a ball.. when most boys his age were preoccupied with anything that had wheels,, young isaac was honing his soccer skills with the much older boys on the soft green grass of the neighborhood park that adjoined the property surrounding the family home.. 

by the tender age of seven,, he was a welcome addition to any team sport activities that the neighboring boys engaged in on the lush green grass of the park, be it soccer, baseball, or football,  as he demonstrated  an extremely rare, raw talent that bore it’s self out well on any playing field..  

his devotion to all things sports only intensified, when his parents abruptly divorced,, as he buried himself even more deeply in strenuous physical activity in order to avoid thinking about what part, if any he had played in their break up.. 

isaac took to spending his every waking moment  in the park, even when that meant he had to occupy himself with taking lone control of a soccer ball,, as he guided it expertly across the length of the park, or practicing his pitching and catching skills by bouncing  a hardball off the brick walls of the community center.. 

as soon as sadie and family had arrived in town,,  they had taken into their employ, junie johnson, a young single mother, with a small child to provide for.. junie was an amicable, if not highly intelligent young woman.. she was slight in stature with glowing red hair and entrancing green eyes.. her young daughter, adriana, was little more than an infant when she took over the position of isaac’s primary care giver, and despite the fact that her toddler required much more hands on assistance than did then six year old isaac,, junie displayed an extraordinary talent in keeping both of them well cared for,, and safely under her ever present watchful eye..

on any given day, it was not unordinary for isaac to spend the majority of his waking hours on the playing fields in the park next door,, so junie was less than alarmed the day isaac failed to show up promptly at their designated lunch time.. 

however,, when his tardiness quickly turned from minutes, to in excess of an hour,, she loaded little adriana up in an umbrella stroller,, and headed over to the park to retrieve isaac,, who was no doubt too involved in an ever important game to realize what time it was.. 

when a thorough search of the park failed to turn up neither hide nor hair of her young charge,, junie immediately called 911 to report his absence,, and followed that up, with a panicked call to the junior high school with a disturbing message for sadie, detailing isaac’s disappearance..  that message was immediately delivered to sadie, despite the fact that her class was actively in session, due to the gravity of the situation.. 

by the time sadie arrived home,,  local law enforcement was in the house,, actively interviewing a visibly inconsolable junie,, and the park was swarming with police officers and volunteers,, all searching for any clue that might point to the whereabouts of little isaac.. 

the fevered investigation continued for a matter of weeks,, ending only when the sexually violated,, lifeless body of sadie’s beloved isaac was found entangled in a tree root nearly fifty miles downstream in the murky waters of the big bear river.. 

following a careful scrutiny by law enforcement who had secured no substantial evidence that might point them in the direction of anyone else as suspect,,  junie was cleared of all suspicions in isaacs reprehensible disappearance,, and subsequent death.. 

however,, that fact did nothing to relieve junie of her own agonizing guilt.. nor did it serve to protect her from the irrational taunting’s of a disconsolate, grief stricken sadie.  

sadie took to stalking junie,, shadowing her every move,, publicly defaming her character by openly accusing her of not only defiling,, but killing her beloved son.. she took to making threatening phone calls to junies home,, violently proclaiming her intention of doing  bodily harm,, not only to junie’s person,, but also to that of junie’s toddler daughter,, in retribution for what  sadie perceived as junie’s unquestionable guilt in the gruesome demise of her only son.. 

in the weeks that followed,, sadies world spun violently out of control.. as a result of her obviously ludicrous words and actions,, she was immediately relieved of her duties at william weston junior high school. subsequently,, she lost her home,, her car,, and any semblance of sanity..

after a brief stint in a state run facility for the mentally insane,, sadie’s insurance through the local school system expired,, and she was,, as a result, released on her own recognizance.. with nowhere to go,, nothing but the clothes on her back,, and a hand full of prescriptions for anti-psychotic medications that would forever remain unfilled,,  sadie found herself alone and destitute on the once friendly streets of weston..

in the years that followed,, sadies brilliant former self was all but forgotten,, and she came to be known as the town crazy lady.. as a result,, she was shunned by the very towns people that had once so warmly embraced her.. 

over time, sadie’s delusions became so great, that they had eradicated any inclinations toward regaining normalcy she ever may have had.. as a result of the consequent years of self-imposed isolation and avoidance by the populace of weston,, sadie had sunk to a level of disillusion so great,, that when the body of little simon learnagle washed up in the shores of the big bear river,, she honestly believed that she had been reunited with her own precious child.. 

it was for that reason,, that she had dragged the bloated remains,, of the little tow headed boy from the rocky shores of the river, wrapped him tenderly in her only blanket,, and stowed him safely away in a large plastic garbage bag, that she was sure would protect him from the harsher elements of life on the street… 

it had been purely coincidental that she had been in front of the tv store window at the precise moment in time that the local news was airing the dismal story of the disappearance of young simon learnagel (who’s blonde hair and cherubic face instantly became, in sadie’s twisted reality, none other than that of her own beloved isaac’s) and she saw at last,, the face of the man that she instantly identified as having taken away her own cherished child,, only to deliver him back to her,, lifeless and senselessly abused.. 

when jake tumbled helplessly into the mud that made up the river’s edge, as a result of sadie inflicting upon him the weight of all of her years of inner torment,, she saw her chance.. her chance to avenge the devastating loss of her only son.. her chance to put right all that had gone so terribly wrong since that fateful day when her beloved son had disappeared in her absence.. the day she not only lost her precious child,, but involuntarily began her descent headlong into insanity.. 

in a frenzy of passion driven delusion,, sadie pounced on jake,, and proceeded to beat him about the  head and face mercilessly with the butt of her pistol.. 

by the time law enforcement arrived,, in follow up to the 911 calls they had received from concerned towns people earlier that hour,, and pulled a riotously out of control sadie off the now unrecognizable, comatose body of jake leichtenstein,, they had already discovered the desecrated remains of little simon learnagel in sadie’s odiferous run away shopping cart,, that had somehow come to rest gently against a tree, not far from the maniacal woman’s ramshackle, riverside encampment..