By Christopher Ramsey
When the satellite truck from the ABC affiliate arrived, the sun-bleached skeletal remains were in an evidence bag on the backseat of the medical examiner’s van. The reporter, Dora Hill, did two live hits standing in front of the ice cream shop’s dumpster where the bones had been located by a homeless man looking for cans. Bones in a dumpster would not be a story that would propel a field reporter to the anchor desk.
Hank loaded his camera into the truck after the last live hit.
“Soft serve in a cup?” Hank said.
“No,” Dora said.
“Merry Christmas, Dora.”
“Whatever.”
I found this story opaque to a frustrating degree. The frustration came about when I settled in for a good read after the wonderful phrase “sun-bleached skeletal remains” and then didn’t get the point. Perhaps someone will explain.
Sorry, Christopher, but I’ve got to echo Joanna’s remarks, above. There is something momentous going on here, but I’ll be darned if I can figure out what. Please clarify . . . ?
Hum. Cassadaga is a small city in Florida known as the psychic capital of the world and home of the Cassadaga Spiritualist Camp. It’s also the name of a horror flick. I don’t know if there’s a connection there, but who knows.
I loved it. A well-crafted moment into a woman and her career and frustrations. Nice job.