Lost Traveler

Keeping Mum is hard to do. Mom keeps coming up with such surprising twists in her life.

Contest Prompt

"The Writer's Cramp" write a story or poem that has the title: "Lost Traveler" Please select "Travel" as one of your genres!'

“She gone again?”

“I have the security alarms at each door. The power went out last night and I slept through it.”

“Well, we know where she usually ends up. It’s a real bummer the government not funding her nursing home care. Those cutbacks are murder.”

“You don’t mind going and picking mom up? She has her good and bad days. The last time she got lost hunting for her childhood home.”

“I remember. It was a good thing you found the old address on that piece of envelope in your everything drawer. That really helped narrow things down. You think she might be headed back there this time?”

“That’s what worries me. She’s been married three times. The way her memory wanders she could be searching for any one of those lives all over again.”

“Give us what information you can. Make your calls warning them who might come knocking on their door.”

“Or not. She thinks she lives there with her husband. She may just go barging in.”

“Well, we have experience handling things off the cuff like this. It’s what the police department gets paid for.”

“I feel guilty sitting by the phone. I can take my cell you can call. I may get inspired about one or another favorite spots she used to like to go to.”

“Yeah, that’d work. Here’s my number, okay?”



“It’s me. She’s not at the neighborhood park talking to that old bum she likes. He’ll spread the word."

“Me again. I called her first husband to clue him in. He said she’d been by. Creep. He figured she wanted back in because of his obvious charm. He didn’t believe me when I told him about the Alzheimers.”

“Me. Found her. Had her thumb out hunting a ride at the McDonalds. Got in when I offered her a ride. She’s talking about things in her past that I never knew before. You’ve known her a long time so I’ll keep you posted if something interesting comes up. This should be fun.”

“Hey. leaving another message She’s lost traveling in the past. We’re hunting the family she gave her first child to. She was only fourteen when she had a baby girl. This is the first time I've heard that I have a sister. I’d like to meet her. Talk to you later. I’ve got to go.”

“Thanks for getting back to me. Here’s an update. You wouldn’t believe the coincidence. My sister lives not five miles away. She never moved from the family house she inherited when her adopted parents passed away. She showed me letters to them Mom sent with money still in them to check on how things were.”

“Okay. I thought we were headed back. In a way we are, to an even younger time in Mom’s life. We’ve stopped at an empty, now abandoned family farm where she says she lives at., She thinks she’s five years old. Mom never talked much about those formative moving around growing up years. Come to find out her dad was an abusive alcoholic. It was a habit for families to hide that kind of thing out of the shame it would cause, rather than deal with it.”

“Wow. She really pops around. She’s lost traveling in a maze of years. Did you know your dad and her had an affair? It sounds like it was pretty torrid. That’s what caused the breakup of her second marriage. Mom was a scamp.”

“More bad news. Get a load of this. Mom was in a witness protection program because of her third husband. That's why she never talked about Dad. She lost funding under Trump. She got dumped. The Mafia are hunting for her. Two of them ransacked my place on our return home. They left a calling card warning her to stay mum. You’re the only policeman she thinks she can trust. What a ride this is turning out to be.

Watch your backside, they may know we are close friends. We're headed for Tiajuana, Mexico, Did you know Mom used to speak Spanish? What's next? We may become lost travelers forever. ”

Wc 715