Sunshine Star

Fifty thousand dollars. After that, I quit listening.   It was a lot of money for us, especially considering what we already spent.
Mary Ann had been having troubles for more than a year before she disappeared. Her grades had slipped from As and Bs to Ds and Fs. After a couple months, we got a letter stating that our daughter had stopped going to class.

She was spending all of her time with a group of young people we didn’t know. Beards, beads, crazy colors. One day I followed her and saw her get into a black van with gold crosses painted on it. She started to stay out longer and longer until one day she didn’t come home at all.

And now, after a year, this man, this detective, tells us he found her. She is Northern California. She is in a cult. She has changed her name and doesn’t want to come home. She says she has a new family now, and is doing God’s work.

The detective tells us that he can bring our daughter back, help her get well. He knows a place that will un-wash her brain.

For a price.

Sunday Photo Fiction

Looking for a great new prompt? Head over to What Pegman Saw, a weekly flash fiction prompt based on Google’s Map View. It’s just getting started, with a new post every Saturday.