Eliza stared into the TelePrompTer and read the lead-in to the last piece of the broadcast
“For hundreds of years, bats have fluttered through our subconscious as symbols of evil and darkness. But research is casting a new light on bats as perhaps the most highly specialized of all mammal groups. With Halloween approaching, we thought we’d take a FRESHER LOOK at our misunderstood creatures of the night.”
As she watched the story on the monitor, Eliza had to hand it to Keith. He had done a first-rate job. The piece began with video he had culled from the San Antonio affiliate. Shot at dusk, it showed literally millions of Mexican free-tailed bats, the largest concentration of warm-blooded animals in the world, flying from the wide, dark mouth of the Bracken Cave. The long black column of bats looked like a tornado spinning across the Texas sky as the bats left to consume the two hundred tons of insects they would eat that night
The first sound bite came from a leading authority on bats.
“Bats are really among the gentlest of creatures. They’ve just had bad press. The only bats that people see are the ones that are sick or dying. If you find one lying on the ground someplace, naturally the bat opens its mouth and bares its teeth. It’s trying to scare you away. Of course, you should never pick up a bat lying on the ground. You should never try to catch a bat or keep one in captivity. But if people could just see bats as they really are, they’d find them just as comical and cute as other animals.’ “
It was a long sound bite as sound bites went, but it worked.
Keith had gone back up to the Bronx Zoo and videotaped the public’s reactions, which they had had to forgo after the Meat episode. Eliza winced as she watched the snippets of interviews done with zoo-goers exiting the World of Darkness.
“They’re creepy,” a woman said.
“They’re neat,” said a teenaged boy.
“I find them fascinating,” a man said.
Fascinating, useful; beautiful or strange, Eliza knew that, as long as she lived, she would associate bats with Cornelius “Meat” Bacon.
Eliza felt an enormous weight lift from her shoulders as the Town Car let her off in front of the house. The security sedan, parked for so long at her curb reminding her of a funeral car, was gone.
The aroma of Mrs. Garcia’s arroz con frijoles greeted Eliza as she opened the front door. She heard Janie chirping from the kitchen.
“Pollito, chicken.
“Gallina, hen.
“Lapiz, pencil.
“Y pluma, pen.
“Ventana, window.
“Puerto, door.
“Maestra, teacher.
“Y piso, floor.”
This is what Eliza had longed for. The homecoming to a secure, well-tended nest. Her daughter singing happily. How lucky she was! Eliza walked over the freshly vacuumed rug in the hallway, toward the kitchen. Janie ran into her mother’s arms and Eliza hugged her precious child.
Eliza kissed the top of Janie’s head and tried to push an unsettling thought from her mind. The FRESHER LOOK piece that was being prepared for next week’s broadcast. Halloween. The fifth anniversary of Linda Anderson’s disappearance.
Florence Anderson didn’t have her daughter to hug tonight.