The baby peas were right in front of her. Her eyes blurred as she thought of all the times she had shared peas with her daughter. Reaching for the peas, August let one lone tear drip down her face.

August Filia Amissio was the kind of impeccability found on the cover of any fashion magazine. Complete with flawless skin, strawberry blond hair, and sparkling blue eyes, one would expect August to have a perfect life. From the outside, she did. She had just moved to Sea Island, and her house was fabulous, with a wraparound pool and an ocean view. August had already made friends with the most rich and beautiful to women in town, and got invited to all of the high end parties. The fact that she was crying made the grocery clerk, with a handful of baby pea jars, looked at her in surprise as August let the tear roll down her face, a plump orb among perfection.

“Ma’am, are you alright?” August looked up from the baby peas, at a grocery clerk beside her. The clerk had blond hair and tan skin, her store uniform complete with a name tag that read June. Her blue eyes stroke a familiar cord in August, for the clerk’s perfection was close to her own. Reminding herself of her image, August took a few deep breaths and straightened her shoulders.

“I’m fine,” August replied, composing herself. The sadness was still apparent in her eyes, however, and June looked at her intently. “It’s the 10th anniversary,” August blurted out, immediately bursting into tears. Confused, June stood there, not sure how to comfort the woman.

“I’m sorry ma’am, but the 10th anniversary of what?” June inquired, not meaning to be nosy. The lady looked very distraught, and June hoped to comfort her as best she could.

“It’s a long story,” August sniffled, hoping to get the clerk to leave her alone, but June just stood there encouragingly. “Well, ten years ago…

August walked along the bike path with her little 9 year-old Olive in tow. It was getting dark, and the two were heading back to their house from the grocery store. The warm Texas air calmed them and the sunset made for a peaceful autumn night. Olive ran ahead a bit, but August didn’t worry, for it was still light out and their house was just around the corner.

“Mom!” August heard Olive yell out a few seconds later. The young girl had just disappeared around the street corner, and August suspected she had seen the new bakery that had just moved into town, no excuse to run to her daughter.
“Mom! Mom! Mommy!” The screams continued and seemed to increase in volume, seeming very urgent. August started to worry about why her daughter would be screaming so. In a matter of seconds she was practically sprinting around the corner. As she turned the bend and looked down the street, August realized that her daughter wasn’t yelling merely because of the bakery. In a flash, Olive was lifted by a man dressed in all black and thrown into the trunk of a car. Frozen with fear, August watched as the car swiftly pulled away from the curb and started down the street. August suddenly woke from her trance and ran alongside the car. All she could see was a man with black hair and green eyes at the wheel, his hands the size of hams. He glanced at her, gave her a crooked smile and stepped violently on the gas. The car shot away like a rocket, and the last thing August heard was a muffled “help” from the trunk of the car.

She sat down on the curb, the man’s face permanently etched in her mind. Whipping out her cell phone, she dialed the police who arrived in a matter of minutes. They asked her what the man looked like, what the license plate was and what the car looked like. August answered what she could, the police finally telling her she could go home; the only thing to do now was to wait.

So August waited. She got home and flopped on her bed. Hours, days, weeks passed until she was notified of anything. On October 12th, the police called. August eagerly picked up the phone, only to be filled with disappointment. The kidnapper had been found, but Olive hadn’t. Her little 9 year old was gone.

“… and she hasn’t been seen since, but I have hope.” The clerk handed August some tissues and she wiped her teary eyes. She suddenly looked up in panic at June and whispered, “Please don’t tell anyone, no one knows because I’ve just moved here. In fact, my family was the only ones who actually knew, and most of them are dead now. I’ve been trying to cover it up as much I can, but it’s hard having no one to talk to it about. She would be 19 now.”

“I understand what it’s like to be alone, ma’am. I’ve been living by myself since I was 14. But, excuse me asking, did you ever look for her?” the clerk asked, with a strange look on her face.

“Of course! I’ve looked in directories, phone books, the worldwide web, heck, I’ve even looked in every store I’ve been to!” August exclaimed hysterically. “She was the epitome of a Texas child, and I looked with envy at all of my friends’ kids growing up and becoming young woman, while my little girl was missing. After a while, it was too unbearable and I had to leave Texas!” August added in a weak voice.

“But why would you leave?” June inquired. “Don’t you think your daughter would look for you there?”

“I looked too long and I just had to leave” August replied, a fresh round of tears bursting from her eyes. “I thought Florida was the best place to go, it would be the next place I would possibly find little Olive. We always wanted to live in a waterfront house with a wraparound pool in Florida,” August continued somberly.

“I suppose it was a good move then,” June responded, with a look of bewilderment on her face. “I myself moved here from Texas, and it is a place one might think of when trying to find their family. If I may ask, Miss, I noticed that you were crying because of these baby peas,” June said, gesturing to the jars of baby peas she had set down on the floor. “Why was it the peas that stimulated your crying, when so many other things could have? I myself would already been crying long before I came here ma’am.”

It was painful for August to conjure the old memories that she had tried to block for so long, but she knew June only had the best intentions. “Peas were me and my daughter’s special food. She came home from school one day, complaining that there were no snacks. Oh, there were snacks, just not the unhealthy, junky ones any kid prefers.” August smiled to herself at this memory. “I said to her ‘you’re just going to have to eat something healthy for once then’ and started to make the peas. All the while Olive was complaining, ‘oh I don’t like peas’, ‘come on Mom! Don’t make me eat peas!’ But when we actually sat down to eat the peas, she looked at me and exclaimed ‘these are great.’” The look in August’s eyes as she told this memory was one of pure endearment, and she smiled even though her heart was heavy.

June nodded and started to ask another question, but was cut off with a flick of the hand from August.

“June, I know you only have the best intentions, but I don’t think I can bear to bring these memories up anymore. Why don’t I ask something about you instead, it’s nice to have someone to talk to.” She paused for a second, then said, “Have you always lived her June?”

June responded with a shake of her head, “No, no I haven’t ma’am.” Not sure what else to say, she stood there, waiting for August to reply.

August sensed Junes uncomfort and asked, “Where have you lived before?”

“Well, I actually used to live in Texas too, in the downtown Houston area.” June answered.

Remembering what June had said earlier in the conversation, August asked, “Dear, I remember you saying you have lived by yourself since you were 14. Why have you been alone all your life?”

June responded quietly, “IM not completely sure. I don’t really remember anything from my childhood. The doctors said I had memory loss, but they didn’t tell me why, just told me that eventually something will stimulate me and help me remember the lost memories. I didn’t even know my name, but I liked months for some reason, so I named myself June.”

August was stunned, didn’t know what to say. “I’m so sorry dear! Why did you come to Florida honey? Didn’t you know where you lived before?”

“Well, something about Florida made me feel happy, so I figured I’d move there. That brought me here, to stack peas in a grocery store. And since then I’ve been waiting for my memory to be jumpstarted, just like a car. It’s been a while waiting.” June sighed, finishing her story. AT first glance, her face displayed sadness, but while she was speaking, August saw a glimmer of relief in her posture.

“I’m sure you’ll find that person one day honey! Have you remembered anything of your past since the doctors told you?” August asked, her tone caring.
June shifted awkwardly, but finally replied, “Well, I just realized today that I’ve been stacking peas all my life because it was me and mothers favorite food, and I moved to Florida because my mother and I always wanted to live there, in a waterfront house with a wraparound pool.” Then, with tears glinting in her eyes, Olive stepped forward and hugged her mother.

Never give up.