The Story of Ed
It is Spring, 1959. A year has passed since Albert LaChance’s father, a Canadian Mountie, disappeared in an avalanche; forcing Albert, his mother and his baby tortoise "Ed" to move from Canada to live with Albert’s ill grandfather in northern California. Yet Albert remains an outsider with the neighborhood kids. And when Ed dies suddenly one evening, Albert loses his only friend.
The next morning, Albert arrives at the bus stop determined that Ed will have the “good send-off” that Albert’s father never got. Mystified as to how to conduct a funeral, Albert induces Kevin Moore, the neighborhood big shot to help, promising Kevin a non-existent Willie Mays rookie baseball card.
That afternoon, waiting to see whether the contemptuous neighborhood kids he has invited to Ed’s funeral will show up, Albert is caught between a rock and a hard place. If the kids do show up, he will have to face Kevin’s wrath when Kevin learns that Albert doesn’t really have a Willie Mays. But if the kids don’t come to the funeral, how can Albert get the “good send-off” for Ed that brings with it closure on his father’s death?
