The year is 1980; it's the middle of December, just starting to snow. Amber works in a mental institution just outside the small town of Red Cloud, Nebraska. Just recently she has been assigned to the new patient in the institution, and boy, is he a handful. Amber has worked in the intitution for quite some time, and she does not remember ever having anyone as different as Fester. He is pretty full of surprises, and nobody ever knows exactly what he is thinking. When Amber gets to work, she goes to see Fester. She walks down the dark, old hall to room 13; Fester's room. She never knocks on the door because he won't answer anyway.

"Hello, anyone home?" Amber asks. No answer. This always happens, so it doesn't frighten her. She looks around every room and checks the medical cabinet. When she sees that the lock is still fastened, she is relieved. All of a sudden she hears a muffled grunt coming from the other room.

"Ugh! Where he is?" Fester says.

"Who? Who are you looking for?" She walks into Fester's room to see him rummaging through his dresser.

"I just seen him, and now I can't find him!" He slams the dresser shut. "Why do he always gotta run away from me?"

Amber looks around, and sees no one else. "Fester, who else is in this room?"

Fester looks up at her. "You are." He says.

Calmly, she asks, "Yes, but whom else?"

Sitting on his bed, Fester says, "My cat."

Amber stares at him for a second. "Fester," she says, "you don't have a cat. Remember?" This gets him frustrated. He starts waving his hands up and down.

"No! I have a cat! He is big, purple and really fuzzy and warm. He eats green beans all the time. I name him Pickle."

Amber take a deep breath. "Fester, I come here every day, and I never see any cat."

"Well he only like me." He says, "He run away from everyone else."

"Well why doesn't he like other people?" She asks.

"I the only one that understands him. He think that people is crazy." He shakes his head, "Not me though, I aren't crazy."

"Well, maybe you can't find him because I'm in here." Amber says, "It's time for supper, so we should give him some time alone while you go eat." She starts walking toward the door, and Fester reluctantly follows her.

"Okay, but they gotta feed me pickles to give me good luck."

Amber leads him down the hall. "Alright, I will make sure that happens."

They get to the dining room and Amber sits Fester down at his usual table. A server comes and places food in front of Fester. "I would like pickles too please," Fester says.

"Sorry Fester," she points to a list of foods. "It looks like you can't have them because of your health."

Fester frowns and starts pounding his fists on the table "But I used the word please!"

"I'm sorry, but they would not be good for you."

"Well I want them!" Fester screams, "I want pickles for good luck!"

With a sigh, the server says,"Okay, I'll have to see what I can do."

A few minutes later, the server comes back. "I talked to management, and they said that you can have two pickles, but you cannot have any dessert."

Fester thinks for a moment. "Okay, that will be good."

"Okay, I will get that for you," says the server as she walks away. A few minutes later, she returns and sets the pickles on the table in front of Fester. "Okay, here you go. Anything else?"

He thinks for a moment. "Yes! I need green beans for my cat!" The server looks at Fester for a second.

"Fester, you do not have a cat."

"Yes I do!" Fester exclaims. "I do have a cat. He only like me. He hide from other people." The server shakes her head.

"Okay, coming right up." She brings back the beans and when it is time for Fester to go back to his room, Amber takes him.

"How was supper?" Amber asks.

"It was good." Fester says looking around the room. "I hope Pickle like his supper."

"Who?"

"My cat Pickle," Fester says. "He hide from me. Silly guy."

"I'm sorry, Fester, but you have no cat." She says with a sigh.

"Yes I do; watch." With that, he walks around the room calling for the cat. "Here kitty! Here Pickle, I bring you food!" He walks into the bathroom. "It's okay, you can come out now!"

Amber shifts her weight impatiently in the living room. All of a sudden, Fester comes out holding a brown cat in his arms.

Speechlessly, Amber gasps, "But... but... What?"

"This is Pickle," Fester says with a big grin on his face. "Think he is cute?"

Steadying herself on the counter, Amber says, "Yes, very. But you can't keep a cat in here!"

"Why can't I?" Fester sets the cat on the couch. "I keep him in here for a while."

Nodding, Amber says, "Yes, yes you did. But we did not know that you had a cat, and having pets is against the rules, so you cannot keep him. I'm sorry."

Pouting, Fester says, "But he like me. Only me."

Sighing, Amber says, "Okay, we'll see what we can do." She starts dialing a number on the phone.

After quite some time, Amber comes back and sets the phone down. "I'm sorry, Fester," she says, "but you cannot keep your cat."

Fester's eyes start filling with tears. "But, but why not?"

"You just cannot. They are coming over now to take your cat and put him in a happier place than this."

Frowning, Fester says, "Will I ever get to see him?"

After thinking for a moment, Amber says, "Yes, you will be able to. They can bring him over from time to time."

"Okay, I guess I have to make it work," says Fester.

Amber smiles, "Good, thanks for being such a good sport about this. I'll just take him now to make it easier on you. I will take good care of him." She picks the cat up.

"Awe, okay, good bye Pickls, I gonna sure miss you a lot."

Amber takes the cat in her arms and walks out of Fester's room. She heads toward the maintenance closet. She sets the cat down inside and closes the door. Then, she goes to the medicine cabinet in her office and grabs a syringe which she fills papaverine and grabs a knife. When she gets back into Fester's room, he is watching TV. She smiles at him. "Fester," she says, "I need to give you a shot. Just relax, and everything will be fine."

"What the shot for?" Fester asks.

"It's just a new medication that will help nutrients travel through your body a little better." She says smoothly.

"Oh okay. But what did you do with my cat?" asks Fester.

"Oh, I just made him a little bed to sleep in until we can put him in a more comfortable place. Now, this will make you very sleepy, so just relax and let yourself fall asleep." She rubs his arm with cleaning alcohol and get the syringe ready.

"Alrighty, how long will I be asleep?"

"Oh, I don't know, but you won't feel anything. Just look away." Fester looks away and Amber smiles slyly. She gives him the shot, and Fester falls asleep almost right away.

Smoothly, Amber takes the knife and presses a line into Fester's skin from his forehead to his neck. She draws a swift line in the middle of his neck, and he stops breathing. "See? I told you that you wouldn't feel anything." And she walks out of the room.