It took 80 years for a 30-year-old woman to get back home. All she needed was a fish, a coin, and a 1941 yellow Studebaker.

SYNOPSIS:

This is what happened.

AMANDA HE is a single thirty-year old woman who was adopted from China when she was a little girl. Although her lifestyle is contemporary, Amanda is fixated on Americana of the 1940s. She’s influenced by her 98-year-old grandfather ‘GRAMPS” who is first generation Chinese American. When Gramps shares the frightening story of his captivity in the Heart Mountain Wyoming internment camp during World War II, Amanda vows it will never happen again because, “if they ever take you from me, I know where to find you...in Heart Mountain Wyoming.”

After a typical dinner at home with Gramps, Amanda takes a hard fall banging her head harshly in the kitchen. The end result: Amanda now lies in a hospital bed, unconscious, almost in a vegetative state. The neuropsychologist fears Amanda may not regain her memory if she regains consciousness at all.

While in her comatose state, the dream begins. 1942. She imagines herself shopping in downtown Chicago. What perplexes Amanda are the contents of her backpack which include an I-Phone, a Bluetooth speaker, and their accompanying power cords.

Seeking clarification on her confusion and contents she asks a homeless man named CHARLIE to help. He’s concerned she may have brain-damage, so he persuades her to go to Northwestern Hospital ER. One problem: Amanda leaves the scene and Charlie has no idea where she went, thus beginning her journey westward bound heading to a place that’s “good for the heart” even though Amanda has no idea why or what it is.

Along the way she meets colorful characters such as the sixth sense high school bookstore clerk named STERLING (think “Radar” O’Reilly from MAS*H) and the very mysterious 85-year-old WALDO VIVALDI (think Professor Marvel in the Wizard of Oz) and Waldo’s charming yet no-holds-barred wife VIVIAN VIVALDI. Adding to Amanda’s mystery is that Waldo somehow already knows she is going to Wyoming so of course she is suspicious of him. Nonetheless, she agrees to let Waldo take her to Wyoming in his 1942 yellow Studebaker.

Rounding up the cast of characters, and tagging far behind, are DETECTIVE ABBOTT, SHERIFF ANDY TAYLOR (who has heard the stupid comparisons before), and his surprisingly smart-aleck partner DEPUTY TIDBIT.

As the three are chasing after Waldo and Amanda, she ditches Waldo in the woods while he repairs a tire on the Studebaker.

Amanda, now in a full-blown panic, frantically runs away from “those who seek to do you harm”. As she exits the forest, Amanda sees Gramps sitting patiently on a beautifully landscaped area called the “Heart Mountain Wyoming Internment Camp”.

Finally relaxed at seeing Gramps, he gently tells Amanda “to swim to the coin”. A wiped-out Amanda closes her eyes, so ending her dream. The neuropsychologist unplugs the machines from Amanda’s dead body. She is assuredly home now.