Collins' Pond

3.5/5 ( ratings)

Imprisoned, R. Walter Nalls has nothing, but time to remember and reflect, recreate and relive those days, fifty years ago when at age thirteen “Reggie” was an acceptable first name. 1956 America had recovered from the war, but was battling a covert enemy, Communism. Collins’ Pond is the story of thirteen year old Reginald W. Nalls and his first exposure to persecution and fear. Sparked by a chance encounter at a small pond, his life is redirected on a course down a path to imprisonment.
Reggie has just taken over a small paper route in a developing area in Northern Virginia with the goal to earn money to purchase the camera he has been drooling over. The route takes him along the banks of the Potomac River and to a cross section of people he has never encountered before. The high point of the route is a small pond near the home of Talbot Collins, a photographer and unemployed college professor blacklisted from his university position by the McCarthy witch hunts. Reggie is cautioned about any contact with this recluse, labeled a Communist. Instead he meets a girl, Mary Ann, and her younger brother, Ronnie who are struggling in a dysfunctional family, living in a run-down home by the river. Mary Ann sparks emotions Reggie has never felt before and their secret relationship grows, stealing rendezvouses by the pond. With the Collins’ house always there he never stops wondering what goes on inside. His curiosity is answered when a life threating accident brings him together with Talbot Collins and an entry to the house. The meeting is the start of an involved relationship with Talbot who becomes photography teacher. Ignoring his parent’s wishes, Reggie continues to see Talbot and Mary Ann, absorbing Talbot’s teachings and falling in love with Mary Ann.
Memories recalled from Walter’s prison cell continue to tell the story of his youth and when a tragic chain of events cements his path that will eventually cost him his freedom when the country is consumed in another wave of fear … terrorism.