The Prophecy of Bertha Abbott

Originally Aired: October 16, 1956 Suspense #669, "The Prophecy of Bertha Abbott," young Ernie finds himself fleeing into the night aboard a freight train with his friend Whitey, running from a crime that has turned deadly. As the two frightened boys huddle in a dark boxcar, hungry and uncertain of their destination, Ernie's mind drifts back to a terrifying childhood memory. Years earlier, he and Whitey attempted to steal peaches from the yard of Bertha Abbott, a strange old woman the neighborhood children believed to be a witch. When she caught young Ernie, she cursed him with a chilling prophecy: bad boys like him would end up dying in the gas chamber like rats. Now, that prophecy seems to be coming true. What began as a simple robbery of a local establishment has spiraled out of control when Whitey shot the proprietor, Goofy, during their escape. As police swarm the railroad yards and the boys desperately seek a train out of town, Ernie wrestles with whether Bertha Abbott's dark prediction is finally catching up with him, wondering if fate has already sealed his doom.