Headline Leads

FFM 2024, Day 13, CHALLENGE, Palindromes - word count: 333

The headline was mysterious... Pets Draw A Star, Rats Award Step ...so Dylar read more, even though he had to buy his own paper at his subway stop. Rats interested Dylar. He'd used them for a non-invasive science experiment back in high school, and saw then that the little creatures were very smart. Not that rats were so little, especially around the Metro Subway.
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The news article was about a movie star Dylar never heard of, some lady collecting pet rats whose owners decided they couldn't keep them. She'd built a "rat paradise" for them. It was one of those 'cute' articles aimed at people unlike Dylar. He was definitely serious. His job, as an air traffic controller, called for serious focus, and it colored his entire life. He didn't keep a rat because he felt rats needed fun and companionship.
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He still liked rats, though. He kept the paper to add its photo of an alert rat to the ones on his 'fridge. In the picture, the rat stood on the step of some dollhouse thing, near the movie star's outstretched hand. It was a good rat photo.
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The star's name was familiar, her first name anyway. The more he thought about it, the more Dylar realized it was the same name as the girl who'd done the rat experiment with him in high school. Could it be? No. Maybe? No.

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Still, Dylar wrote a letter to the editor, asking about the star and her rat paradise. He signed his own name with a throw-away email address. His name was a palindrome, kind of - Dylar Ralyd. If it was her ...it couldn't be.
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That night, he woke from a dream about rats holding a sign that was a palindrome... "Set tub on no buttes." Silly. What woke him thoroughly was realizing the newspaper headline was also a palindrome. It must be her! She'd called herself "Naomi Imoan" when they did the experiment, to go with his name. It could be her. Wow.

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Author's Note

FFM 2024, Day 13, CHALLENGE, Palindromes - word count: 333

Elements One and Two both done