The Issue With Elvis

Dr. Michael Mercer is a retired botanist who lives in a cabin in the mountains outside of Morgan-town, West Virginia. An expert in fungi, he collects different types of mushrooms from which he isolates various compounds. During one of his treks in the West Virginia mountains, he happens upon a runaway boy who is living in a broken-down school bus on the grounds of an abandoned amusement park. The boy follows Dr. Mercer home one evening after one of his fungi-hunting outings, and the scientist decides to take the child in. The boy tells Dr. Mercer that his name is Elv-is, and the duo begin to get to know each other. The botanist begins to piece together the mystery of Elvis through his own research, uncovering the child’s complicated history. Dr. Mercer is torn between wanting to help Elvis by providing a temporary, safe place to live, and feeling the moral obligation to return the boy to his rightful home. Along the way, the two become unlikely friends, and give each other comfort in otherwise lonely microcosms.