Forty-nine years had passed, and it was now Tuesday, May 4th, 2010 in Pennsylvania.
The sun started to sink below the horizon to signal the end of another beautiful day.
A 2006 blue Cavalier with a Florida tag drove east on Amster Road at the posted speed limit of forty-five miles per hour.
Driving the Cavalier down Amster Road was twenty-seven year old Abby Austin.
Abby was drop-dead gorgeous with a shapely body, shoulder-length blonde hair, soft brown eyes and a mole on her left upper lip. Abby did not wear make-up since she was a natural beauty.
In the backseat of the Cavalier was three cardboard boxes taped up.
Inside the trunk were three more cardboard boxes, a rolled-up sleeping bag, a rolled-up movie poster.
The six boxes all contained her belongings from her life in Florida.
She enjoyed the beautiful rolling hilly countryside while she drove down Amster Road. This was a nice switch from the flat land of Florida.
She sang along to a classic radio station she found. The Chubby Checker song The Twist played, and she performed a seated version of The Twist while she drove.
Ten minutes later, Abby drove her car down Amster Road and came upon a concrete bridge with the "Brandywine Lake" sign at the entrance.
Abby drove her car across the bridge and checked out the beautiful blue water of the lake.
After she drove off the bridge, she drove a little way down the road and saw a dirt road off to the right. This dirt road led down to a sandy shore area of the lake that people used for swimming.
She was starting to love the Pennsylvania countryside so far.
Eight minutes later and Abby drove her Cavalier got closer to Barbourville.
Just before the bend to the right, Abby spotted a restaurant called the "Brandywine Restaurant" off to the right of the road. It looked like a nice quaint restaurant, and she thought about eating there sometime since it was opened for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
Abby drove around the bend where she saw another road to the left called Montvale Circle.
Amster Road straightened out then turned into Shady Hill Avenue that ran through the eastern part of Barbourville.
She soon spotted a Holiday Inn off to her right then pulled into the entrance.
A little while later, Abby entered a room on the top floor of the Holiday with her suitcase.
She placed her suitcase on one of the queen-sized beds.
She plopped down on the other queen-sized bed. She was exhausted from the two-day drive up from Florida, so she was asleep in minutes.
Hours had passed and Wednesday morning arrived.
Abby slept under the covers in her hotel room bed.
The digital alarm clock on the bedside table blared that annoying sound we all hate to hear in our sleep. The clock showed it was eight-thirty that morning.
Next to the clock was the "Snows Of Kilimanjaro And Other Stories" book by Ernest Hemingway. The bookmark was located at the beginning of the book.
Abby stirred in bed.
The alarm continued to blare.
Abby reached over and slapped at the alarm.
Her hand missed. She slapped another area and turned off the alarm.
Abby threw the covers off her body.
She sat up in bed and stared at the clock.
She stood up and moped across the room still half asleep.
She moped inside the bathroom.
Fifteen minutes later, Abby was dressed in a lovely black business suit with a white blouse and black trousers.
Abby walked over to her room window.
She opened the curtains and looked outside.
She got a little aerial view of Barbourville. "Quaint," she said in a pleasing tone and closed the curtains.
She walked over to the dresser and picked up her car keys, purse, and a black leather folder by the TV.
She walked off, headed to the door, and left her room.
Fifteen minutes had passed, and Abby sat in the Barbourville Diner located off Shady Hill Avenue. She ate her breakfast, that consisted of French toast.
The diner had to the appearance of an old train passenger car. Abby loved the large window at her booth that gave her a good view of the Barbourville College across Shady Hill Avenue. While she stared out the window, she got a déjà-vu feeling about the diner and college. She shrugged off the feeling and worked on her breakfast.
Thirty minutes had passed, and Abby sat inside Dr. Bowman's office in the Science Department of the college.
Abby sat in front of his desk.
Behind the desk sat Dr. Phillip Bowman.
He was eighty-two years old with glasses, thin-framed, balding white hair, and a white goatee. He always wore a tweed jacket with brown patches on the elbows.
He read Abby's resume.
Dr. Bowman placed her resume down on his desk then looked at Abby.
She got nervous with his eyes looking at her. She silently prayed.
"You're resume looks impressive. But why would you leave a job in Orlando, Florida to move up here to Pennsylvania? I mean the warm winters versus snow," Dr. Bowman asked.
Abby looked a little sad. "My boyfriend was killed a year ago. So, I was looking for a new job since we worked for the same hospital. I found this opening online, and for some strange reason, I felt compelled to move up here," she replied and looked sincere.
Dr. Bowman felt sorry for Abby. "I'm sorry to hear about your loss," he said, then paused while he glanced down at her resume for a few seconds. He tapped his right index finger on her resume while he glanced over it again.
It was a few nerve-racking seconds for Abby's stomach since she took a huge chance moving up here.
Dr. Bowman looked at Abby. "Have you ever lived here in Barbourville?"
"No, sir."
"That's strange because I got this feeling that I've met you before," he said and looked sure of himself.
"No sir, I just arrived in Barbourville yesterday for the first time," she replied and thought his comment was a bit strange.
Abby started to sweat and got nervous while Dr. Bowman glanced back at her resume, then glanced back at her. "I would love to have you here. You can start tomorrow if that's all right. I need someone right away. The other girl that had this job quit when her husband got transferred to another General Motors plant across the country."
"I can start tomorrow."
"Great," Dr. Bowman said while he stood up then extended his hand over his desk.
Abby stood up and smiled while she shook his hand. "Thank you, sir. I'm looking forward to working with you."
"Let me walk you to the door," Dr. Bowman said while he walked out from behind his desk.
Dr. Bowman walked Abby to his office door.
"Head over to Human Resources where you can fill out some paperwork. I'll send them an email that I want to hire you. The building is located two buildings over in that direction," he said while he pointed in the appropriate direction.
"Thank you."
"Oh, your desk is out there off to the left, and I like to start my day at seven-thirty and leave around four," he told her.
"I'll be here a little before seven-thirty."
Dr. Bowman opened his office door for Abby and watched while she walked away through the office area.
He closed his office door.
"She sure looks familiar," he said while he walked back to his desk.
Abby walked into the Human Resources Department in the Administration building.
"May I help you?" asked seventy-six-year-old white-haired Maris Wallace from behind a desk.
Abby looked at Maris. "Doctor Bowman just hired me, and he said I needed to fill out some paperwork," Abby said.
"Ah yes, I just received his email a few minutes ago. You must be Abby Austin. Please have a seat at that table," Maris said while she grabbed a folder and stood up from behind her desk,
Abby walked over to the table on the other side of the room. She sat down in front of a Dell computer with a dedicated printer.
Maris walked over and handed Abby the folder. "Inside this folder contains policy and benefits information about the college. On the computer, you'll find job application and other needed forms to complete. You can print it out, sign them and bring it back to me," Maris said.
"Thank you," Abby replied while she looked up at Maris.
Maris got a good look at Abby, and her eyes widened a little.
Maris walked away, and Abby opened up the folder and glanced at the contents.
Maris sat down behind her desk. She looks familiar. She thought to herself, then shrugged off that feeling and returned to her work.
Abby opened up the Word file job application on the computer and started typing in her information.
Two hours later, Abby, with a Barbourville College employee badge clipped to her blouse, walked through the Barbourville College campus. The campus was more prominent than what she expected and loved the landscaping with large shade trees.
She headed off in the direction of one the visitor's parking lot.
Later that afternoon, Abby ate lunch in Denny's restaurant located on Shady Hill Avenue down from the Holiday Inn.
After lunch, Abby took a drive around Barbourville to get familiar with the town.
During her drive, she saw an 84 Lumber Store off to her right on Broadmoor Avenue. The sight of that store gave her another déjà-vu feeling.
She drove past the 84 Lumber Store and drove around some more Barbourville streets.
Later that night, Abby had her Dell laptop out, and she sat at her desk in her hotel room. She conducted a search for homes for sale in Barbourville.
She started checking out the results.
There was nothing that peeked her interests with the first five results.
She clicked on the sixth result, and she saw an older style small white cottage style house with black wooden shutters. Abby looked at the picture of the house, and she liked what she saw. Abby yawned and saw that it was nine-thirty that evening on the digital clock by the bed.
She got up from the desk and headed to the bathroom.