Two weeks had passed, and it was now Thursday, May 20th, 2010.
Abby's loan was approved, and she closed on the home on Dorothy Avenue this morning.
She left Sally Hines office so excited about owning her first home.
She drove back to work just in time for lunch.
After lunch, Abby headed down the hallway of the Science Department building.
She stopped at a bulletin board close by her office. She opened up her purse and removed a piece of paper. She found two thumbtacks on the board they used them to tack up her paper.
The paper read, "Looking for two Female Roommates for newly acquired home. Call Abby Austin 555-1804."
Abby walked away and hoped she could get two female roommates to cut down on her expenses of owning her first home.
It was now three forty-five that afternoon.
A 2009 white Chevrolet Impala drove west down Amster Road. It was getting close to Brandywine Lake. Michael Osborne was behind the wheel, and he looked a little sad.
The Impala stopped as soon as it drove on the concrete bridge over the Brandywine Lake.
Michael got out of the Impala while the engine still ran. He had a dozen yellow roses in his right hand while he walked over to the concrete guardrail over in the eastbound lane.
He glanced down at the lake then tossed the yellow roses into the water. He watched while they floated away. "I miss you, Jennifer and we'll be together again real soon."
Michael's eyes watered up while he walked back to his car.
He got in and drove away down the bridge.
After Michael drove his Impala off the bridge, he turned around and headed in the eastbound lane to back to Barbourville.
Abby had a beautiful quiet day at work. Dr. Bowman was hardly in the office since his day consisted of teaching classes and a few meetings with college management on budget and other boring topics.
Her workday was over, and Abby was excited to start living in her new home.
She left her office and headed out to her car with a spring in her step.
A little while later, Abby had her car backed into the driveway of her new home with her trunk popped open.
She was at the front door and unlocked it then walked back to her car.
Next store at the house to the right, Michael pulled his Impala into his driveway. He turned off his car and got out.
He started toward his front door and spotted Abby lifting a cardboard box out of the trunk of her car. He got curious with the sight of her.
He walked over to Abby's front yard while she carried the box inside her house.
Michael waited by the rear of Abby's Cavalier.
Abby walked of her front door and stepped out onto the porch.
She got startled by the sight of Michael by her car. "You startled me," she said and for some reason was not afraid of the old man.
"I'm sorry about that. I'm your neighbor. Michael Osborne. I saw you were moving in here," he said while Abby walked up to him.
They shook hands.
While her hand was in his, she had a beautiful déjà-vu feeling. It was like she had known him all of her life.
"I'm Abby Austin."
Michael looked at Abby, and something about her gave him a strong, loving déjà-vu feeling. "Have we met before? You look very familiar."
"No, I moved here two weeks ago. But you also look familiar."
Michael looked at the other two boxes in the trunk of her car. "Would you like some help?"
Abby looked at his frail body and looked concerned. "They might be a little heavy."
Michael flexed his biceps like a muscleman. "I may be old but still strong."
Abby got a light chuckle over the sight.
"Sure, some help would be nice."
Abby grabbed a box out of the trunk then Michael grabbed a box out of the trunk.
Abby and Michael carried the boxes to her front door.
Once they were inside the bare living room, they placed the boxes by the first box she brought into the house.
They went back outside.
A few seconds later, they returned to the living room with two more boxes.
They went back outside.
A few seconds later, they returned to the living room where Abby carried the last box, and Michael had her sleeping bag in his right hand and a rolled-up movie poster in his left hand.
He placed the sleeping bag on the floor then glanced at the movie poster. He saw that it was a poster for the Absent Minded Professor movie. His eyes welled up a little. "I was supposed to see that movie when it came out, but something came up," he added and looked a little sad.
"I can't wait to meet Misses Osborne," Abby said with a gleam in her eyes.
He placed the poster on the floor.
"There's not a Misses Osborne. There was supposed to be, but that didn't happen a long time ago," he said and looked sad.
"I'm so sorry," Abby said and lightly touched his left arm to show support.
The touch of her fingertips on his skin gave them both a warm feeling.
"That's the way it goes, and then life goes on," Michael said while he looked down at the movie poster that brought back fonder memories.
"I would offer you a drink, but I haven't had a chance to go to the Shop and Save yet."
"Why don't you come over to my house? We can sit on the back porch and chat for a few minutes," Michael asked and gave her a warm smile.
For some strange reason, Abby felt safe with his invite. "I would love that."
"Super," he replied with a smile.
Abby locked her front door, and then they headed to the doorway of the kitchen and the sliding glass door.
They stepped outside through the sliding glass door. She closed the door behind them.
Michael walked Abby through her yard and to his backyard.
They arrived at his concrete back porch where he had two plastic lounge chairs.
"Please have a seat."
Abby sat down on one of the chairs.
"I don't have any bottled water, I only have some Budweiser beers. So would a beer be okay?"
"I would love one. I haven't had a beer in weeks."
Michael smiled while he opened his sliding glass door and stepped inside his house.
While he was inside, Abby glanced at the garage and became intrigued with the building for some strange reason.
Michael stepped outside to the porch with two Budweiser bottles in hand. He walked over and handed Abby her beer then sat down. "I hope you don't mind drinking out of a bottle."
"Oh, no. Thanks," Abby said then took a sip while she glanced at the garage.
Michael got a little curious with Abby glancing at his garage.
"Do you tinker in your garage? My grandfather did some woodwork types of projects," she said then took another sip of beer while glancing at the garage.
"Oh, I tinker around in there from time to time."
"I would love to see the inside of your garage," Abby asked while her curiosity peeked for some strange reason.
"Oh, it's a mess inside, and I'm afraid you might get cut or hurt on the junk inside."
Abby looked at Michael. "I understand."
"So, where did you move from?"
"Orlando, Florida."
"Orlando? Why would you move up here to Barbourville to battle our cold winters and snow?
Abby started to look a little sad. "My boyfriend was killed in a car accident last year. We both worked at the same place. Doctor Phillips Hospital. Then for some strange, I felt compelled to move up here while looking for a job."
"Well, I'm glad you did. So welcome to Barbourville."
"Thanks," Abby replied, then took another drink of her beer.
"Do you have a job lined up?"
"I just got hired as an administrative assistant at the college for a Doctor Bowman at the college."
Michael's eyes widen after hearing that then he cringed in a little chest pain.
Abby noticed and got concerned. "You okay?"
"Yeah, I'm a little tired. I'm not trying to be rude, but I think I'll go inside and take a nap. Maybe we can chat tomorrow?"
"Sure, I would love that, and I appreciate you helping me," Abby said then stood up.
"No problem. It was my pleasure," he said, then stood up.
Michael gave Abby a little smile while he headed to his sliding glass door. He went inside his home.
Michael appeared in the doorway of his sliding glass door and looked at Abby. Are you sure we don't know each other?"
"No, unless we met during the past two weeks. And I don't recall that," she replied.
Michael closed his sliding glass door but still had this strange feeling he knew Abby.
Abby walked a few feet through Michael's yard while she headed back to her house. She stopped and glanced back at Michael's sliding glass door. "Now I'm not sure," she said then got concerned when she heard Michael having a coughing fit inside his kitchen.
She walked away and headed back to her house.
Later that day, Abby went out and stocked up on groceries at the Stop and Save store located down on Woodland Avenue.
Abby had just finished washing her dinner plates from her first meal in her new home.
Abby now relaxed barefooted in a new plastic lounge chair on her back porch. She drank a glass of red wine while she gazed up at the sky that was now completely dark.
She saw a light that suddenly appeared in her backyard.
She saw another low light that suddenly appeared in her backyard.
She saw another one in her backyard.
She got curious and placed her wine glass on her porch and headed over to these strange little lights that appeared then disappeared a few seconds later.
While she walked through her grass, more of these lights appeared and disappeared in the air.
She got close to one of these lights and noticed it was some type of flying insect.
"These insects are so cool!" Abby said, not realizing she was seeing lightning bugs or sometimes called fireflies.
While she looked at all the lightning bugs in her backyard, she heard some drilling coming from Michael's garage. She listened and noticed his lights were on inside it with the left garage door cracked open a little.
Her curiosity got the best of her, so she gingerly walked through the grass over to his garage.
Abby walked over to the left side of the garage, where there was a window. She peeked in the window.
She saw Michael tinkering around with a weird looking contraption located in the middle of his garage. "What is that thing?" she quietly said.
All she saw from the window was the front and sloped rear of that contraption. It had outer shiny silver metal material that contained all kinds of wires and tubes connected to numerous ports all over the front and the back. The tubes and wires ran down to a large connection port in the middle of the sloped rear.
It stood about five feet tall and had four struts that kept it one foot off the floor.
She watched while Michael opened the contraption door that swung up being a gull-wing.
He started to go inside with a wrench in hand but had a strange feeling. He glanced back at the window.
Abby jumped out of view just in time and ran back to her house.
While she ran back to her house, she did not notice Michael, who poked his head out of his garage door with his wrench in hand. He smiled while he watched Abby run to her back porch.
He went back inside his garage and went back to work on his contraption.
Abby slipped inside her kitchen through her sliding glass door after picking up her wine glass.
She closed the glass door then discreetly peeked out at Michael's garage.
"What a strange contraption," she said then walked over to her counter and grabbed the bottle of wine and poured another glass.
She headed out of the kitchen and went down her hallway.
Hours had passed, and it was dark outside her home except for the twinkling stars and the quarter moon in the sky.
Abby used the master bedroom located at the left corner of her house.
Her furniture now consisted of a sleeping bag and a newly purchased lamp on the floor. The only decoration she had was that Absent Minded Professor movie poster she tacked on the wall over by the closet.
She lay in her sleeping bag. She was too engrossed in her "Snows Of Kilimanjaro And Other Stories" book to notice Michael's head was visible curiously peeking through her curtainless window.
Michael's head slipped away in the darkness.
Thirty minutes later, Abby placed her book on the floor and set her alarm clock also on the floor. She turned off her lamp.
She lay on her back and closed her eyes. She was fast asleep in minutes.