When you travel, remember that a foreign country is not designed to make you comfortable. It is designed to make its own people comfortable.

Clifton Fadiman

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"Mmmm, I love Grandma's biscuits. They're sooo fluffy."

Angela slowly opened her eyes to the sound of munching and crunching. She had just had the strangest dream. A tall woman with sea-foam colored hair was trying to tell her something, but she couldn't talk. The woman looked sad and desperate, but she also looked like royalty. For some reason, both Angela and the lady (for she looked like the Lady of the Lake if there ever was one) were crying. Whatever it was, Angela didn't really want to think about it. The woman had wings, she was probably an angel. Angels were always sending people on epic, life-threatening quests, and Angela neither wanted nor had time for one of those. Let the lady find one of those noble people in the world, they would jump at this sort of thing. Rubbing her eyes, she chalked the dream up to a bad acid trip or eating Chinese food too late at night or something.

She looked over and saw a strawberry blond pig-tailed girl sitting in the chair beside her bed. More importantly, she noticed the huge tray of food in the girl's lap. There was every type of breakfast treat you could imagine: pancakes, an omelet, bacon, sausage, biscuits and gravy, and fresh fruit. There was even a huge glass of orange juice to top it off. Angela's stomach started rumbling loudly - now that she thought about she couldn't even remember the last meal she'd eaten. That was bad, wasn't it?

The girl grinned at Angela and offered her an apple. "Hey, you're up! Mom and Dad and Grandma will be glad to see that. Should I call Dr. Jin? I think I should call him and the mayor, this is big news. You'll be like a celebrity or something! By the way, my name's Maya, and welcome to the Sundae Inn! My mom and dad own this place and my grandma Yolanda's the head chef here. Well, she's really the only chef here, but she's the best! Oh, and this is your breakfast, so I'm sorry ate off of it. But I just can't resist a good meal! " Maya finished and finally took a breath.

Normally, Angela would have hit the girl just to shut her up, but she was so dizzy and hungry that all she could do was lift an eyebrow and devour the apple. She took the rest of the food that the bubbly girl offered and bit off of the pancake. It was . . . It was . . . The best pancake she had ever had! This pancake put all of her mother's cooking to shame, and she wasn't even that bad of a cook. She guessed Yolanda really was the best.

As she dug into the hearty meal, something occurred to her. Did Maya say she was going to call a doctor? Was something wrong? She tried to think to think of where she went and what she had done the last couple of days. Nothing. She tried again. Drew another blank. Angela shrugged. No point in worrying about it. One thing Angela prided herself on was her infamous cool. She was convinced she could take care of herself no matter how dire the situation. Even when she got busted, she didn't cry about it . . . But this wasn't this time to think about that, she had to figure out why she couldn't remember what she did yesterday. Maybe she had amnesia, but she really didn't think so. She did remember that dream.

Is this a prank or something? Let's see, the last thing I remember. Well, I got my diploma. I made out with a random guy. I got . . . Oh yeah; I was on my way to Waffle Island. Wonder if I ever made it there?

Angela spotted her luggage in the corner. That was a relief. She took a hot shower, grabbed her green button-down shirt and a pair of denim shorts, and got dressed. Looking in the mirror, she noticed a huge bruise in the middle of her forehead. She didn't remember getting in a fight with anyone. Maybe she got beat up. If that was the case, she sincerely hoped the other person was in a coma. Angela didn't like to lose. She didn't bother putting makeup on the bruise. If anything, the bruise made her look more sympathetic. She smirked at the thought of just how much she could get over on people. She attempted to get the cowlick out of her chestnut hair, to no avail. The rogue piece of hair had been the girl's constant companion since she was a child. It annoyed her to no end, but she just wouldn't cut it off. When people asked why, she insisted her reasons weren't any of their business.

She gathered her bags and went downstairs. There was quite a reception waiting for her. Maya was standing by two nice looking adults, which Angela assumed were her parents. An older woman with pink hair (Pink hair? Was she still dreaming? Or high?) was holding a spatula. She guessed that was Yolanda, the woman that made her taste buds sing and dance. Angela gave her a small smile. A really young looking man in a white lab coat was checking his notes. Finally, an older man wearing a powder blue suit, which looked like it belonged in a completely different era, spoke up. "Hello, Miss Angela, and welcome to Waffle Island! Your uncle informed me that you would be arriving in his stead. Now if you would sit down and let Dr. Jin examine you, we can get started with you filling out the paperwork. I'll be waiting for you outside." With that he left.

Paperwork?

The rest of the crowd warmly welcomed her and then dispersed. Although they went about their business, all their eyes and attention were on the newcomer. Waffle Town rarely got any visitors, let alone someone moving in. The new girl's motives were a mystery.

The doctor asked her so many questions she nearly lost track. While he was questioning her, she gave him a good once-over. He had some of the most gorgeous hair she had ever seen on a person. She knew people who would put a body in a trunk for half of that quality of hair. Heck, she knew people that would put a body in a trunk for a lot less. Although he was handsome and more than a little pretty, she would avoid toying with him. She was determined to start fresh; no matter how much fun she would miss out on having. Angela McClaine was now a good girl. Or at least a bad girl in remission.

She did have one question for him, though. "Would you please explain to me why everyone is staring at me like they don't have anything else to do!"

Jin just smiled softly. He explained, "You do realize you're the first new resident we've had in about ten years? It's only natural that they'd be curious."

Angela let it go after that. She wasn't even sure she wanted to know why no one else was coming here. At this point, her old best friend would have come of with all sorts of conspiracies . . .

They're aliens!

They do human sacrifices!

IT'S A CULT!!!

All of which would have been both incredibly ridiculous and extremely hilarious. But the girl was a complete traitor. End of story.

The doctor finished up and sent Angela on her way with a stern warning not to overextend herself. She thanked him (although she didn't necessarily appreciate being fussed at), gathered her bags and headed for the door. As she turned to leave, she found her self being . . . Hugged?

"I'm so glad you're staying! Dad said you could come work here part-time for a little extra gold if you wanted. Isn't that cool!", Maya said, giggling.

"That's . . . great, Maya. I'll come back and see you soon. But . . . Please stop hugging me. I can't really breathe"

This is going to be a really interesting year. And by interesting, I mean crazy.

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A/N - I'm sorry I'm off my schedule (and that the chapters have been so short). I'm job-hunting and it's throwing me off. Hopefully once I have get one, I'll be more consistent. Also, although Angela is the main character and the story will be pretty much focused on her, I will switch perspective from time to time, to give you a better picture of the goings-on of the town. Thanks for reading!

DP702