Thanks to my beta readers Renee', Queribus and Graham for their
encouragement and feedback.
Disclaimers: American Gothic and its characters are the property of CBS, MCA/Universal, Renaissance Pictures, and possibly others. Any characters or storyline added to support this concept is strictly the product of my crazed mind. This story is intended for entertainment purposes only; so please don't sue. Please do not distribute, repost or archive this story without receiving permission from the author.
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As rain streamed down the window outside her apartment, the young woman brushed away the tear sliding down her cheek. She turned from the window and looked down at the paper clutched in her hand. It was still there. Words from her mother -- a mother she'd lost so long ago.
The letter had arrived in the morning mail, along with a birthday card from her cousin down south. She laid the letter on the table next to the fish tank and smoothed the worn paper, her fingers sliding over her mother's faded handwriting. Her eyes wandered to the attorney's note which had accompanied the letter.
"Ms. Veronica Lyn Huntley:
Per instructions detailed by Mrs. Sarah Huntley, we are forwarding this envelope to you on the occasion of your 30th birthday..."
Lies and secrets. Ronilyn crushed the attorney's note in her hand and the parakeet sitting on her shoulder flew off to perch on a lamp shade. Too many things she hadn't been told. How many more were there? she thought, tearing the note into strips. Why now?
She strode into her bedroom and dropped the shredded note into the hamsters' cage. Ronilyn grabbed the telephone directory. If there were answers to any of these questions, they wouldn't be found here. It was time to return home. She'd been having strange dreams recently, vague images and unfamiliar voices haunted her when she slept. Ronilyn always awoke with a sense of unease from these dreams, although she could never recall their exact content. Pushing her auburn hair behind her ear, she dialed the phone number of a travel agency in downtown Chicago.
"Hello?" Ronilyn grabbed a pen and notepad from her nightstand. "I need some flight information...for Trinity, South Carolina."
Disclaimers: American Gothic and its characters are the property of CBS, MCA/Universal, Renaissance Pictures, and possibly others. Any characters or storyline added to support this concept is strictly the product of my crazed mind. This story is intended for entertainment purposes only; so please don't sue. Please do not distribute, repost or archive this story without receiving permission from the author.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
As rain streamed down the window outside her apartment, the young woman brushed away the tear sliding down her cheek. She turned from the window and looked down at the paper clutched in her hand. It was still there. Words from her mother -- a mother she'd lost so long ago.
The letter had arrived in the morning mail, along with a birthday card from her cousin down south. She laid the letter on the table next to the fish tank and smoothed the worn paper, her fingers sliding over her mother's faded handwriting. Her eyes wandered to the attorney's note which had accompanied the letter.
"Ms. Veronica Lyn Huntley:
Per instructions detailed by Mrs. Sarah Huntley, we are forwarding this envelope to you on the occasion of your 30th birthday..."
Lies and secrets. Ronilyn crushed the attorney's note in her hand and the parakeet sitting on her shoulder flew off to perch on a lamp shade. Too many things she hadn't been told. How many more were there? she thought, tearing the note into strips. Why now?
She strode into her bedroom and dropped the shredded note into the hamsters' cage. Ronilyn grabbed the telephone directory. If there were answers to any of these questions, they wouldn't be found here. It was time to return home. She'd been having strange dreams recently, vague images and unfamiliar voices haunted her when she slept. Ronilyn always awoke with a sense of unease from these dreams, although she could never recall their exact content. Pushing her auburn hair behind her ear, she dialed the phone number of a travel agency in downtown Chicago.
"Hello?" Ronilyn grabbed a pen and notepad from her nightstand. "I need some flight information...for Trinity, South Carolina."