“I’ve had it with these circumstances!” Penny Marshall blurted out, as she threw her glass of water across the room and watched it shatter into small pieces on the kitchen floor. “If only he had just left me alone instead of interrogating me, I would have been satisfied, but now I have to abandon my life and my home where I’ve been happy and content and take up residence in another city far away from here.”

Penny couldn’t comprehend what led up to the unhappiness she experienced the past few months because she thought things were all right until now. As a result, she became upset and realized there wasn’t a way out because she thought her life wasn’t going to improve, so she decided to move even though she enjoyed living in her new home and in California.

“Where do I go since I have to abandon my home in California and relocate somewhere else?” Penny asked herself, as she walked into the living room and picked up her pamphlets on various places she thought sounded interesting.

She originally wanted the pamphlets so she could become acquainted with various cities because she wanted to use them in the settings for her short stories. Now, she had to relocate so she was glad that she had the pamphlets. She wanted to select the right location for her to live at least temporarily. Penny browsed through the brochures and spotted a place named Lakeview (a fictitious city) that looked intriguing and read the information about the city.

As she read the pamphlet, she decided that it sounded like a fantastic place to live, so she took her red marker and circled Lakeview on the front of the pamphlet, and then she tossed them on her desk.

She glanced at the clock on her desk and realized that she needed to start packing because she wanted to leave before her neighbors got off work, and it started getting dark. She didn’t want any of her neighbors to see her leaving.

Even though Penny couldn’t comprehend why things happened the way they did, she believed there was a reason for what happened, and she anticipated her new experiences that she might encounter in Lakeview. She was optimistic about her life and believed she would eventually realize what had gone awry in her life, but as she thought about moving to an unknown place, anxieties started to overwhelm her.

Tears flowed down her cheeks, and she became upset. “Why did this happen? Who am I? Why can’t people leave me alone and accept me as Penny Marshal. That’s who I am. My past doesn’t matter anymore.” Penny blurted out, as she grabbed the sofa pillows and threw them across the living room. Then, she tossed off the papers and things on top of her desk. She didn’t care how the room looked because she was going to leave and not return. She wanted to take her clothes, her computers, her writing supplies, and books.

When Penny calmed down, she noticed the pamphlets and picked them up. Then, she plopped onto the blue plush sofa so she could browse through them again just to make sure that Lakeview was the right location for her.

As she read through the pamphlet about Lakeview, she discovered that there were three separate campsites with large lakes, so this confirmed to her that she made the right decision, since she enjoyed camping and being near the water. She also couldn’t imagine how anyone would discover where she planned on relocating since it was a long way from California.

Penny returned the pamphlets to the desk and then walked into her bedroom so she could start packing her suitcases in order to leave before her neighbors returned home from work.

As Penny stood inside her bedroom and glanced around the room, tears flowed down her cheeks. “Why? Why did this happen to me? I don’t want to move! It’s not right,” Penny blurted out, as she grabbed a tissue and wiped the tears that flooded her eyes and rolled down her cheeks.

Penny was too devastated about her circumstances because this was the last time she was going to occupy her newly decorated house. The bedroom, which was the master bedroom, had her favorite colors, light blue, navy blue, and yellow. She had a double bed with a bookcase headboard where she kept her most favorite books, and her bed had a navy blue bedspread with yellow daisies.

She also had two chests, a dresser with six drawers below and a rectangular mirror above, two lamp tables that had gold lamps with white shades, a walk-in closet, large desk with drawers, and two light blue cushioned armchairs. Her windows had pale yellow blinds and navy blue silk curtains along the side and across the top. The walls were light blue, and a navy blue shag carpet covered the floor.

She also had a full bathroom with an Oakwood vanity that had two doors below the two marble top lavatories above, a drawer below, and inside the vanity were two small drawers and a space for bath tissue or cleaning supplies.

Penny grabbed an empty box and placed her books that were in her bookcase headboard inside the box. With tears in her eyes and anger building up inside, she tossed the pillows on her bed and her bedspread on the floor. “Why?” Penny blurted out and cried. “It’s not fair. Why me?”

After Penny opened the door to her spacious walk-in closet, she grabbed her two large turquoise suitcases that she kept on the carpet and placed them on the bed so she could pack her clothes. When Penny walked back to the closet, she had to search for her matching medium suitcase and her cosmetic case because she thought she had kept them beside the two larger ones. She had to move several items in order to look in the back of the closet. Finally, she located the medium suitcase on the floor and the cosmetic case on the top shelf toward the back of the closet.

Penny placed her suitcases on her bed and opened one of the large suitcases so she could put her slacks inside, she walked back to the closet and grabbed a handful of slacks and shorts. She laid them on the bed, took her clothes off the yellow plastic hangers and carefully folded her clothes so they wouldn’t wrinkle too much.

Since the trip would take three days to arrive in Lakeview, she decided to keep what she needed for those days in her smaller suitcase that she still had in the closet, so it would be handy. She walked back to the closet to search for it and found it in the back where the medium suitcase had been, so she picked it up off the floor and laid it on the bed in order to place a few slacks outfits in it.

Since it was spring and the wind blew throughout the day, which made it cooler outside, she decided to wear slacks, so after she opened her suitcase, she searched through her slacks to see what would be appropriate to wear in the cooler weather. Finally, she selected her purple slacks, a matching jacket, and a lavender shirt; her rust colored slacks, a matching vest, and a pale yellow shirt; and her brown slacks, a matching sweater, and a cream-colored shirt, and then she carefully folded each outfit and placed them inside the smaller suitcase.

After that, she packed her personal items she would need for those three days on the road and placed them inside the smaller suitcase. Because Penny enjoyed being outside and camping, she planned on parking at a campsite each of those days so she could stay inside her conventional travel trailer when she became too exhausted to continue driving instead of searching for a motel.

Since her conventional travel trailer had all the conveniences she needed to live such as a kitchen area, living area, appliances, toilet facilities, and a sleeping area; she wanted to stay in there instead of a motel.

When she finished packing her slacks and shorts, she returned to her closet to get her blouses and skirts and as soon as she had one suitcase packed, she opened up her other large navy blue suitcase and packed more clothes in that one. Then, she opened up her medium suitcase and placed her nightwear and other personal items that were in her chest of drawers in the suitcase. After she had her clothes packed, she opened the dresser drawers, took out her cosmetics and other items, and placed them in her cosmetic suitcase.

As soon as, she packed her small cosmetic suitcase, she opened her closet door, chest of drawers, and dresser to make sure she had removed everything, and then she walked into the garage to get a large box with a lid. After she entered her bedroom, she placed all of her shoes and slippers inside the box and placed the lid on top.

Since she wasn’t going to return to California, she wanted to gather all of her belongings now. When she had everything packed, she picked up her two large suitcases, walked outside to her van, and put them in the back. Then, she walked back inside to load the other ones, and when she had her suitcases in the van, she rushed into the house to pack up her laptop, her desktop computer, and her supplies.

As she unhooked her computer, printer, monitor, keyboard, speakers, and mouse, tears came to her eyes again. She pondered over the different possibilities as to why this happened in her life when she thought everything was perfect. She hoped that someday she would be happy again. After she put her desktop computer and supplies in a large box, she placed her laptop inside its case and packed up her computer accessories in another small bag. She carried her suitcases to the car and walked back inside to get her laptop and bag of computer accessories. Penny knew she wouldn’t return, so she cleaned out the items in her desk drawers and put them in a box.

She packed them into boxes and carried them to her van. In addition to her clothes and computers, she decided to take a small bookcase, a small writing table, a comfortable desk chair, and two lamps to her van. She hated to leave the rest of the furniture, but she didn’t have enough room in her van and trailer for everything, so she took the most important things and would purchase the other things.

Penny knew she had plenty of time to pack her van and trailer, but she still didn’t want to be too leisurely in her packing just in case something happened unexpectedly. She also knew she had to leave without anyone seeing her because she didn’t want any of her neighbors to know that she was leaving or which direction she was headed in case someone followed her.

As she walked into her kitchen, she remembered that she needed to take her cooler and food since she hadn’t planned on stopping anywhere on the way, except for rest stops, so she walked downstairs to get her cooler. Then, she walked back upstairs to search through the food in the pantry to see what she had wanted to take with her, but she knew that she needed to leave some things.

She filled her cooler with ice packs to keep her food cold, and then she added her cheese sticks, yogurts, containers of cream cheese, fudge, brownies, and the ham salad sandwiches that she made earlier that day for her trip.

After that, she took out a couple of paper sacks and filled them up with her potato chips, crackers, chocolate chip cookies, chocolate cupcakes, and pretzel sticks. She took her cooler and her two paper sacks of snacks to the trailer and put some of the perishables inside her refrigerator. Before she left for Lakeview, she walked back inside the house to make sure she had everything she wanted to take. She also continued to throw a few things on the floor just to make it look like an intruder entered her house. Maybe someone would wonder what happened to the place and to her. Then, she shut her front door and locked it.

Since Penny was a freelance writer, she worked at home and most of her neighbors were gone during the day, so she could leave anytime she wanted.

As she climbed into her van, she glanced around the neighborhood to see if anyone happened to be nearby or in case someone got off work earlier than she expected. She was relieved when she didn’t notice anyone, so she cautiously backed out of the driveway. Even though it was difficult for Penny to leave her house, she knew that she had to abandon her life in California and take up a new residence in Lakeview.

Penny thought about her life as she headed toward Texas. I’m relieved that I decided to move to Lakeview, and that I changed my name to Penny Marshall even though I don’t know why I chose that name. At least I changed it before my first book came out last month so people wouldn’t recognize me.

After driving for several hours and through the desert, Penny became exhausted and needed to stop for the night. She drove around until she spotted a rest area, so she drove into the entrance and noticed a secluded area nearby. She parked her van and climbed out so she could stretch her legs. “The cool breeze is so relaxing,”

Penny said to herself, as the cool evening breeze brushed across her face. She looked up at the sky and saw that it was clear. “I’m glad I could walk around for a few minutes because I get tired driving a long way without breaks.”

Penny walked into her trailer and opened a window slightly so the night air could filter through her trailer while she slept. Then, she locked her trailer door, opened her refrigerator and took out a ham salad sandwich and a can of pop.

While she sat on her bed and ate, she picked up her favorite anthology mystery book that had themes of impossible mysteries and read for a half hour before she put on her flannel blue flowered night shirt.

As she lay in bed, she thought about her mystery book and wished she could meet a girl in her new environment who wanted to start a mystery book club with her. She thought it would be exciting to read mysteries with another girl friend and to solve some mysteries in real life like the detectives she read about in her books.

Early the next morning, Penny woke up, put on her brown slacks, cream-colored shirt, her brown sweater, her socks and athletic shoes, grabbed a cinnamon roll, and some orange juice, and then walked outside and locked her trailer, so she could stroll around the area. “I like the fresh scents of the flowers when they start to bloom in the springtime, and I like to watch the cedar trees, oak trees, and cherry trees when they start to blossom. The birds seem happy as they sing their melodies in the trees.”

Penny heard some American Robins singing different melodies in the black cherry trees, and a few minutes later, she saw sparrows and wrens flying among the trees. A half hour later, she strolled back to her van and unlocked it so she could continue her trip. As Penny continued to travel, she wanted her window down because there was a slight breeze, and she wanted to continue to smell the fresh flowers and to listen to the American Robins singing their melodies. “I can’t believe I’m traveling all this way by myself.

This is my first time to travel alone, and it feels good, but at the same time it feels scary because of the things that could happen to someone who is traveling alone.” Tears started to roll down Penny’s cheeks as she thought about being alone and traveling to a place where she hadn’t been. “I miss my home in California. I wonder what is happening now, and if someone noticed that I disappeared. With the way I left the house, I wonder if people would think an intruder entered and took me away. Who knows what will happen.”

After traveling several hours, she located another rest spot and pulled into the entrance so she could park her van in a secluded spot surrounded by oak trees. She preferred parking in areas where nobody would notice her because she didn’t want anyone to recognize her, especially someone from California, but even though she was positive nobody saw her leave, she still wanted to be cautious. She climbed out of her van, locked it, and then walked into her trailer and locked that door. After she opened her refrigerator to get another sandwich and pop, she opened her bag where she had her snacks and took out a can of potato chips. She sat in her kitchen area, so she could eat her supper and read in her mystery book again until it was time to get ready for bed.

The early morning sunlight that shone through Penny’s window startled her, so she climbed out of bed and donned her rust colored slacks, matching vest, and cream-colored shirt. After that, she walked over to her refrigerator to get out her strawberry yogurt, and then she opened a drawer in the kitchen area, took out a spoon, and sat at the table to eat. When she finished eating, she disposed her trash and opened the door to her trailer, so she could walk outside to stretch her legs and to stroll around for a few minutes before she climbed into her van to finish her trip to Lakeview. She looked forward to her new environment and wondered what it would be like or about her new apartment. She wanted to get one by Monday.

Penny arrived in Lakeview an hour later, and the first thing she wanted to do was to search for a campsite because she was eager to rest before she began searching for a place to live. Within a few minutes, Penny found a campsite just west of the city limits of Lakeview.

As she drove through the main entrance, she noticed a secluded area not too far from the entrance, so she parked her van and opened her door to stretch her legs. She still wanted to be safe and secure even though she was several miles from California. “I’m glad I finally arrived in Lakeview. I just hope this is a better place.”

As she walked around her new environment, she listened to the American Robins singing in the trees and smelled the fresh spring flowers, and then noticed a lake with an island in the middle. When Penny returned to her trailer, she unlocked her door because she wanted her privacy, and she wanted to think about her plans. “This is going to be difficult at first because of the new experience of living alone, but at least I didn’t have a full-time occupation I had to resign in order to move to Lakeview. Since I'm a freelance writer, I am a freelance writer, I can continue with my writing no matter where I live.”

Penny opened up her laptop case and took out her laptop so she could start writing to her e-mail friend, Crimesolver, which was a username. Penny thought Crimesolver was an interesting name for someone who was an amateur detective. Penny’s username was Crimewriter because she wrote crime fiction stories and books as well as the subgenres such as mysteries, suspense, and detective fiction.

Since Penny didn’t know Crimesolver’s real name or her location, she felt safer to meet someone over the Internet even though that caused her recent problems. Penny wasn’t sure she wanted to make new friends in person after what happened to her in California or at least right away, but she liked writing to Crimesolver by e-mail, and she thought about asking her if she wanted to get together for an e-mail mystery book club. Then, later on, they could meet in person as she began to trust people.

Penny liked her idea about reading mysteries together, discussing the detectives, and solving mysteries in real life like the detectives in the mysteries she read.

Crimewriter’s E-mail Letter

“Hi, Crimesolver, how are you? I’ve had a difficult few weeks lately and have been depressed, but I made a major decision in my life, so I hope things will improve soon. I’m staying at a campsite in a secluded spot for a few days because it’s quiet and peaceful here. I don’t see any other campers nearby, so I can work on my freelance writing without being interrupted, and I can smell the fresh spring flowers and trees as well as listen to the robins singing in the black cherry trees. Spring is my favorite season because the flowers are blooming, as well as the leaves appearing on the trees.

I just had my first mystery book published, so I’m living off my royalties and the money I had been saving for my move. Have you solved any special cases lately?

By the way, I’ve thought about starting a mystery book club because I thought it would be exciting to read mysteries together and to see how the detectives solve crimes. I’ve been interested in becoming an amateur detective like you someday after I locate a place to live and have organized it. This will be a difficult adjustment for me since I’ll be living on my own now, but I’m confident I can handle my new situation.”

Penny sent her e-mail and hoped that Crimesolver would respond before too long. They tried to set up a regular time where they could write to each other, but since Penny made her decision to move, she didn’t have time to write to her for the last few days. However, she knew Crimesolver understood that she planned on moving out of state, but she didn’t reveal where she was relocating.

Within a half hour, Penny received an e-mail letter from Crimesolver, so she opened it and read it. “That was fast. I sure like hearing from Crimesolver. I hope we can meet someday, but for right now I don’t want to meet anyone in person, and I don’t know how that would happen since we haven’t revealed our identity or location.”

Crimesolver’s E-mail Letter

“Hi, Crimewriter, I have a new case about a child who has been missing since she was two years old, which was twenty years ago, and there hasn’t been any information about her since that time. It seems like she just vanished off the face of the earth. I don’t know what happened to her, but the police want me to see if I can find out anything on my computer. Her real parents have continued to search for her.”

Crimewriter’s E-mail Letter

“Hi, Crimesolver. That sounds like a difficult case, but I’m positive you’ll find the missing girl so you can bring her family together soon. It must be difficult on her parents to have her missing for such a long time, too. I’ll write again tomorrow because I want to get my life together and to explore my new environment. I’d like to locate a place near a bookstore, so I can shop on a regular basis and not have too far to go. I want to purchase some mystery anthologies, so I can become acquainted with various authors.”

Penny turned off her laptop and opened her refrigerator to get out a ham sandwich and a can of pop for supper. As she ate, she thought about Crimesolver and the case she was working on. “I wonder who disappeared and why? That’s such a long time to be away from your parents. They must be devastated,” Penny said, to herself. After she ate, she wrote in her journal.

Crimewriter's Journal

Several children have disappeared at an early age, so I feel sorry for the parents because they don’t know what happened to their children. I don’t understand why parents don’t keep a closer watch on their children so they don’t disappear, but on the other hand, some parents are too strict with their children because they don’t want them to do anything except stay at home. It makes me wonder why they wanted to have children in the beginning if they have trouble keeping track of their children or are too strict. Parents should allow children to get out and develop friendships with their school peers, so I don’t understand why my parents wanted to teach me at home instead of letting me go to school. As a result, I didn’t have any friends.

“I wonder where Crimesolver lives because it would be good to meet her someday, but on the other hand, I’m not sure I’m ready to meet anyone. I’ve been hurt too much,” Penny said to herself, as she cried. “Why is this happening to me? I miss California, but I can’t forget what happened to me.” Penny reached for a tissue and wiped the tears from her eyes.

After supper, Penny turned off her light and went to bed because she was extremely tired after her trip from California, and she wanted to arise early to walk around the campsite. She also wanted to drive around Lakeview to observe her new surroundings, and to find a apartment she liked so she could start her new life and forget about her past. Even though she moved far away, she thought she would be safe and wouldn’t run into anyone from California.

Penny arose early Monday morning and donned her navy blue slacks, light blue blouse, a navy blue vest, and her white socks and athletic shoes.

As she looked through her snacks, she realized that she needed to purchase some groceries today because she didn’t have many things left. In addition to her cooler, Penny had the regular appliances such as a stove, refrigerator, and microwave so she could cook and eat in her travel trailer. She was happy that she had those appliances because she had more room to keep her perishable items like ham and cheese sandwiches, yogurts, cheese sticks, several cans of pop, and some bottles of spring water in the refrigerator than she did in the cooler. Penny liked fixing food that was convenient because she wanted to spend more time writing than she did cooking and doing dishes. She wanted to get another book written and published soon.

After Penny finished her strawberry yogurt and orange juice, she walked outside to stretch her legs, get some fresh air, and to look around the campsite. She noticed a lake and an island in the middle of the lake, so she thought this campsite would be a great place for her to stay because she might like to travel out to the island and stay there sometime. She thought it would be a safe place to escape to for a few days because nobody could locate her. There weren’t any other campers nearby, so she felt relieved about that because she could have some solitary time. However, she realized she would need to purchase a boat in order to travel to the island, so she decided to shop for a one as soon as she had a place to live. Penny anticipated her new experience in Lakeview. “I still need to find an apartment,” Penny said to herself. “Since this is a secluded area, I can leave my travel trailer here and just drive my van.” She unhooked her trailer, climbed inside her van, headed out of the campsite toward the city limits of Lakeview.

As she drove toward the city limits, she glanced from side to side looking at the scenery and the different buildings. She wanted to become familiar with the area, so she could remember where her campsite was located. A short distance from the campsite where she stayed, she spotted a shopping center and a couple of apartment complexes that were located on the opposite side of the shopping center. Stopping to search for a place to turn into the shopping center, she felt something hit her from behind. When she glanced through her rear view mirror, she realized that the car behind her hit her van. Feeling angry inside, she turned off her engine and jumped out of her van. “Thanks for hitting my van!” Penny blurted out, as she brushed a strand of her shoulder length brown hair, which used to be longer and blonde, away from her face.

“I’m sorry for bumping into your van, but I didn’t expect you to stop in the middle of the street,” the woman replied. She was a slender young looking woman and looked attractive in her brown slacks, beige blouse, and brown vest.

“Maybe you need to pay more attention!” Penny snapped, as she brushed another strand of her brown hair away from her face. Penny’s heart raced and anxiety overwhelmed her because she was afraid of what might happen next since she knew she caused the accident. Even though she realized she caused the incident by stopping in the middle of the street, she wanted to blame the other driver, and she wanted to admit that she hadn’t been to Lakeview before today, so she wasn’t familiar with the area. She hoped she wouldn’t get in trouble. In addition to being afraid of what might happen, she was also afraid of meeting anyone, and she didn’t want to confront anyone from California.

Shortly, the police arrived. “What happened here?” Detective Rowland asked, as he approached the two women. Detective Rowland, who was about 5’7”and average weight, had on his light blue uniform and cap as well as his pistol.

“I accidentally hit her van from behind because she suddenly stopped in the middle of the street, and I didn’t expect her to stop where she did. I tried to stop, but I couldn’t and ended up hitting her car,” the other driver responded. “I’m sorry it happened, and I’ll be glad to pay for any repairs she has as a result of the accident.”

“I haven’t been to Lakeview before and couldn’t see where to turn into this shopping center. That's why I stopped in the middle of the street like I did,” Penny replied, as she relaxed a little bit.

“I need to see both of your driver’s licenses,” Detective Rowland said.

“My name's Penny,” she said, as she handed Detective Rowland her driver’s license.

“My name’s Abby,” she said, as she handed Detective Rowland her information. “Like I mentioned earlier, I’ll be happy to pay for her repairs.”

“It’s just a fender bender, so it’s not going to cost much to fix your cars,” Detective Rowland said. “However, I will have to give you a warning for inattentive drive, Miss Fisher, as he looked at her driver’s license.” Detective Rowland took out his pen and pad to write down the information.

“Miss Marshall, you can get your van fixed in this shopping center. Just turn in here,” Detective Rowland said, as he pointed to the entrance of the shopping mall.

“Thanks,” Penny said, a little calmer.

“If you want to pay for her car repairs, Miss Fisher, that's fine,” Detective Rowland replied.

“Since she’s going in here, I can get my car fixed here, too,” Miss Fisher replied.

“This time, I’m letting you off with a warning, Miss Fisher, but next time please be more careful. Also, Miss Marshall, I know you’re new to Lakeview, but it’s better to drive slowly and cautiously since you aren’t sure of your surroundings.”

“I will,” Penny replied.

Penny climbed into her van and drove to the service station so she could get some gas and then get her van repaired. A young looking man dressed in blue jeans and a white short sleeve shirt came to wait on Penny. Penny told him she had a fender bender a few minutes ago.

“I’ll be happy to help you, Miss Marshall.”

“What? Who said my name was Miss Marshall?”

“It was the other woman, Miss Fisher. She told me she bumped into your van and wanted to pay for your gas and to fix your van.”

“Why? I can afford it,” Penny snapped.

“She wanted to do it for you,” the service attendant said. “By the way, I’m Ben Walker.”

“Okay.”

“You look familiar. How long have you lived here?”

“I came here last night, but right now I’m in a hurry, so can you fix my van soon?”

“It will take me an hour to fix your fender, so you can wait here if you want to.”

“I’ll just look around the shopping center, so I’ll be back in an hour.”

“Okay,” Ben said, as he filled up Penny’s van with gas. After that, he took her van into the garage to repair it.

Without saying another word to him or to Abby, Penny looked at the names of the different stores as she started walking around the shopping center. Within a few minutes, she spotted a bookstore.

Penny enjoyed browsing around bookstores because she liked reading mysteries and writing short stories, books, and book reviews, and she came up with some ideas for her stories by reading mysteries.

Penny walked down the mystery section and browsed through the books until she located a mystery that just came out. To her surprise, she saw her mystery book among the collection of new books on display, so she picked up her book and looked at it. The back inside cover had her picture and a short biography, and the front inside cover had a summary of her book.

Her first book came out last month, which was March, so she was excited about having her first book published. She walked to the checkout stand to pay for her book.

“You look familiar. Have you lived in Lakeview long?” the cashier asked.

“No. I came here last night,” Penny replied.

“Oh. I’m Annie Walker.”

“Okay. Bye.”

Penny walked outside and toward the grocery store and wondered who those people were and why they kept saying she looked familiar to them when she didn’t know them.

After that, she walked to the grocery store and picked up some more snacks: cheese sticks, yogurts, club crackers, ham, cream cheese, bread, and two cartons of pop. Then, she walked up to the counter.

“Good morning. How are you?” the cashier asked.

“Okay.”

“That’s good. By the way, you look familiar. How long have you lived here?”

“I came here last night,” Penny replied.

“You look familiar, but I’m not sure where I’ve seen you,” the cashier commented.

Penny gathered up her two sacks and walked out the door. She still couldn’t believe how these people kept saying she looked familiar to them when she just arrived in Lakeview. This situation seemed mysterious to her, and she knew she had to do something because she didn’t want anyone recognizing her. Her purpose for moving was to escape from the people she knew in California, and now people seem to know her here. “What is it with these people who claim I look familiar to them? What’s going on? I just changed my appearance, but maybe I need to change something again.”

She walked back to her van and found out that it was ready, so she put her groceries and book inside and drove to the salon because she had to do something with her hair to make herself different so people wouldn’t recognize her.

When she entered the beauty salon, she saw a young looking woman. “Good morning. May I help you?” the woman asked.

“I want to do something different with my hair, but I’m not sure what.”

“Do you want a different hair style or color?” the woman asked.

“I just want to change my appearance somehow.”

“Have you thought about a wig?” the hair stylist asked.

“No, but that might solve my problem. Where can I purchase a wig?”

“We have some wigs here for sale. They’re in the back, so if you wait here, I’ll bring some out to show you.” The hair stylist went to the back room and returned with a few wigs of different styles and colors.

“These are great!” Penny exclaimed. I like them, but I think these two will work for me because I can have different styles and colors when I need to change my appearance.”

“These two, the blonde wig and the brown wig,” the hair stylist responded, as she gave Penny the wigs.

“Yes. They will be great for me,” Penny replied. I hope that, people won’t recognize me, Penny thought.

“Okay. These two will look good on you, and they are different styles as well as colors. I hope you will be satisfied with these wigs.”

“I like my own hair and style, but these will work for me,” Penny said.

Penny paid for the wigs, walked out the door, climbed into her van, and began her search for an apartment. She saw an apartment complex nearby, so she entered the parking lot and parked in front of the building. She climbed out of her van and walked around for a few minutes, so she could get a feel of what it might be like living there.

She didn’t think it looked too bad, and it was close to the shopping center, so she decided to check it out. She entered the office and a middle-aged slender looking woman wearing green slacks, a white long sleeved blouse, and a matching green vest greeted her. “May I help you?”

“I just arrived in Lakeview last night, and I'm looking for an apartment because I’m planning on staying here,” Penny replied.

“It’s nice to have you here. Where did you come from?”

“California. Do you have any apartments available?” Penny asked, as she tried to change the subject because she didn’t want to acknowledge any more information about her past life in California. That was her personal life, and she wanted to forget it.

“I just have one apartment available, so I’d be happy to show it to you if you'd like,” the woman answered, as she smiled. “By the way, what brought you all the way from California to Lakeview?”

“That would be great,” Penny replied, politely, as she ignored the other question. “I'd like to see the apartment.” However, Penny wasn’t sure she'd like renting an apartment in this complex because of the way the outside looked as well as the inside.

It was apparent to her that someone had neglected the place because the windows needed replacing and the trim needed painting. In addition to the repairs and painting on the outside, Penny noticed that someone needed to do some repairing and painting on the inside so the place would look more attractive to people. The walls had a drab color and looked like they hadn’t had a coat of fresh paint for several years, and she thought the office needed some fresh plants, different types of magazines, a pop machine, snack machine, and comfortable chairs for people. Penny wished that she could help this woman, but her responsibility was to search for an apartment.

Because of all the problems Penny noticed, she couldn’t understand why someone who owned a business like this didn’t do the repairs and painting that the place needed so it would look more attractive to people.

In addition to the way the apartment looked inside and outside, she couldn’t see why anyone would want to rent an apartment here unless it was quite cheap.

The woman turned and grabbed the key off the rack, which was located on the wall behind the counter, and escorted Penny to the elevator up to the second floor where the room was located.

When Penny entered the room, she noticed the drab colors and the worn out, stained carpet, so she knew she didn’t want to live in a place like this, but she wanted to be polite to the woman. “Thank you for showing me the apartment. Since I’m just starting to look for a place, I’d like to see what other apartments are available before I make my final decision,” Penny replied.

“I understand, but I hope you don’t hesitate too long because my apartments go quickly, and as I mentioned earlier, I just have one left,” the woman replied, with a smile.

“That’s fine. I realize that it could be rented out before I return and that’s fine, but I’m one who wants to check out different possibilities before I make an important decision such as renting an apartment, so if I’m interested in it, I’ll return later today.”

“It's important to be sure that you have the right apartment because you wouldn’t want to sign a contract for an apartment and find out you weren’t happy. Thank you for stopping by,” the woman replied, as she opened the front door for Penny.

“You’re welcome, and thanks again for showing me the apartment,” Penny said, as she walked outside to her van.

Penny climbed into her van and decided to head west toward the campsite where she stayed last night. On the way toward the campsite, she noticed a large professional looking sign printed in a bright color that read:

Lakeview Apartments. One mile south and east.

One, two, and three bedroom apartments.

Enclosed playground area for children.

Crystal Lake and picnic area across the street.

As Penny headed toward the apartment complex, she spotted it on the east side of the street. When she saw the apartment complex, she knew she had to check it out because it looked more attractive than the one she just saw, so she parked in the parking lot, and as she climbed out of the van, a gentle breeze brushed across her face.

She stood in front of the apartment complex and observed the surroundings, and then she noticed the name, Lakeview Apartments, on the first building, which was also labeled A.

Lakeview Apartments consisted of four separate buildings and were named A, B C, and D. Each building, which was white with a blue roof, had two floors, and the cedar trees that surrounded the buildings gave the tenants a feeling of security. In the middle of the complex was a fenced-in playground area, which consisted of swings, sand pile, teeter-totter, and plastic climbing equipment, for the children who lived in the apartments. The tenants could park in carports located near their apartment building or they could park in the spaces in front of the buildings, and the visitors and handicap people had special parking spaces in front of each building.

Penny felt comfortable with the surroundings because of the appearance of the complex, the convenience to the shopping center, and the convenience to the campsite where she stayed last night, so she had to check out this apartment complex. Since the shopping area and the apartment complex were located near the campsite, she could go camping whenever she wanted to get away.

Janet Blaylock