An insistent knocking awoke Abbie from a deep sleep. She groaned, rolled over, put her pillow over her head and hoped that, eventually, whoever was making the racket would go away. No such luck … after 15 minutes, Abbie gave up all pretences of going back to sleep and dragged herself out of bed. It was criminal to be banging on someone’s door this early on a Sunday morning! If only there was someone else in the house to stop the persistent banging.

Abbie was an only child and had been brought up by her grandmother and great-aunt since she was very young. Now that they had both passed away, she was the only person left in her family. She had never made many friends throughout her life and was known as a loner. That's why the knocking came as such a surprise. Even though today was her 18^th birthday, she was sure that no one knew about it.

Abbie peered out the window through the crack in the curtains. She was careful not to move the curtains so the anyone standing at the door wouldn't know she was looking down on them. There was a single man in a brown suit down there and it was apparent from his persistance, it was unlikely that he was going anywhere.

"Oh well," she thought, "might as well get this over with." She pulled on a sweater and tied her long red hair back as she ran down the stairs.

"Miss Abbie Blackhearst?" he asked as she opened the door. As she nodded, he began to dig through his briefcase. After a few moments, he pulled out an envelope, thrust it in her hand and abruptly left.

"Wait, what's this, who's it from?" she called, but the man just kept on walking and was soon round the corner and out of sight. Abbie took the envelope into the kitchen to make herself a cup of tea. While she was waiting for the kettle to boil, her curiosity was beginning to get the better of her. She stared daydreaming of all different kinds of things that could be in that envelope … a long lost relative, a trust fund with more money then she could imagine, a ticket for the holiday of a lifetime, you name it, she thought of it.

Finally, after feeding Mr. Frisk (her cat), Abbie got settled at the table with her tea and tore open the envelope. What she found inside was beyond even her wildest dreams … a letter fell out that was addressed to her ... in her own handwriting!