My name is Elizabeth Stephens.
I live in Wyndham, Nebraska. Don't worry if you've never heard of it; it's a small town, after all.
We have a mayor, Mayor Clayton Cowell; but he's usually "in his cups," as my mom calls it; he's her brother, so she doesn't like to come right out and say he drinks. My dad, Jim, is the Chief of Police; which might be a more impressive title, if he didn't have only one man under him. There's not a lot of crime in Wyndham, though, so they mostly just sit around the station and play cards. Since the mayor isn't usually in much condition to run things, it's usually between Dad and Dr. Bateson, our town doctor, to handle what needs to be handled.
If you've never lived in a small town, let me tell you what it's like: There's one grocery store in the whole town. The drugstore doubles as a soda fountain. If you want a cup of coffee, there's the diner; if you want a latte, or something with pumpkin spice, you'll have to go to the big city. There's one church, and Reverend Henry Scoble is the minister. The student body is barely big enough to warrant two school buildings.
You may be asking, What keeps us all here? Well, folks leave all the time, mostly for college; but they usually come back once they're done, saying how they didn't like all the noise, and how they had to lock their doors all the time. There are those who leave for good and all; usually, it's someone who got caught kissing someone of the same sex, or who preferred wearing different clothes than their mothers started them out wearing, if you know what I mean. But mostly, if you were born in Wyndham, that's probably where you'll die.
Maybe that doesn't sound very exciting to you, and maybe that's not what you're looking for; but we like it here. I met someone who once told me that the Chinese have a curse: "May you live in interesting times." That pretty much sums up our attitude when somebody says it's too dull around here.
Besides, I've lived through something interesting, and I wouldn't wish my worst enemy to go through it, even though she did.
This is the story.
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