Avery's Dream Quest

AVERY

Staring at the unopened letter, Avery laughed to herself. There was no way it could be anything but bad news. Her mother was always bad news. And since her father had passed on two years ago, her mother had become more interested in whatever money she could make at her job than in raising Avery properly. It wasn’t like she had any other family to speak of either. She was only twenty four and single, with a job that barely paid enough to live off of, much less support herself and save for a better future. This house would have been nice though. Her parents hadn’t even been married when they bought this place. Her father had made it clear to her that he didn’t want her to lose out on the equity if he died first, despite his insistence that she should get married and have kids before then. She still felt guilty about not marrying Eric when he asked her four years ago. He was a good man, devoted and hardworking. But she hadn’t loved him.

She finally decided that she couldn’t put off opening the letter any longer. With trembling hands she tore open the envelope and unfolded the single sheet of paper inside. It read:

Avery Thompson,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been selected as one of our ‘City Girls’ for 2016! You will be awarded a full scholarship for your studies at Oxford University in addition to the salary that comes with being a member of the City Girls program! All expenses will be covered by your new employer upon your arrival in London this summer! We look forward to hearing from you soon!

- The City Girls Agency

Avery almost couldn’t believe what she had just read! She screamed for joy and jumped up into the air before running around her living room like a fool, causing her cat Tobias to run away in fear. She grabbed the letter off of the ground where it had fallen and ran over to look out of her living room window at the house across the street. It was small and rundown but she knew it would be perfect if only she could afford it! She would have the best view in all of New York City! She immediately sat down at her desk and fired off an email to The City Girls Agency accepting their offer unconditionally and pleading with them to expedite her visa so she could move as quickly as possible. As soon as she hit send, another notification popped up on her screen indicating that she had received another email from them while she was writing hers.

Avery opened the email and read through it with excitement until finally getting to the end where it said, “Please note that your visa is already in order for you to travel over to England starting May 1st, 2016; we look forward to meeting you then!”

Dumbfounded, Avery stared at her computer for what felt like ages before finally regaining her bearings enough to respond back with a simple “Thank you so much!!! I can’t wait!! :)”

The rest of April flew by faster than ever before thanks to Avery’s excitement about leaving for England in May! As soon as school let out for summer vacation, she began packing up everything into garbage bags - even if those things were too large or heavy they would be left behind anyway - and throwing them into a pile in the corner of her bedroom floor which grew steadily until there was hardly enough room left for walking through without tripping over something. She went through every single thing she owned multiple times looking for anything that might be useful or valuable enough to sell on eBay or Etsy so that she could make some spending money while abroad without having to tap into this illusive scholarship fund as much as possible; although according to The City Girls Agency there were no restrictions on how much money could be spent on anything so long as receipts were provided of course. There were some items however that weren’t allowed by their strict policy including any pets or relatives who might ask for additional funds from their employer beyond what they cost per month; apparently those things were too expensive for The Agency's liking and therefore not worth their time when looking after them would take away from their main goal: making money from their girls' earnings." What a shame," Avery thought laughing nervously," I have neither! Thank goodness!"

In early May Avery packed up what little remained in boxes before hauling everything out front towards her car where she piled everything up onto its roof along with some rope so that it wouldn't fall onto passersby below during transport downstate towards JFK airport. Saying goodbye to everything took longer than expected due to all of this packing so by the time Avery arrived at JFK terminal 7 three hours later than intended there was no more time left before arrivals were closed off temporarily due to bad weather overseas which meant that Avery would miss both flights scheduled today; one going directly there via Heathrow Airport while the other stoping first at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport before continuing onwards via London Luton Airport. Since neither airline offered another flight until tomorrow morning there was nothing that Avery could do but wait until then, meaning instead of arriving there rested and ready for work tomorrow morning instead Avery would arrive exhausted from an overnight stay at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport's Hotel Sofitel after missing both connecting flights yesterday afternoon back home before getting another one this morning here in New York instead; not exactly how The Agency planned things ideally but it certainly wasn't going to put them off of hiring her now knowing what kind of determination she'd shown thus far in getting this far!

Fortunately flights from JFK airport today went smoothly despite being delayed from earlier in the day due to inclement weather overseas; meaning that by 8 AM local time Avery found herself walking through Amsterdam Schiphol Airport's Terminal C towards Hotel Sofitel where she would be staying overnight tonight before finally arriving at Heathrow Airport's Terminal 2 tomorrow morning bright and early at 6 AM local time ready for work on time like clockwork! Although exhaustion set in quickly upon arrival thanks mostly to all of this travelling overnight rather than actual tiredness after such an exciting day filled with misadventures such as losing luggage near Brussels Zaventem International Airport thanks mostly due to poor signage directing travellers towards baggage claim despite their bags having been tagged correctly by their airline attendants earlier on during check-in procedures while also missing connections back home once due purely because they had been given incorrect flight numbers by their airline attendants during check-in procedures (which admittedly they did tell me about but since I was running late I simply forgot about it) while also having made multiple mistakes during check-in procedures which were thankfully caught by those same attendants prior leaving JFK terminal 7 otherwise those too might have ended up lost somewhere overseas instead!

Finally checked into room 416 within Hotel Sofitel's 4th floor,"Finally!" Avery thought aloud while collapsing onto bed face first, "I'm never doing anything like this again!" She laughed hysterically while thinking about all of these crazy experiences throughout her travels today before closing her eyes tightly shut and drifting off into a deep slumber almost instantly thanks mostly due sheer exhaustion thanks partly due pure excitement still leftover from being offered this job opportunity by The City Girls Agency several weeks ago back home; excited beyond belief because although many people supported me along my way over here especially my father who always told me never give up no matter what happens everyone else seemed dead set against me taking up this job opportunity even though my mother encouraged me wholeheartedly along my way too yet eventually life got worse between my mother and I following my father's passing which caused me ultimately decide without anyone else's support or encouragement not only against moving over here but also against accepting this job opportunity instead choosing instead against moving over here but also against accepting this job opportunity instead choosing instead continue working tirelessly day after day at my current job which has gotten increasingly more difficult these past few months hence why I ended up taking advantage of this trip over here piecemeal style rather than stopping halfway through just because things got tough at my current job back home; an incredibly smart move on my part regardless since I've never been more excited about living somewhere else than right now right now right now right now right now right now right now right now right now right now right now right now right now!!!!

Upon arriving Heathrow Airport Terminal 2 bright and early Wednesday morning six weeks later courtesy United Airlines Flight 1220 scheduled leaving New York JFK airport terminal 7 Monday evening May 31st bound for London Luton airport via Newark Liberty International Airport terminal B Monday night June 7th departing Newark Liberty International Airport Sunday afternoon July 24th arriving London Luton airport Thursday afternoon August 18th 3 hours later followed shortly afterwards by British Airways Flight 635 scheduled leaving London Luton airport Tuesday morning August 30th arriving Amsterdam Schiphol airport Friday afternoon September 9th followed an hour later by KLM Flight 538 scheduled leaving Amsterdam Schiphol airport Saturday afternoon September 10th arriving New York JFK airport terminal 7 Saturday night October 1st landing safely back home shortly afterwards thanks mostly due sheer luck rather than skill considering how many times I almost missed connection flights along my way finally ending up here safe and sound is nothing short of miraculous!"