A Home on Carroll Avenue

To April Stringham, getting on the train was like walking into a Jules Verne novel. Having never been more than ten miles from home, she was assuredly on the adventure of a lifetime. She would step off the train in Los Angeles, thousands of miles away. Obsessed with reading, April researched every dime novel she could get her hands on. Of course there would be wild Indians, cattle drives, cowboys, saloon girls, bandits and shootouts on every corner. It would be a different world. She wasn't afraid, only excited. An old maid by any standards, perhaps life had already passed her by. Acknowledging her current journey could prove dangerous, ill-advised or even fatal, April felt truly alive for the first time. There would be no turning back.