» The Meadow Legacy Chapter 1.1 - Avery Meadow’s Meadow

You could say Avery Meadow was in over his head.

Interestingly, you could also say Avery Meadow was in under his head, since he was essentially living in a hole underground.

Avery had purchased this, er, unique property for quite cheap. If you believed the rumors, 15 Summer Hill Court had been acquired by a wealthy businessman hoping to build an underground bunker for his use in the event of a nuclear apocalypse. The project had allegedly been scrapped after a series of unfortunate accidents on and around the property. The businessman was apparently quite superstitious.

Avery, however, was not superstitious, so he happily bought the huge piece of land at a reduced rate, due to the odd underground room. He used his entire savings, plus the money he’d earned from selling his late father’s house, to buy the land plus a few essentials to furnish his hole in the ground. His possessions consisted of a toilet, a fridge, a bed and an easel. Avery was not a wealthy man. Incidentally, he wasn’t an employed man, either, and he knew he would need to change that if he wanted to keep his property.

Luck was on his side that evening, though, and he noticed a sign on his way to buy food from the supermarket.

“Hiring: Professional Groupies. We’ll pay you to draw a crowd and party at our shows. Details inside.”

The words were emblazoned on the side of a small theater. Avery thought that even he was qualified to be a groupie, so he went inside. A secretary told him that the theater was in desperate need of attention. Its owner wanted to hire young people to pose as groupies, to encourage others to attend shows as well as fluff the egos of the performing bands. Avery was hired on the spot. The pay was low but he would make enough money to feed himself.

Triumphant, Avery headed to the library. He intended to read a book about gardening, since he hoped to grow food on his huge lot, but was distracted by a site left open on one of its computers.

“Sunset Valley Social,” the page read, “Create a profile to find friends and meet singles in the greater Sunset Valley area.”

Avery signed up immediately. Apart from the secretary he’d met at the theater, Avery knew no one in Sunset Valley. He uploaded a picture of himself then browsed through the other profiles. He stopped searching after he stumbled upon a photo of a stunning blonde woman. He clicked on her profile.

“I’m a surgeon who doesn’t have much time to socialize outside of work. Looking to meet new friends and maybe something more.”

Her listed favorites included several books that had been too difficult for him to read in high school. He also noticed that they shared the same favorite band, the Hectic Glow.

Her name was Jamie. She was the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen.

He nervously sent her a private message containing his phone number and some stupid disclaimer about how he was new in town and hoping to make friends. Avery sighed as he logged off. A girl like that would never give him the time of day.

Before bed that night, Avery drank some juice in the hole in the ground. He sat on the toilet since he couldn’t even afford a chair.

He wondered how the hell his life had come to this.