Chapter 17

17

Abraham Lincoln Panim and Mrs. Panim made sure Mrs. Stottle had a proper burial at a local cemetery, and even had a custom headstone made for her.

It read:

“To a saint of a woman.

A true educator, teacher, companion and friend.

Do unto others as you would have the do unto you … treat other people the way you would like to be treated yourself.”

The Panims had lost a true friend, and after a period of mourning, it was time to move on. Mrs. Stottle would have wanted them to do just that.

Mrs. Panim went back to school, but it was now time for Abraham Lincoln Panim to decide what he wanted to do with the rest of his life, and do it without the guidance of Mrs. Stottle, the one friend he had in all the world.

He looked through the want ads in the local newspaper, but always thought that nobody would hire him because of his rat face. He couldn’t keep his scarf on indefinitely, and one day, whoever hired him would find out, and he wouldn’t last very long at any job because of that rat face and the embarrassment it would cause for him.

One day, during their evening walk, Mrs. Panim asked Abraham Lincoln Panim about his future.

“So, what do you think you would like to do with your life?” she asked. “I know you have been looking at the want ads in the newspaper.”

“Yes, I have,” Abraham Lincoln Panim said. “But once they find out about me, who is going to hire me? And if they hire me, once they find out, I will be shown the door.”

“Maybe I can help you,” Mrs. Panim said to her son. “Let me make some calls, do some work on it. Give me a few days.”

Mrs. Panim was tired that particular evening, and she proceeded to go back to the house, but Abraham Lincoln Panim decided to continue his walk, as in the corner of his eye, he had seen someone nearby who interested him.

A long and lean girl with long blond hair had passed him any amount of times while on his late walk, and this time, he saw her sit down on a bench. He also saw her trusty dog with her, a dog which always seemed to accompany her when she did her running.

As she was already sitting, and it wasn’t very far away, Abraham Lincoln Panim approached the bench and sat down at the other end of it.

“Nice night out here,” he said to the girl, hoping against hope that she would reply.

“Yes, it is beautiful out here, perfect for me and my friend here to do our running,” the girl replied, but she did not look at Abraham Lincoln Panim when they spoke.

Abraham Lincoln Panim saw that the girl never looked at him as they continued to converse, and he asked about her dog.

“It is a seeing eye dog. He helps me to see,” the girl said, and it finally dawned on Abraham Lincoln Panim that the girl could not see, and was blind, and was the same girl that he had met when he went to school, and that she was friendly with Brandon Hartung.

“He helps me to maneuver around here, and not bump into anything or anybody,” she told Abraham Lincoln Panim.

“You mean, you can’t see anything?” he asked, as if he didn’t already know that she was blind.

“No, I can’t. I never have been able to see anything, and little Snuff here helps me out, helps me get from one place to another.”

The dog than nudged the girl as Abraham Lincoln Panim moved his scarf a little bit away from his face.

“You know, I kind of know you from school,” he said to her. “I met you on the line the first day, we were on the line together--”

“Yes, I thought your voice sounded familiar,” the girl said as she got up from the bench.

“Ooh, it is time for me to run a little more, and then I have to go back home.”

As she began to run, she said, “Nice meeting you, again,” and began to run with her dog seemingly leading the way.

“What’s your name?” Abraham Lincoln Panim asked, but she was too far away and did not respond.

Abraham Lincoln Panim continued to sit on the park bench for a few minutes as people moved about. He wasn’t the only one taking it easy on one of the benches, as he saw a few benches down, out of the corner of his eye, that there was what he thought was an older woman sitting, too.

He got up from the bench, instinctively looked a few benches down, but the woman was gone, almost as quickly as he had seen her.

Abraham Lincoln Panim went home after that, and he had a lot on his mind.

Mrs. Stottle was still on his mind, and what about his future?

And what about the girl. Would he see her again?