Chapter One: A Sombre Town

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My name is Noah Parker, a 25-year-old college dropout stuck in the humdrum of a small town just outside Albany, New York. The monotony of my life had settled in like the grey clouds that perpetually loomed over our little community. I found myself working for an estate liquidation company, a job that paid the bills but did little to quench the thirst for something more meaningful.

As I navigated through the cluttered houses of the deceased, cataloguing their belongings, and removing frames which documented the ideal life of the people who hung them, I couldn't help but reflect on how I ended up here. College dreams had fizzled out, ambitions had dimmed, and here I was, surrounded by the remnants of other people's lives.

One day, my boss sent me on an assignment to Germantown, New York. It seemed like just another routine job, preparing a property for an estate sale. Little did I know, this would be the day my life took an unexpected turn.

The air in Germantown carried a certain stillness, a quietness that added an eerie touch to the already sombre atmosphere of estate liquidation. I made my way to the garage, expecting the usual assortment of forgotten treasures and dusty relics. What I found, however, was far from ordinary.

In the corner of the dimly lit garage sat a peculiar machine. Its metallic surface coated with dust displayed an array of buttons and dials upon its front panel. I approached it cautiously, my curiosity piqued.

As I examined the strange contraption, a realization dawned on me – I might have stumbled upon a time machine. Call it intuition or sheer fantasy, but something about this machine screamed the impossible. My skepticism wavered as I entertained the idea that this bizarre apparatus could transport me through time; to a time where my life was full of colour.

With a mix of trepidation and excitement, I decided to put the machine to the test. I hesitated for a moment, weighing the consequences of tampering with the fabric of time. But then, with a resigned shrug, I figured I had nothing to lose – my present wasn't exactly a pinnacle of happiness.

The dial on the machine, however, presented a peculiar limitation. It refused to accept any future date; instead, it only allowed me to set a date in the past. A time-travelling relic with a backward gaze.

After contemplating the potential ramifications, I settled on a date that seemed both safe and intriguing – May 1, 1996, five days before my own birth. The irony of witnessing the world right before I entered it wasn't lost on me.

With a deep breath, I adjusted the dials, set the date, and prepared for whatever awaited me on the other side. The hum of the machine intensified, and as the world around me blurred, I braced myself for a leap into the unknown.

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