Ashes, Ashes, We All Fall Down

Chapter 1

Leona McCorey had just returned home from her job as a middle school teacher. She had gone to pick up the mail from the old mailbox that hunched feebly in front of her home. As she walked the gravel pathway leading up to the door, she fiddled aimlessly through the thick lump of papers in her hand.

“Bills…check…holiday card…”

Not really paying attention to where she was going, she gazed with interest at the card while she continued to pad her way through the lonely house. It was from her friend Alice Shang, who lived just down the road as a single mother with two children. Both had been friends since college and they got on well. Alice was Leona’s closest confidant.

Hey Leona!

The kids and I are having a blast here at Wood Creek Carnival! There’s so much to see and do. Can you believe such a great place is only an hour from where we live? Wish you were here! I got you a little something extra.

-Alice

The card was decorated with a dramatic forest landscape, illuminated up with rollercoaster and Ferris wheel lights.

She smiled when she saw what was enclosed. Four tickets to the carnival, apparently for her own family. Alice must have really enjoyed herself there…

She floated aimlessly into a daydream, staring out the window which strained out the last golden rays of the March sun. It was just a few more days until Spring Break. The McCoreys had never had much money, so luxuries like an amusement park were rare. Her kids would be so excited.

Leona was thirty-eight years old, but she didn’t show it. Her soft, wavy brown hair and wide caramel-colored eyes gave her the appearance of a young woman of privilege. She was anything but a woman of privilege, however—she’d grown up in the working class, and had been raised to be humble, charitable and careful.

Her husband, Malcolm, was not much like his gentle spouse. He was tall and powerfully built, with thin blond hair and watery gray eyes. Although he was a generally quiet and serious man, he could get into a temper at times. Leona would be the only one able to calm him down.

Living with a husband and her two children, Chace and Samantha, was really a dream come true. She loved children and being able to have a family to call her very own.

Just then, she heard a key turn in the door lock. Her son and daughter slumped inside, both apparently exhausted from school and their long walk home from the bus stop.

Chace was the elder sibling, a sixteen-year old boy. He had inherited his father’s quiet and serious manner, along with his sandy hair. The only thing he had not received were his piercing light blue eyes, an oddity in the McCorey family. Chace didn’t do very well in school, only focusing on music and songwriting.

Samantha, an eighth grader, had her mother’s genes. Her hair was wavy, but chocolate brown, the same color as her eyes. The opposite of her brother, Samantha was a quirky, fun girl who did well in classes and had a good social life.

Leona smiled as her children came into the kitchen. “How was your day?” she asked brightly.

“Good enough,” replied Samantha. Chace didn’t speak. His mother eyed him curiously.

“Oh,” Samantha said, shooting a quick glance at her brother’s downcast features.

In a much quieter tone, she sighed, “He got beat up again after school today.”

Grimacing, Chace turned to his sister. “I told you not to tell her that.”

“Well, too bad. She should know about it.”

“Suck-up,” he murmured under his breath.

“Sweetie,” Leona said to her son, “Don’t worry about it. Give it a few more days and it’ll be Spring Break.”

“I’ll just have to go back afterwards.”

“You know what I mean.”

After a short pause, Leona continued, “And I think I have something to cheer you up during the break. We’re going to a carnival.”

Chace rolled his eyes. “Very funny, Mom.”

“He’s right,” piped up his sister. “The only amusement park in California is Disneyland, and that’s too far away.”

Leona gave him the letter. He and Samantha examined it carefully.

Her son’s reluctant face became a grin. “Wood Creek Carnival. Well, this should be interesting, if anything.”