Ashes to Ashes

Ch. 1 Alaina

"Beep! Beep! Beep!" my alarm clock screamed.

I flipped over and turned it off. I rubbed the sleep away from my eyes and checked the time.

"Four a.m. Good." I said.

I got up and got ready to go for my morning jog. I put on some sweat pants, an old, long sleeved T-shirt, and my tennis shoes. I grabbed my mp3 player and my headphones, then headed out the door. I slowly tip toed over to my little sisters room and checked on her. She was still peacefully, asleep. I left the door open a crack and then headed down stairs.

I stepped outside onto the porch and was greeted by a soft, warm breeze. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. The spring peepers sang a song, a dog in the distance barked, and the coyotes howled. It all sounded like one big choir. It was peaceful and calming. It made me feel like there was still hope and peace in this world of chaos. I opened my eyes and the sun wasn't even rising yet. Everything was still pitch black. I turned my flashlight on, put my headphones in, and began to jog down the road. The darkness basically swallowed me but I kept running anyways. By the time I ran a mile one way there was enough light to turn my flashlight off. I stopped to take a break. I put my hands over my head and breathed slowly. When I felt that I could go on again I began to jog home.

When I got home my mom was up. She had a cup of tea on her left side and then a bottle of whiskey on her right. She picked up her tea and sipped on it slowly, she didn't even look up at me. I sat down across from her and drank some water.

"Have a nice run?" she asked, still not looking up at me.

"Uh, yeah." I said.

She didn't say anything and there was just silence.

"Well, I'm going to go wake Christina up and get her ready to go." I got up and headed up stairs.

Half way up the stairs my mom stopped me.

"Hey Alaina! In town today can you buy me a pack of beer. I don't care which kind. I'm running on empty."

"Mom, um. We're a little short on money this month."

"What are you talking about?! What did you spend it on?! You greedy, little bastard!" my mom said, yelling as loud as she could.

"I bought Christina a new dress. She needed something new and nice. She needed it. All her clothes are old and ripped up." I said, barely above a whisper.

"She doesn't deserve it! That little girl does nothing around here!"

"Mom! She's only four! And she does more than you! All you do is drown yourself in alcohol and expect me to buy it for you!"

My mom fell silent. I just turned around and stomped up stairs to Christina's room. When I walked through the door, she was already up.

"Hey Firefly." I said, softly.

Christina rubbed her eyes and then smiled.

"It's time to get up and get ready for the day. You can wear your new dress."

"Yay!" Christina said while clapping.

I gently picked her up and took her into my room. I laid her down on my bed and then searched for her dress in my closet. Her and I both shared a closet, we used to share the room but my mom wanted that to change. I never understood why but on most nights Christina comes in and crawls into my bed and sleeps with me anyways.

I changed Christina into her new dress and I could tell it made her feel pretty.

"Look! I'm purty." she said, giggling.

I smiled, "Yes you are."

I brushed Christina's hair out and then put it up into pig tails. She giggled when she looked at herself in the mirror. She looked at me and then took my hand.

"Come on Sissy! Let's dance."

She began to jump around and spin in circles. I smiled and joined her.