Ashes of Sunlight

My thanks to kaitlyn, who gave my story a review!!!! Please, review my story and let me know what you think! If I don't get any feedback, I'm gonna get bored and stop writing.





Ash sat back down on the bed and decided to review some things. 1) she couldn't go home. 2) she couldn't cantact her friends or family, since they'd never believe her over Gavin. 3)She had about $200 on her, not counting the credit cards, which she still wasn't sure if she could use or not. 4) She was still in California...Santa Carla, if she remembered the exit sign correctly. 5) she had no idea where to go from here.



Well, the first thing to do would be get breakfast. Coffee always made it easier to think, and she hadn't eaten much the day before. Leaving her duffle on the floor, Ash scooped up her purse and headed out the door, stopping only to ask the person at the front desk where she could go for breakfast. "If you go one block down, take a right and walk two blocks down, across the street is a really nice diner. Plus, it's a short walk from there to the beach." Deciding to walk instead of driving, Ash followed the directions and found herself infront of a quaint little cafe. Whatever, it had food and coffee and that's all she cared about. Ordering a cup of coffee and some eggs, she stared blindly out the window until the waitress brought her order. She ate the eggs mechanically, but enjoyed the jolt of caffiene in the coffee. Finding out that the beach was only three blocks away and one block over, Ash decided to check it out.



Finally looking up from the sidewalk, she noticed it was a sunny summer day, hot and bright and dug out her sunglasses. Fashionable AND fuctionable, ha. The town seemed to be a little run down, but not too bad. Certainly not Beverly Hills standards, but not hovels, either. At least, not that she could see. Spotting a sign a bit away, she squinted as she tried to make out the reading. wait, it was graffeti. "the murder capital of the world". huh, that didn't sound very safe. Still she'd look at the beach, put her feet in the surf, then head back to the motel and figure out what to do and where to go. Didn't seem like this was a good place to stay, although she hadn't seen anything too bad, other than the sign.



Finally reaching the beach, Ash made her away around hyper children, exhausted parents, lazy teens, and the hardcore water sprot enthusiasts to a slightly deserted area. Amazingly, she also found some shade, as the sun passed behind spome clouds, and she sat down to relax.



After about half an hour of people watching, Ash heard a little girl screaming as her mother dragged her off the beach. "But mama, I want cotton candy. I want cotton candy, mama! No, mama, cotton candy!" the girl shrieked, and Ash looked around for the pink sugary goodness. Nope, only ice cream, hot dogs, and soda served on the beach,but down a bit was the boardwalk. That must have been where the little girl and her mother had come from, and where Ash could find some cotton candy, a treat she hadn't had in a while as her parents refused to get it for her. First, though, she had to get back to her room and come up with a plan. A destination. Anything.



Hours later, all Ash had was a headache from staring at the map she'd bought. No plan, no destination, nothing. Not to mention that it was dinnertime and she had kinda skipped lunch. Deciding to take a break to get food and maybe explore the boardwalk (and get some cotton candy), Ash headed back to the beach. It was just arting to get dark, and Ash was glad it wasn't as glaringly bright and hot as it had been earlier. Buying two hotdogs from the guy at the beach, she ate them as she walked to the boardwalk.



The boardwalk, like any boardwalk, was huge. She couldn't tell how long exactly it went on for, but it couldn't be too hard to find cotton candy. Families, couples, and groups were all out having fun, and Ash felt envious of all of them. Spotting a cotton candy stand, Ash bought a stick and continued down the boardwalk. Some of the jewelery and other stuff being sold caught her eye, and she would stop from tome to time to take a look, but she didn't buy anything. Noticing the rides, Ash got on the rollercoaster, then the tea pots,then rode another rollercoaster. She had to take a seat after that, to catch her breath. Needing the restroom, she went in search, only to get lost from all of the different directions people kept giving her. Finally finding it, she went in and used the facilities, washed her hands, and exited. Only to find herself face-to-face with a massive board of "missing" fliers. Missing dogs, missing cats, missing children. Missing teens, missing adults, missing seniors. Seemed like this was the place to get lost, considering the overcrowed board. Okay, maybe it was time to get back to the lights and the people and the noise.



"Hey chica, looking good. You're a hot mamacita!" the catcall came from behind her, from one of the men in the group that had been leaning against a nearby building. Ignoring the wolf whistles and other suggestive comments, Ash walked away, desperatly relieved when they didn't fallow her. Maybe it was time to go back to her room and take another look at her map. Rushing to make it back to her room before it got really dark, she accidentally ran into an obstacle in her path. One wearing black pants, and a black jacket, kinda like a trenchcoat. Shit. Looking up, she saw the bright blond hair, the blue eyes, and the slightly cruel smile. Well, it looked like she'd just jumped out of the pot and into the fire. Now she just had to find out how badley she'd get burned.