Prologue

 
Mara Conley stood in the still night.  All she heard was the rustling of the leaves along the sidewalk and the creaking of a left over Christmas ornament hanging from a utility pole.  She could smell a slight whiff of smoke from someone who had burned his or her leaves earlier in the evening.  The moon was not full, but full enough that she could see the shops and the town that she had left eight years ago.  She was standing in front of her Mom’s beauty shop; she shivered, not knowing if it was from the cool autumn night or because she was back where she started from eight years ago.

 
There were no lights on in any of the shops, they roll the sidewalks up early in small town USA, and this was one of the smallest.  From what she could see, there were several empty storefronts up and down the street, windows boarded up, forlorn looking in the night.  Her Mother’s shop was still there in the little building with the grand name of Main Street Mall.  The front window displayed antiques, which meant Nancy’s show was still there but she couldn’t tell if any of the other shops were still open.  Well at least Mother’s shop is still here, she thought.

 
Mara wondered how her Mom would react when she showed up at the shop.  Was her Dad still alive?  She had no way of knowing.  The years had slipped by and Mara hadn’t kept in contact with anyone from home.  She had decided to come home, perhaps to get some questions answered that had been gnawing at her inside.  She knew she had to find herself, and the only way to do that was to come home.

 
She sighed and got back into her little Cavalier.  She turned on the heater to take the chill away from her body and sat for a few moments, just thinking of the last time she had been in this little town.  This was her hometown and her beginnings.  Slowly she drove back to the interstate and then to Springfield to find a room.  I’ll start fresh in the morning, she thought.