From Dawn to Dusk
an excerpt

Days turned into weeks as Halloween passed with no haunted house at the Michaels'. The days were much shorter now, and Erin had pulled the car out and drove her dad and herself to work every morning. After a decent cold spell the weather had turned warmer, and an unusual amount of precipitation meant only one thing: rain.

Erin did not like rain. One of the reasons winter was her favorite season instead of spring was because in the winter it snowed and in the spring it rained. This winter, it seemed the seasons had other things in mind. It was cruel, really. Ruining her favorite season with her least favorite weather. Absolutely depressing, really.

Erin pulled her thoughts back to her present. While the rain poured outside in a way she hadn’t seen since she visited the damp, wet, fertile valley on the other side of the mountains, Tippy was wolfing down a bowl of chili and a plate of cornbread, butter and honey.

Erin felt a smile pulling at her lips. Ah, Tippy. She was such a kid sometimes. She was only a few years younger than Erin but, not long out of high school, she seemed younger still. They’d been working at the same place for quite some time now – Erin would’ve said working together, but they didn’t really – they just worked at the same building. They were always working independently. They’d started eating lunch together shortly after Tippy started working at the library, but they mostly talked about mundane, every day things. Or rather, Tippy mostly talked. Erin listened.