First Chapters: All Alone by Carlie Simonsen

All Alone is a short tale about the trials of two children after their parents go missing while Christmas shopping in a shopping centre that suffers a bombing attack.

Jason must look after his little sister Emmie when they find themselves alone in a city, in another country, far from home. Did their parents survive the bomb blast, and can they find them, or will they be stuck growing up in the care of strangers and never see home again?

All Alone is the debut chapter book for tweens by Carlie Simonsen. It is currently available from Smashwords, and will shortly become available from Kobo, Kindle, and CreateSpace.

First Chapter: All Alone

The gun spat bullets at the night.

Bark! Bark! Bark!

Jason could hear it yelling in the dark. He could see the yellow flash every time it barked up another bullet. He slid off his bed and lay down on the floor.

Bark! Bark! Bark!

The gun yelled again. Jason heard footsteps outside his room. Someone knocked and the door opened.

It was Jason's little sister. Her brown eyes were as wide as they could go and her hair was messy. She looked like a ghost in her dressing-gown.

She looked at Jason's bed. He saw how she clutched her teddy closer to her chest. She couldn't see him.

"Emmie," he called.

She jumped. Jason saw her bite her lip to keep from crying. He had to smile. His sister was one tough little kid.

"Emmie," he called again, "I'm under here."

Emmie crouched down so she could see under his bed.

"Jason?" she whispered. "Is that you?"

"Yep. You want to hide here with me?"

Bark! Bark! Bark!

The gun yapped at the stars. Jason heard the smack, smack, smack of bullets hitting the house.

"Hurry up, Emmie," he said. "You'll be safe here with me."

Emmie hurried. She did not stand up. She crawled along the floor, holding her teddy in her mouth. She dragged her doona behind her.

When she got to Jason, she hugged him tightly. He could tell she was afraid. She only hugged him like that when she was scared.

He pulled her doona over her head and stroked her hair.

"Sshh," he whispered, when he heard her crying in the dark.

"It's not me," she sobbed. "It's teddy. He gets really scared when we're alone."

Jason hugged her and the teddy.

"Well you tell him he doesn't have to be scared. You're safe here," Jason said.

Bark! Bark! Bark! Bark! Bark! Bark!

Reeow! Reeow! Reeow!

This time there was the sound of police sirens and the yellow flash of the gun was lost in the red and blue of the police cars' lights.

Emmie hugged her teddy and Jason hugged her. He wished they had never come to this part of the city! He wished his mum and dad hadn't been shopping the day the bomb went off.