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I hate to admit it, she has to make sense sometimes, and this is one of those things. Please, please, please. I have to try and get through this. Can’t you just try and support me
emotionally
?”
    Tamara gave an exaggerated sigh, complete with a full eye roll. “Fine. I mean, if I don’t who will?”
    “That’s what I’m talking about,” Candace said. It seemed like a hugging kind of moment but the table was in the way. “VH?” Candace asked.
    “VH.”
    VH stood for virtual hug, something they had made up when actual hugs were not possible. It was usually a phone thing, but it worked just as well now, and Candace could already feel her mood improving. She saw the waitress headed towards their table, and she picked up her spoon in anticipation. “Banana split, you are all mine.”

     
    “I want to quit,” Candace wailed.
    Martha patted her shoulder sympathetically. “There, there, dear. It will be all right.”
    “But you weren’t there yesterday, Martha. It was terrible.”
    It had taken all of her courage to show up to work. She hadn’t wanted to. She had been sore and embarrassed and more than a little frightened. She knew there was no way she could go back later, though, if she called in sick for a few days.
    “I didn’t have to be there to understand. All of us have a story like that one — some of us more than one. It’s part of life and learning. Why, if babies stopped trying to walk the first time they fell down, the whole world would be full of people who crawled.”
    Candace smiled at the image. “It’s so hard, though.”
    “Well, if it was easy, they wouldn’t call it
work
, would they? You just need to stick in there. You’ll get the hang of it, I promise. And who knows, you might start to like working here. I just know that whenever you start out anywhere, it’s hard. And a theme park, fun as it is, is no exception.”
    Candace thought about it for a moment before she had to admit, “You know, Martha, you’re really smart.”
    “Comes with age and experience,” the older woman said. “Mark my words, in another week, you’ll start to feel better about all this.”

5
     
    Candace had to admit that Martha was right. She had made it to the next Saturday, and things were starting to feel easier. The scratches on her ankles had healed, and she was starting to feel like she was getting the hang of the cotton candy cart. It had moved two more times on her now, and she had walked calmly beside it to the new locations without incident.
    Better yet, she was beginning to appreciate the freedom that came with working a cart instead of one of the attractions. The biggest advantage was that you never knew where you would be next. After spending the previous day stuck in the Game Zone and listening to the sounds of all the midway games — loud music, popping balloons, buzzers, and the other dozen things mixed in — she was glad for a change of pace. It was with relief that she found out she’d be spending the day in the History Zone. The History Zone was broken into five sections: Ancient Egypt, Ancient Greece, Medieval Europe, Colonial America, and the Old West. Her first stop of the day was in the medieval area.
    The medieval area of the History Zone was one of Candace’s favorite parts of the park. The fairy-tale castle wrapped around a courtyard where vendors sold fresh apples with slices of cheese and a caramel dipping sauce, roasted turkey legs, and a variety of princess- and dragon-themed merchandise. Inside the castle you could visit Marion’s Shop, which was filled with everything a little girl could want, or Prince John’s Ill-Gotten Gains, where young Robin Hoods could find all the plunder they dreamed of.
    The castle walls extended along a massive banquet hall that was home to King Richard’s Feast. Diners ate family style at the long tables and joined King Richard in a celebration of the engagement of Robin Hood and Maid Marion. There were four seatings a day during the