Paris

I looked up at the stars knowing that my family would try their hardest to comfort me through the tough times. Today was the first time I had felt alone in years. My mother had left us and my father didn’t know what to do.

I had two younger siblings that were clueless when it came to something serious. My mother and father were always fighting but no one could have predicted her leaving. She had always been around when we needed her most. Everyone was acting as if nothing had happened. 

This was probably the most serious thing to occur to my family. Do you know that family you see in the park who are always playing games and laughing? That was my family. Nothing could break us, we were stuck together.

Ever since yesterday(the day she left), my father has been trying to cheer us up. So far he has made Jasmine, and Corie laugh so hard milk came out their noses. Nothing has even made me giggle. 

There was one thing on my mind. One thing that my mother had promised me. It probably sounds selfish and obnoxious but she promised to take me to Paris on my seventeenth birthday. Of course, she had to leave right before my birthday. It was tomorrow. The reason I wanted to go so bad was because she named me after the city. Yes, my name is Paris. She used to say, “It’s the most beautiful place I have ever seen. So it reminded me of you.”

She always cheered me up with her words. Tomorrow would be the first birthday I would have without my mother. As hard as I tried not to think about her, the thoughts just came rushing back to my head. 

There was nothing my father could do to cheer me up. I needed my mother. I was never going to see her again. Looking up at the night sky and stars made me feel a bit better. It reminded me of how beautiful the world was. 

I would have fallen asleep if my father hadn’t called me. “Paris! I know what will cheer you up! I finally found out why you are so sad. Well, actually Jasmine told me,” There was a small pause. I knew I should have never told Jasmine about my problems. “I bought us two tickets to Paris! I know your mother promised to take you. I know it’s not the same, but you’ll get to see the place we named you after!”

I was happy, but not too happy. I got to see Paris, but without my mom. At least it would give me a chance for some time alone with my father. He told me to pack quickly since our flight was tomorrow. 

I packed all the clothes I thought I would need. We were staying for two days so I didn’t need too much. There was something I definitely knew I needed to bring. My mother had bought me a shirt the day she said she was going to take me to Paris. 

It was my favorite shirt, but I had never worn it. I was saving it for the special day. I was pink and said Paris in bold black letters. It was the perfect size for me. I had never tried it on, but I knew it would fit. The tag was still on it, and I decided I would take it off when we got there. 

Once I finished packing I brought my bag downstairs and told my father I was finished. He told me to get some sleep since we would be leaving early tomorrow morning. I went back up and tucked myself in. I immediately fell asleep. I didn’t know how tired I was. 

Instead of having a dream that night, all I saw was black. Nothing but black. It was relaxing and calming. Nothing to frighten me or over excite me. 

I woke up to the smell of pancakes. Was my father cooking? Last time he did that the fire department had to come! I needed to get down there. I quickly dressed in my favorite pink dress and brushed my hair into a high pony-tail. I brushed my teeth and went downstairs. “Paris! There you are! You up for some pancakes?” 

“Um...sure?” I didn’t know if this was some kind of trick. Maybe we weren’t going to Paris after all, and he wanted to get me in a good mood. 

“Is this a trick?” I tried not to sound rude, but I needed it straight.

“A trick? Of course not! I just want this to be the best day of your life! So eat up we’ve got a plane to catch in about thirty minutes.”

“That’s not a lot of time! Shouldn’t we get going now?” I said. I had never seen my father acting so… chill.

“Don’t worry! We’ll get there when we get there.” Did those words really just come out of my father?

I ate my pancakes as fast as I could. They were actually good. Usually, my mother was the cook of the family. Then I remembered, my mother was the one who first taught me how to make pancakes. I suddenly felt tears build up in my eyes. My father clearly noticed.

“Come on! Paris time! Let’s go!” I whipped my tears away and suddenly felt happier.

A couple of minutes later we heard the honk of a car. The taxi was here! It was time. We said goodbye to Corie, and Jasmine and then walked out the door to the taxi. 

***

When we finally arrived at the airport we had to run to catch our plane. I knew we should have left earlier.

We finally reached our gate and boarded the plane. It took a long time but we finally reached Paris! On the way over I watched a bunch of movies with my dad. 

We got off the plane and I couldn’t be more excited. It was already late so we had to go straight to our hotel. Paris was beautiful at night. Even though it was night there was so much light. 

Our hotel wasn’t far from the airport so we reached it in about fifteen minutes. It was fancier than I expected. They had the biggest lawn out front. I looked around and I couldn’t get my smile to fade. I knew mother would love it. “Hey, what do you say we just stay outside for a little and look up at these amazing stars?” So that’s what we did.

For the next hour, we stared up at the beautiful Paris stars.