Everything back then, when I was about twelve years old, was so carefree... warm... pure..., and everything was suppose to be perfect. My parents loved each other, my brother and I were close to one another, school was normal, and life just made sense and more worthwhile. We lived in a beautiful house, owned two perfectly running cars, and we were financially stable enough to support a "special" family like us. Life was good to me and my family, until multiple tragic events left my parents in a nasty dispute.

It so happened to be my thirteenth birthday when things started to get complicated. It also happened to be the last happy birthday of my entire life. I was nearly ecstatic that I was finally a teenager, and my only wish was to celebrate my birthday by revisiting and reliving precious childhood memories.

When I was three, my dad took me to the city park where we had a picnic in front of the duck pond. Even then was I not an average child. I didn't go play on the monkey bars, nor did I swing on the swings. The duck pond was my favorite because their were so many ducks, who happened to put on a show every time we were there. Then, when we left the park, my dad took me out to Jerry's Soft Serve, where we got huge ice cream cones for a dollar. As if anything couldn't get better than a nice day out with your dad, then I never really lived life yet. But it was true, I hadn't lived life for long enough.

When I was ten, my parents took me out to Chuck E. Cheese's in which was a child's heaven and hell. I nearly took off a little girl's head because she took the last teddy bear off the shelf, stolen a few token cups because I wanted to play more games, and took a slice of pizza off of an unoccupied table because I was hungry. You can say I was never wanted there ever again.

And just last year, my mom took me out to go shopping with her at the mall. I got a lot of clothes from Urban Outfitters, Forever 21, Pink and Hot Topic because my mom and I had a hard time carrying a bunch of shopping bags out to the parking lot and to the car. Yes, I was a spoiled child, but it was the better times of my life. All I asked, was to have a birthday that felt like happiness because deep down, I knew that things weren't going to be the same once I grew up. Man, was I right...

Hearing a knock sounded upon the closed bedroom door, I sat up straighter in my bed as I carelessly ran a hand into my wild bed hair. Yawning and stretching out my body, the bedroom door opened and my mom peered into the room. As her warm brown eyes landed on my olive green ones, she smiled softly as she came in with a tray of breakfast. "Happy birthday, sweetheart."

"Thank you," I replied with a raspy voice."you made breakfast. Why?"

"Uh, well...," my mom said unenthusiastically, "to be honest, I only made breakfast for me? But I came with a story?!"

"Mom, your breakfast is a cup of bland coffee and a cheese wedge, and no body likes reading in the morning."

"Ok, fine. Your father is making you a small cupcake because he 'forgot' the first cake at the shop; and he dropped the second one all over the kitchen floor. Believe me, we didn't want to spend anymore money on a third soon to be messed up cake. Nah-uh."

"Classic dad," I said thoughtfully as I imagined him dropping a wedding-sized cake on the floor. Hearing another knock on my door, I snapped out of my revery as my dad walked into my room and up to my bed with a weird looking cupcake.

"Happy birthday, munchkin," he greeted me as he set the plate with the weird looking cupcake on my lap.

Looking at the cupcake in disbelief, I glanced at my parents with astonishment. "I thought you guys were kidding!?"

"Nope," my dad replied sheepishly.

"Your father thought it was best to surprise you with something that couldn't be replaced with a perfectly chosen cake," my mom glared disappointingly at my dad. "But, you know. There's always room for screw ups."

Continuing to stare nervously at my parents, my dad gestured towards the plate for me to try the cupcake. Looking down at the plate, I took a shaky breath before I picked it up and brought it to my mouth. Taking a bite into the warm pastry, my eyes widened as I chewed a piece of heaven in my mouth. "Dad? This is good!"

"What," my mom said jealously as she ripped the cupcake out of my hands and stole a bite.

"Awe, thank you, munchkin."

"Herald," my mom asked questioningly. "How come, in the twenty years I've known you, you never made me anything like this?"

"To be honest with you, I never thought I had it in me either." Shaking her head in utter disbelief, my mom took another big bite before she gave it back to me, patting me on the shoulder apologetically.

"Well, we're gonna get ready in a little bit, so it would be very much appreciated if you'd get ready, too," my mom informed as she chewed and swallowed the piece of cupcake in her mouth, not before licking her fingers greedily. Getting off of my bed, she took the cup of coffee and cheese wedge off of the tray before exiting my room.

Still standing next to my bed, my dad put a finger to his mouth before he glanced at the closed door and back at me. "Uh, your mother doesn't know, but that is one of the few things I know how to make. Perfectly, I may add."

"Ahhh... a breakfast pastry with scrambled eggs, roasted ham, fried bacon, a little parmesan, some diced onion and bell pepper, all wrapped in a fluffy, crispy puff pastry dough. Yum."

"And that is why you and me will always have a common interest for food," my dad chuckled before he left me alone with my new favorite breakfast treat.

By the time I finished my breakfast, got dressed and opened a few birthday presents, we were out of the house and in the car. With a big picnic basket in between my brother and I in the back seat, I looked outside as the world rushed by in a blur. I knew we were going to the park, and it was a nice day for some relaxation and entertainment from the chubby ducks in the pond. As we slowly neared the city park, I was silently dancing in my seat as I waited to unbuckle my seatbelt and run excitedly towards the park. When we pulled into a parking space, the engine to the car turned off and we got out, my brother holding the picnic basket.

"Ok, we are here," my dad yelled slightly over a gust of wind. "You may..." Before my dad could finish his sentence, my brother and I took off running towards our favorite spot in the whole entire park.

"Be careful with the basket," my mom yelled paranoid at my brother as he ran after me. I simply didn't care and wanted to go see my dancing friends.

As I got closer to the duck pond, I slowly stopped running as I realized that the ducks aren't there and the pond remained vacant and untouched. Staring sullenly at the calm, crystal blue waters, I lowered my head and shoulders in defeat, not before I got a glimpse of a wooden sign with a sloppy graffitied message. "No more ducks, out of season," I read aloud before I walked the other way with a downcast expression towards my astonish-faced family. Going to help them put down the picnic blanket and tarp, they remained in silence because they knew that I didn't want to talk about it.

"Well," my mom said matter-of-factly. "It's still a beautiful day? There's more exciting things coming your way today."

Glaring daggers at my mom in hurt, she quickly quieted down and the rest of the time at the park was silent while everyone else had fun, playing and running around the apparatus. Where's my fun? By the time we left the park, the next stop was to get some soft serve from Walter's Waffle Emporium.