BEEP, BEEP, BEEP, BE-SMACK! I rolled my head to face the clock, it was five thirty. This gave me enough time to take a shower, throw on my clothes, and get to work. I had to be there early because it was my turn to clean all the lion crap. I looked out my window. The sun was already starting to shine through. The weather man said it was going to be a hot one today, 89 degrees to be precise. After I showered I threw on my “Roger William’s Zoo” uniform shirt, khaki shorts, and my rain boots. They were bright yellow like a dandelion, and I always wear them on sunny days. Well, ever since that day.
“Daddy, play in the puddles with me,” yelled Olivia. She was only four at the time. It was one of those out-of-the-blue summer showers and she was splashing away in the puddles in the back yard. She was wearing a blue dress and a yellow rain coat with matching boots. I was twenty eight, and I was going to take my daughter to the zoo for the first time. We lived only twenty minutes away and I was going to show her all the animals for the first time.

“C’mon Olivia, you can play in the puddles later. Don’t you want to see the elephants and lions?” I called to her. She ran towards me and jumped into my arms.

“Daddy,” she asked, “is Mama gonna come with us?” I shook my head, but I didn’t tell her that we might never see ‘Mama’ again since she got a new boyfriend.
We were ten minutes away from the zoo when it happened. The rain fell harder and it was becoming difficult to see, I slowed the car down to make sure nothing bad would happen. But it didn’t help. A car came out of nowhere and slammed right into my side of the car. “Luckily” my injuries were not fatal, but Olivia’s were. The doctors said when the car slammed into us some of the glass penetrated the back of her skull. She was dead within seconds, a quick, painless, death.

The funeral was a few days later. I didn’t think I could go on without my little girl, but then I noticed something. I noticed how bright the sun was, how happy the dandelions looked, and it all reminded me of Olivia. All the happiness she had given me and how bright her smile was. So I decided to wear yellow rain boots on sunny days to remind me of Olivia’s final moments of happiness.