The weather had been been fluctuating constantly. One minute sunny, the next a startling gray, as if someone threw a blanket to shield the light. Some people from the city would look up and say, “Is it going to rain?” People who knew better would just shake their heads say, “Wait for a minute, and the sun will come back.” The weather–like this–always made the city dark and gloomy for some time, until the sun loomed into view. The sun and the clouds seemed to conflict on who would appear on a certain day. Both were equal. But the absence of the sun–for nearly half this particular day–made people wonder if they should bring an umbrella.

But hope came. The invincible clouds finally parted, giving way to the blinding sun as Stella, a girl with an umbrella in her hand, leaped off the bus and hurried through the busy streets near her house. The sidewalk was congested with so many people, that she had to say “excuse me” every time she tried to walk past someone. She noticed many people pointing up at the sky and lowering their umbrellas, exclaiming at the sudden reappearance of the sun. She glanced up and noticed that it was true. Almost the entire day was a gloomy gray, but the sun finally gave out. She smiled at that, and tucked away her umbrella, weaving in and out of the throng of people. Cars honked occasionally and the smell of gasoline from the bus still lingered in the air. Street shops bordered against the sidewalk were selling food and clothes, but she didn’t stop– even though she was starving.

Her parents were thinking of a place to go for spring break, and she didn’t want to miss out on their ideas. Since she knew they were thinking of going to a place involving education, she had to act fast before they think of going to a monotonous place again like last time. Her feet pounded against the sidewalk, still thinking hard. Suddenly, she smelled the aroma of cinnamon. She looked up and was surprised to see a street shop seller holding out a cinnamon pastry to her. She realized she was so engrossed in her thinking that she didn’t hear her asking if she wanted a cinnamon pastry. She politely shook her head and continued pondering. An idea suddenly sprang up to her head while she was still on the busy street. She rounded a corner and finally entered her quiet neighborhood. The sun shone brightly against the clouds, sending warmth around the air. The birds chirped merrily and the tall mulberry trees beside the sidewalk, loomed and casted long shadows around her. A swarm of bees hovered around some flowers aside from the sidewalk. She inhaled in the sunshine’s warmth and relaxed a bit after hearing the sound of the busy streets finally diminish. Now I can think peacefully. But she realized that the racket of the busy streets had made her forgotten the idea she had on her mind. Still thinking of the idea she was thinking of before, she crossed the street, when a poster suddenly caught her eye. There was a picture of an orca on it, and it stated, “Come Visit our Marine Animals at SeaWorld!” An idea materialized in her head and she rejected her forgotten idea she had previously. She quickly finished crossing the street and went into her house.

“Mom, Dad, I’m home! Can we go to SeaWorld, a theme park I just saw that was advertised on a poster?” asked Stella excitedly to her parents, who were hovering over a map across the dining room.

“I don’t know, we’ve already decided on going to a museum,” her mother replied wearily, still studying the map.
Her father glanced up from the map and said, “I’m sure you would like this museum, Stella, it has a lot of artifacts on fossils.”

He went back to studying the map after saying this. She knew that they were going to say this. It’s always a museum that her parents decide on going. Before, she didn’t argue on going to a museum for winter break, or the break before that. But this time she decided that she would not go to a museum again.

“SeaWorld can be a theme park, but it can also be a great place to learn about animals!” Stella insisted.

She could tell that they were still hesitant by the way they were exchanging glances, which always meant “no”. But she was still determined to convince them, so she searched up some reviews for SeaWorld.

“Mom, Dad, look what I found!” Stella exclaimed after five minutes of searching. She lowered the computer, scrolling through the reviews. Her parents looked at each review carefully.

“I guess we can try it out…” her mother started hesitantly. “I mean… what do you think of this, since you are the driver?” her mother questioned her father.

Stella’s father took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes wearily. “I say we can give it a try, since I can’t seem to find the location of this museum,” he replied pinching the bridge of his nose in exasperation.

A slow smile creeped up onto Stella’s face, threatening to split her face in half as she processed this through her head. I am going to SeaWorld!

After what seemed like hours, her family finally got ready and packed to go. A while later, they arrived at their destination, circling around trying to find a parking space. Startling bright colors of blue flashed before her, as she took in the place she was looking at. She glanced up and noticed a blue wooden wave structure curled with dotted white seafoam painted at the end. A SeaWorld sign stood beside it. Stella strained against her seatbelt to see more, and noticed towering roller coasters behind the structure. She looked at one of the roller coasters, peeking above the theme park’s tall wave structure and sucked in her breath as the roller coaster’s cart slowly started climbing a steep hill with many people seated in it. Shrieks escaped from a few people, as the cart abruptly plummeted down. She turned away from the sight, bursting with excitement. An orca embedded on a tall SeaWorld sign grinned at her as she rolled down the car window and breathed in, smelling a whiff of the ocean. She recognized the logo of SeaWorld stamped on another nearby sign, as they drove on to find a parking place. When they got off from the car, she raced to the grinning orca sign and begged her parents to take a picture of her with it. She wanted to remember the moment she was looking so forward to. Her parents took a picture of her beaming with the orca, and they entered the theme park.

The aroma of caramel popcorn wafted up to her nose immediately as they entered in. Her stomach growled a bit, but she was too excited to care about the delectable food they had there. While her parents were busy reading the map, she decided to explore by herself a bit. As she strolled around, she saw numerous entrances leading to different exhibits in the aquarium. She decided that she would go to the aquarium second after going on the park’s rides. Clicks and whistles in the distance abruptly interrupted her mind as she looked up and saw people congregate near an immense water tank. She trailed behind the people, and saw dolphins with trainers proficiently performing on their backs. She planted a note in her head, deciding her family should go to this show first before going on the park’s rides.

Moments later, Stella skipped back to her parents who were still perplexed on the map and announced, “Let's watch the dolphin show first!”

Her parents agreed, relieved that their daughter came up with a plan and already knew where their first destination was. They watched the show and applauded hard when the show was over. The family was surprised to see the trainers perform dangerous tricks on the dolphins’ backs without falling over. After the show, Stella’s family were able to encounter the dolphins at a closer view. Stella petted one of dolphins, marveling at how smooth and slippery the dolphin skin was. The dolphin trainer explained to her that if you feel a shark’s skin it will be the opposite of a dolphin’s. “The rough skin of a shark resembles a sandpaper,” the trainer informed Stella.

After the encounter of the dolphins, the family visited the other marine animals: killer whales, sea turtles, penguins, beluga whales, sharks, and the california sea lions.

Stella’s stomach growled once more, and she decided to take a break after seeing most of the marine animals. She asked her parents if she could have some lunch.

“What do you want to eat?” asked her mom, looking at one of the food stalls’ menu.

Stella looked up at the menu and after some time replied, “I think I will have a cheeseburger and a coke.”

Her mom nodded and decided on the same food as Stella, and her dad decided on fries and a pepsi. Once they were done ordering, they carried out the trays of food and sat down, eating together as a family. After they were done eating, Stella’s mom suggested her to go to the restroom to wash her hands, since her hands were both covered with hamburger grease.

“Can I go to the restroom by myself?” asked Stella.

“No, I will go with you. What if something happens, how would I know where you are?” Stella’s mother sternly reasoned. Stella tried not to protest. She didn’t like it when her mother still treated her like a baby. But she went with it anyway, since she wanted to resume her exploring as soon as possible. On the way to the restroom with her mother leading her, they passed a gift shop. On display was a water globe. Stella paused to admire at it with a longing look on her face. Her mother was already disappearing around a corner. She hesitated. I’ll just take a quick look. She glanced at a clock as she entered in, trying to memorize the time as she didn’t want to stay for too long. She was surprised to see the variety of things they had there. There were rows and rows of black shelves, each displaying water globes, animal keychains, sculptures, and other things. Peering into one of the water globes, she saw her distorted reflection, but also saw a polar bear in mid-roar on an island of ice. A thin layer of glitter settled at the bottom of the globe. Stella shook the globe curiously, and gasped in surprise to see the globe miraculously fill with falling glittering snow, reminding her of Christmas. She then studied the polar bear and marveled at the elaborate carvings, making it look very realistic. Her eyes traveled on to the other displayed gifts, finally landing on an antique clock. She looked at the clock, and cried out in alarm to see that fifteen minutes had passed since she entered in the store. She rushed out of the store, nearly knocking over a penguin statue.

Looking around desperately, Stella tried to find her mother. She ran toward the direction she last saw her. I remember her rounding the corner somewhere here When she finally rounded the same corner where she saw her mother turned before she entered in the gift shop, she was stunned to see three other paths leading to another set of directions. She looked around wildly at each path, trying decide which path led to the mother. She walked toward one of the paths, but stopped in her tracks. Another thought formed: what if I take the wrong path and it gets me more lost? She thought again. Should I search for her or should I report to someone who works here that I am lost? Beads of sweat popped from her forehead as she struggled to regain her composure. Tears brimmed her eyes. Why didn’t I follow her? Why did I have to enter that gift shop? Now, I will never find her in this crowd. She cried harder, and didn’t even notice the presence of someone beside her. The person tapped her on the shoulder. Stella looked up and saw a girl with long blond hair that was older than her with a concerned expression on her face.

“Are you okay?” asked the girl warily.

“No, I don’t know where my mom is!” wailed Stella and she started crying again. Her mother always told her to never answer strangers, but she was too distracted to care.

“Okay, I think it would be better if you wait here until your mother comes. She would know where to find you if you stay put,” the girl told her gently. Stella expected her to walk away after saying this, but she stayed with her, looking amongst the crowd. She slowly stopped crying, realizing that this girl was helping her find her mom. Stella scanned the crowd, trying to spot her mother. She was about to turn around, when the girl suddenly grabbed her arm.

“Look! Is that your mom?” the girl exclaimed pointing at a woman running toward them in the distance. Stella squinted and saw that she was correct. Her mother was only yards away, when Stella cried out “yes” in surprise.

Her mother embraced her warmly. Finally, her mother broke away and chided, “What happened? One moment you were behind me, the next you were gone!”

Stella looked down and stared at her shoes shamefully. Her mother glanced up and noticed the girl for the first time. She acknowledged her warmly and said, “Thank you for helping my daughter out.”

The girl smiled and replied, “No problem. I like helping people.” And with that, the girl spun on her heel and walked away. Stella’s mother looked down to hold her hand and said gently, “I don’t want to lose you again.”

Stella smiled up at her mother, thinking back to the cloudy day, when she first introduced her idea to her parents. People were confident that it was going to rain, but hope came, just like how the girl came to help her. And hand in hand, with the thought still in her head, they walked back into the already setting sun.