I took a bite of the buttered toast. "Even their food tastes the same."
We were at a diner, the diner that my family would always come to when I was younger. Whenever mom didn't feel like cooking - which was often - we would come here. Nothing had changed; the walls, tables and chairs still colorful, and the people that I knew well remained working, along with some new faces.
We decided to come here on account of mom's three day countdown. And this was day one. Austin and I planned a combination of things for us to do today, and having brunch - since everyone woke up late - was the first on the list.
We sat in a booth, Austin and mom opposite me and Harry.
"I thought this place would've closed down by now," Austin said.
"How long has it been around?" Harry asked before putting a piece of pancake in his mouth.
"About fifteen years now," mom chimed in.
"Hm," he nodded. "So, what are we doing after this?"
"Well, we were planning to go to Coney Island," Austin began, turning to mom for assurance. "If that's okay with you."
"Really?" she questioned, lighting up.
She absolutely loved Coney Island; she said it was basically where she grew up. She constantly brought us there whenever she had the chance.
Austin gave a wide grin, and mom did the same, looking to me excitedly.
___________________
"We're leaving at seven," Austin informed us.
"Yup," I said, beginning to walk off with Harry.
We separated, allowing Austin to spend his time alone with mom. We also agreed to having individual days for each of us so that we were able to have our own time with her. Tomorrow would be my day, and the next we would be all of us. We wanted these three days to go smoothly, so we organized. A lot.
We drove to New York a few hours after brunch, arriving at Coney Island. Surprisingly, there weren't a lot of people, probably because fall was near, and the temperature was dropping.
I aimlessly advanced down the boardwalk with Harry as mom and Austin dissapeared and went off to do whatever they pleased. The sounds of people's laughs and screams of delight as we passed made me feel warm. Happy families, groups of people and content couples were scattered along the boardwalk.
"So this is Coney Island," Harry said, glancing at the surroundings.
"Did you expect something different?"
"No, one of my mates came here a while ago with his fiancé, and he loved it."
"Wait, you have a friend...who's engaged?"
"Yeah, why?" he let out a short laugh.
"I would think that most of your friends are the type to throw water balloons at girls and play Foosball," I joked.
"Ha ha," he responded sarcastically. "I actually like to surround myself with mature people."
"Which is the exact opposite of yourself."
"You're just a laugh today, aren't you?"
I shrugged. "I dabble in the area."
He shook his head, amused before turning his attention to something else.
"Is that a Ferris wheel?" he inquired, pointing in the distance.
"No, it's just a colorful spinning thing that they put there for decoration."
