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It was the summer of 1999

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It was the summer of 1999. Elara Flores was celebrating her 17th birthday in true Hollywood fashion — in a beautiful, expensive restaurant that eluded glamour. Her parents were well known in California for their work in the Entertainment industry, yet Elara always felt excluded from their luxurious lifestyle, as if she were an afterthought.

The one day of the year her parents devoted their full attention to her was her birthday, she never asked her parents for anything for her birthdays, she never wanted to trouble them. This year, however, was different. Elara had seen it one afternoon when she was avoiding her parents, she'd often take walks around Los Angeles and small side streets when her parents were home and not away working. They always found a reason to argue and she hated listening to their never-ending screaming matches.

It sat shimmering in the window of a music shop as she walked by, a light blue fender guitar. She'd always admired the musicians she'd met through her parents, and it was always the guitarists who interested her the most. As soon as her parents asked her what she'd like for her birthday, they were surprised when she didn't say "nothing."

On the night of her 17th birthday, when the waiters were bringing out a cake filled with candles, her parents gestured to another waiter who pulled out a long, black guitar case and placed it in front of her.

As soon as she opened the case her face lit up with happiness, and for the first time in a long time, she hugged both of her parents tightly and thanked them. Their facial expressions softened slightly before they returned to their usual straight faced expressions reserved for when they were in public.

Elara couldn't wait to get home to take out her guitar, her parents had arranged a limousine to take them the scenic route home.

Once the doors of the limousine closed her parents started bickering again about the smallest things, Elara longed for the day they would stop fighting for just one day.

Unfortunately the universe misinterpreted her wish, for just a mere few minutes later the limousine swerved off of the road, tumbling down the hill towards their hillside mansion. The last thing Elara got to see were the shimmering stars through the glass roof of the limousine.


She never got the chance to play her guitar.

in your starlight ; luke patterson Where stories live. Discover now