Day Tripper

chapter one

Penny A. Hamilton

The letter A stands for Aurora. Not like the Disney princess from Sleeping Beauty. You know, the one that falls asleep after pricking her finger on a spinning wheel and can only be woken by true love's first kiss. Penny was named after Aurora, as in the roman goddess of sunrise whose tears turned into the morning dew and at the beginning of every day she would renew herself and fly across the sky to announce the arrival of the sun. She could just picture her father pinching her cheeks, as he does, and claiming how, "Our little Penny brings brightness with her wherever she goes!" And now she can see herself rolling her eyes and looking down as she feels the undoubtedly obvious tint of red flood her cheeks. Penny blushes with almost every emotion. Happiness, sadness, anger, confusion, embarrassment and frustration. She almost always has red cheeks.

One time when Penny was nine she tried to let go of her bikes handlebars and hold her arms out like a bird. This ended in her losing balance and almost immediately falling to the ground, resulting in the faint small scar just below her knee. Penny has a small birthmark on the back of her neck that either looks like a slightly lumpy maple leaf or Germany, based on what angle you look at it from. Penny has a thick streak of white hair that rests in a curl on her left cheek from when she became so ill that that streak of blonde turned white and never turned back. She didn't mind it though. It was so long ago , she hardly ever thought of it.

Her parents were both historians. Her father, Desmond, who is 6'5, lanky and wears glasses thicker than the width of her pinky, specializes in Greek Mythology (hence the choice of middle name). Every day for work, he wore a grey tie, a sweater vest, brown slacks and a white button up shirt with the sleeves rolled halfway. He drank his coffee black with a lemon wedge. Penny always thought that was disgusting, but he claimed it kept his hair thick. Desmond was a college professor and drove a red prius with a coexist sticker on the back.

Penny's mother, Molly, was an American Revolution Specialist. Molly always liked to think that Desmond was somehow related to Alexander Hamilton and whenever she asked for change for a ten, she would say "I'll give you a Ham for ten generals." That was her kind of humor. Penny's mother was always soft spoken and witty. Molly liked to garden and had written three books about the American Revolution and two about Europe's kings and queens. She always wore a string of pearls around her neck and dresses that made her look like a 1950's housewife.

Molly always wanted to take Penny places anyone could only dream to go. Mexico at the age of ten and all across Europe by the time she was fourteen. Penny always thought that her mother took her places around the world for research, but later came to find out that Molly didn't want her to know that she was sick. Things got really bad and she was gone before Penny even turned fifteen.

Penny always liked to think back and remember the times when her parents would cook dinner and dance around the kitchen to old music. Her mother wasn't the best cook, but she made the best spaghetti anyone could ever taste. Desmond would always pull Molly away from the stove and twirl her into his arms. Penny would always roll her eyes and look away. She never thought she would end up missing the way her parents used to dance...

Penny's parents always danced to The Beatles. They would slow dance to Michelle and twist to Can't Buy Me Love. The Beatles were always her parent's favorite band. Penny never understood why.

All she knew was she always liked the way her mom used to smile when they sang.