Seagulls squawked as the ocean glistened in the warm sun like diamonds studded in a beautiful necklace. Veronica’s hair blew from side to side with the harsh sea breeze of The City . She ran to catch her sister Emma, who had  scampered towards a bus they were planning to board. “Emma! Come back here!” Veronica yelled, failing to get her sister’s attention.  She soon caught up with her little sister, grabbed her hand, and entered the tour bus which had “Hop On-Hop off” written in bright colors on its sides. Veronica rolled her eyes and grumbled angrily as she stomped her way up with Emma and they parked themselves on the second floor, of the bus, which had no roof. “I guess this trip is just going to be like all the other trips ... Plainly horrible! I wish I never came here, I’d rather go to Erica’s sleepover!  The City is a beautiful yet tiresome city with its incessant traffic!” Veronica thought as she coughed due to the pollution that filled the sky from vehicles that crowded the busy streets. The bus gave a jerk and began to move, and as Veronica slid back to look outside it struck her that her parents weren’t here. 
   

“MOM! DAD!” Veronica frantically yelled as she felt her heart sink, her stomach felt as if Emma had hit her with her small fists, and her eyes welled with tears with the realization that she had lost her parents.  Her parents were still outside at the bus stop that was receding behind them, waving their hands up in the air, a map of The City  in her dad’s hand and a Louis Vuitton  purse in her mom’s hand, both of them hollering for the bus to stop.  “Stop! Our daughters are in there!” Her father hollered.

“Veronica tell the bus driver to stop the bus!” Veronica’s mother yelled waving her hands in the air as her light brown hair shone in the sun. As the bus moved, their voices became fainter, until they were barely heard. Veronica looked back at their now tiny figures and gave a small wave to them.
      

Veronica rushed down the steep gray stairs of the bus with Emma, trying to avoid a tumble down the wobbly stairs on the moving bus. They both walked at a fast pace right to the bus driver, who was a tall middle aged man in a striped blue shirt, black vest and tie. “Sir, please stop the bus! My sister and I got on this bus accidentally, without my parents.” Veronica said as she glanced out the window.
      

The bus driver sympathetically replied, “Aw kids, I wish I could stop for you, but I am sorry, I can’t. Company rules do not allow me to stop at any place. Furthermore, I am likely to get ticketed by the cops if they see me stop at any street. You’ll just have to wait until we reach the next designated tour bus stop.” 
   

Veronica, desperate to find her missing  parents, angrily muttered, “Okay.”  They got off the moment the bus stopped at a place that seemed familiar to Veronica. Veronica glanced at a sign that read, “ Pier 39” and said, “ Well, at least I know where we are. Now, I just need to figure out how we can get back to where our parents are. How… I don’t know.”
       

“What if I don’t find them again? What will I do then? I know I hate family trips..but..I never thought about what would happen if my family went far from me or I was separated from them… and..” she wondered when she was abruptly snapped out of her thoughts by her sister who pulled on her coat.
           

Veronica swatted Emma’s hand out of the way as though she was a fly,  but Emma determined to get Veronica’s attention pulled on her coat repetitively until she got Veronica to listen. “ What do you want now?” Veronica grumbled.
         

“ ‘Ronica! Buy me an ice cream like the little boy with the red hair there from that ice cream shop!” Emma pleaded in her sweet little voice she used whenever she wanted to get something.
 

“ Emma, I don’t have time to buy you an ice cream! I need to find a way to  get back with our parents!”
        

Her sister was determined to get the ice cream.  She began to cry with a sound that could be best described like  a squirrel whose tail was caught in a branch.People around them gave Veronica a stare, making her feel as though it was all her fault that the poor little girl with her was crying her heart out. Veronica turned red feeling embarrassed and angry. She decided to get Emma that ice cream and stop the bawling. She stomped her way through the crowds, holding her sister’s hand. The leaves all around danced through the winds as Veronica continued to trudge her way through the crowds. Veronica pushed open the white door of the ice cream shop and the bells above the entrance jingled in a merry tune.
     

A young blond girl wearing an apron and a badge that read ‘Daisy’ stood in front of the counter with a bright smile and said, “ Good morning girls! Welcome to The Delise Dessert Cafe! Would you like something?”
        

Veronica looked at her sister and asked, “ What do you want? What flavored ice cream and what toppings?”
   

“Hmm... umm.. how about.. Mango..no..Peach..no..Chocolate.. Oh YES! I will have a double scoop of mint chocolate ice cream with chocolate chips and gummy bears in a sugar cone please!” Emma replied, taking long pauses and with each pause saw her sister’s face darkening like storm clouds on a dark December day.       
  

“All right, then! That will be five dollars!” The blond girl replied as she handed the ice cream to Emma with a smile. Veronica put her hand in her pocket to use her pocket money and after a couple minutes of shuffling through a small nail cutter, a balloon, mint and nail polish, she found five dollars in loose change, and handed it to the girl. The girl took a minute to patiently go through the cents and dimes deposited on the counter and smiled back. They got out of the shop, and Veronica  settled Emma down on a bench. Emma sat there silently, swinging her legs while licking her ice cream.
      

“Yum, Yum, Yum! This is the best ice cream ever!” she murmured to herself, and began to sing, ”Let it Go..Let it Go..” It drew the attention of a seagull who was on a trash can right next to Emma. The bird looked at her with a tilted head and suddenly swooped past her, snatching the ice cream.  Emma let out a shriek  and clapped her hands. “Big birdy, you naughty thief! It is a delicious ice cream, but I am full, so you can have it! Mommy always says you should leave the last bite for the birds. Bye bye birdy! Eat my ice cream!” Emma said to the seagull, giggling with joy, with her hands on her hips, showing off  her two missing teeth and her face that was smeared with ice cream. Veronica glanced at her sister, elated to see her sister happy, and then said, ”Bazinga!” A light had gone off in her head  and she realized that she could find their parents by using her newly purchased unactivated phone. It had the application that allowed her to locate her parents and she was getting WiFi signal from a nearby shop! The seagull meanwhile, was struggling with the ice cream, hovering over Veronica. The cold ice cream was a bit of a surprise for the seagull and it belched. The ice cream flew in a graceful arc and  landed on Veronica’s hair splattered onto her phone. The chocolate chips had melted along with the ice cream giving the melted ice cream a tinge of brown, and the gummy bears tumbled down onto the concrete.
      

“Ugh! My hair! MY BRAND NEW PHONE! Emma!..” Veronica began to say once she wiped off the sticky green and brown  ice cream off of her phone. Just then, looking up, she saw her parents around the corner of a street a couple of blocks away, asking people around if they had seen their two daughters. Glad to see her parents after what seemed ages, Veronica grasped Emma’s hand and began to run. They looked around while crossing the streets, and to their surprise they were able to catch a beautiful evening, as the sun set. The colors in the sky were not only blue but were red, orange, yellow, and bluish purple. The Golden Gate bridge was also in sight as they continued to run and many colorful lights not turning on made the bridge shimmer.
       

“Mommy and Daddy!” Emma squealed, excited to see her mom, whose side she rarely left. “ Oh yes! They’re here!” Veronica blurted out. “Mom! Dad! Over here! I’m right here with Emma!”
      

Her parents, couldn’t hear them since they were still far away.  Veronica dragged her sister along,  continuing to run faster, when a woman dropped dirty water from her balcony which promptly landed on Veronica. Her sister gave a squeal, and Veronica felt rage and anger in her. “Can’t people see! I am running here! Okay, calm down Veronica.. The only thing important right now is to get back with mom and dad.” Veronica thought taking a deep breath.  After a couple of minutes that felt like a few hours, Emma said, “Veronica, I am tired of running, and trying to get mommy and daddy to hear us. Can I take a break?” Veronica  realized she had just made a four year old try to run as fast as a 12 year old, and feeling guilty nodded her head. They rested for a break near a pole, while Veronica still continued to holler the names of their parents, so that she would be able to get their attention. As if in slow motion, she saw her mom turn  around, and tears of joy rolled down her mom’s face, as she saw her girls. She ran back with her arms wide open to hug the two girls. “Girls! Emma, Veronica!” she  said as she ran towards the girls with a tear of joy rolling down her face.

Veronica commenced running too and as she brushed her hand on a tree, a piece of pink gum that still seemed fresh, was now stuck on her hand. She shook her hand violently and cried in disgust,”Eww! This is gross, I hate the city!”
         

Her mom and dad came running and were now beside  the two girls. A little boy standing next to them, turned green, having eaten a bunch of McDonald's fries all at once. He let out a yelp and threw up on Veronica just as she had managed to get the gum off her hands.
         

Veronica was now ready to break into a cry. The mom of the little boy apologetically said, “Oh, I am very sorry, my son is sorry too. He didn’t mean to throw up, he always seems to throw up after eating, from nausea. Please do accept my apology. Jim, please say sorry to the nice girl!” Jim gave her a sheepish grin and his mother dragged him away as far as she could from a now smoldering Veronica. The family watched her as she took off with the little boy.  Veronica realized in spite of her ordeal, she was reunited with her family and nothing mattered at this time. She was nearly home now!
         

Thankfully, Veronica’s mom had packed an extra pair of clothes which came in handy.

She took her to a nearby mall where Veronica was able to wash herself and then change her clothes.  Veronica and her mom pushed the exit door of the mall, and saw Veronica’s dad and sister standing there smiling with a bag in her dad’s hand that read Yin Du Wonton Noodle.  They had picked up Veronica’s favorite Chinese noodles and wontons in the meantime. Veronica’s stomach grumbled and her mouth became watery by seeing the food. They settled down on a table nearby and set the table up with the delicious spicy noodles next to a bowl of warm wontons. They all sat around a table of a close by restaurant and ate peacefully. After about an hour,  all the food was gone and Veronica was full. Their dad hailed a cab and took the family through steep roads, until they made it to the top where a huge tower stood. “Where are we? Why are we here? I thought we were going home.” Veronica asked grumbling.
       

“This is the Coit Tower, come on, you’ll see why we are here,” her dad replied. They began to walk through the darkness of the tower and as they went up the noises of their footsteps echoed through the vast and now almost empty  tower.  Veronica could see the city glimmering below them through the windows and saw a colorful wall up ahead, with drawings of people. Her dad put his hand into his pocket and took out a pair of binoculars he had bought before they had climbed up the tower. “Take these and look up through the open roof.” Venus and Mars were aligned and in the dark sky, she saw both the planets together, Venus shining bright and Mars with a reddish tinge. “They are like our family in a way. Quite different but very much alike,” he said. A cold breeze came over the ocean and ruffled her hair. Veronica stood there while the moonlight shone on her face. She felt the warmth of her parents and Emma who looked at her with a beaming smile on their face. Veronica didn’t say anything for a couple of minutes, leaving a moment of silence, until she turned around to face her parents. She glanced at her little sister who smiled with her sweet, two front teeth missing smile and her parents. Veronica sighed, and then ran towards her parents, hugging them all tightly with a smile on her face and a small teardrop of joy rolling down her face as she thought, “No matter how worse my family trips go, I will be glad to be with the most important people in the world, my family!” In the distance, fireworks started somewhere close to the pier, in celebration of a marriage somewhere, filling the sky with multiple colors, brightness spreading joy and calm over the family that huddled together on Coit tower.