My name is Christina Vargas.

I woke up when a solitary beam of light sprang through the curtains, it does that, .Morning, I find it somewhat annoying, but at least it gets me up. Well, today is supposed to be a good day, well at least that's what I keep telling myself. In my true opinion I honestly don't care that much about today, it's only my 17th birthday. I managed to roll myself out of bed and land face first onto the floor, ow. After getting myself on my feet I stumbled my way over to my bathroom, opening the door and turning the light on. I blinked sleepily in the mirror looking at myself. I don't really like describing myself but I will have a go at it. As I said, today I am 17; I have dark brown hair that goes down my back, about a quarter ways down. Most of the time I have that in a ponytail that I never braid, I just don't like the look of it. I have a nice figure, though I don't care for it much, I never get fat, but that is because I always take a morning run- Speaking of my hair, I noticed something new about it. A large curl stuck out the side of my head; it looked somewhat goofy and didn't go well with the bangs over my right eye. I reached a hand up to it and gave it a sharp tug, that didn't go so well, I felt a surge of heat in me and left me rather flustered. I would definitely NOT be trying to get rid of it again today; maybe mom knows what it's about.

I love my mom, she is so sweet and caring but isn't overprotective; she has seen me through thick and thin and isn't too concerned with my morning runs. You see, I live in Florence, in Italy and I just love the renaissance architecture here, but back to the subject. My morning runs aren't dangerous; at least that is what I say. They consist of a few kilometre run across the tiled rooftops, it is great fun, and if I get up early enough I can climb the Palazzo Vecchio, which is Italian for Old Palace, and watch the sun rise. The Palazzo is one of my favourite places to just sit and think, it clears my head and the view is just spectacular. Of course, I have never told mum about climbing it, she is scared enough about my morning runs, she would simply die if I told her about climbing such a structure. After scowling at the curl for a few for minutes I decided to get some breakfast, but first I gotta get some clothes on. As I said, I don't like to brag about my figure but according to mum I have a figure to die for. Anyway, I picked out a blue shirt with the Union Jack on the back and the Italian flag on the front. I know I am proud of my heritage in Italy, but I just can't help admire the British. I mean, look at a few headlines from a newspaper, in the USA a man vomited on a police car, another took a cats intestines and mailed it to someone, disgusting, but in England one of the smaller ones is Butterfly population still decreasing, now that is something nice, not positive, but at least it's not disgusting!

I also put on a pair of plain black trousers, normally I would put on something for running, but with it being my birthday, I don't think that would be possible and besides, I want an explanation as to what the heck this curl is about! I found a pair of shoes, my favourite pair of blue Converse. Another thing about me, is I like the colour blue, it is my favourite in the world. After getting them on I slowly walked downstairs but then rushed back up realising what I had forgotten. I had forgotten to put my hair in its usual ponytail with something VERY special. What I use to keep the tail in place is a ribbon; it's no ordinary ribbon, well at least to me. It was from my father and is virtually the only thing I have left of him. Oh, don't take that the wrong way, he isn't dead, at least I don't think so, he just left mum ages ago, about when I was born, I can barely remember his face. The ribbon is pure silk, dyed blood red and has gorgeous gold trim along the edges; it makes me smile just looking at it. Okay, with that sorted I almost ran downstairs and stood in the kitchen staring at the table. The rest of the kitchen was nice, tiled walls of green and white in various patterns. In fact, the kitchen is mostly green and white, save for the table, which would be a varnished brown if not for a tablecloth draped over it. But that is beside the point; it was what was on the table that interested me. Two present boxes and a chocolate mud cake, I LOVE CHOCOLATE! Especially chocolate mud cake, one of my favourite foods in the world. Mum was sitting at the table as well, probably wondering whether she should have brought out the cake this early, considering it is my birthday she would have let me sleep in. I skipped down the rest of the stairs and sprang into the kitchen, barely giving her time to turn and stand before I grabbed her and hugged her tightly. "Morning mama, how are you today?" I asked, a smile now beaming on my face, as it should be, I don't like having to frown. But mum only gets me one present for my birthday, why is there two? "Hey mama, why are there two presents? You usually only get me one." I question as I look at the two boxes on the table.

"Well, one is from your father Christina, the other is from me and the cake is from Michello down at the bakery." She finished speaking and waited for my reaction. For a moment I was positively gobsmacked but I eventually settled for a beaming smile and squealing with joy.

"YAY! Thanks mum! Now, which present should I open first, or should I figure something for breakfast first, I a mean, the cake is going to be great, but one does not simply have cake for breakfast!" I said as I sat down and pondered, unsure what to do first. Then I remembered what I was going to do. "Hang on, Mum, what exactly is up with this curl?" I questioned pointing at it but not touching it, the last thing I wanted was to touch it again.

It looked like she had been hit with a brick when she noticed it, the obvious curl sticking out the side of my head, that most people would spot a mile away, she had only just noticed. Then she smiled. "Ah, that should have been expected, I am afraid I am not the one to explain this sort of thing. You will have to talk to your father about that." She uttered sitting back down.

"Talk to him, how in the maledetto inferno would I contact him? I don't know where he lives!" I almost shouted, I sounded angry, but I wasn't, I was actually super excited, I would finally get to meet, or at least talk to the man that had been missing most if not all my life. Mama looked slightly annoyed at my use of foul language but calmly moved one of the presents over to me. I picked up the box; it was not very big, nor heavy. I had no idea what it was or could be so I hesitantly undid the blue ribbon and opened the box. What was in the present may have stopped my heart. It was an Iphone, one of the latest, but somehow different; But that wasn't what interested me, it looked almost exactly like the Union Jack on the back, but black cursive writing through the middle saying Shoot for the moon, if you miss you can still go for the stars! Which made me sort of giggle. Underneath it in the box was a piece of paper, with a number with words in brackets underneath (The phones number) and also an address: 34 Auditore road, Rome. I guess that is where dad lives. I put the phone in my pocket and reached for the second box. It was larger, but I think was just about the same weight, maybe slightly heavier. I rattled the box in my hands next to my head trying to figure out what was inside. After thinking for a few seconds I opened it to find what was inside.

It was a dress, a beautiful dress. It was midnight blue with a few splashes of feint sky blue and it positively sparkled in the sunlight that came in from the window. I held it up to the window and looked like a bewildered little girl as the light ever so beautifully reflected off of it. But it was what was underneath the dress that made me smile. It was a bikini; mum bought me swimwear, that so unlike her. It hand the colours of the Italian flag, I don't really wanna talk too much about it right now. So I put them both back in the box, cut a piece of cake, grabbed it and the box, kissed mama goodbye and ran out with my hands in the air laughing.