This is a short story I wrote not too long ago about a casual afternoon with a young girl and her father. It takes place in Rome in the early 1990's one sunny, Summer afternoon.

I walked into the living room of my home in Rome, the sunlight illuminated the inside of the building in such a romantic way. I walked past my mother whose fingers moved across the keys of the piano like they were made just for that. A melody filled the otherwise silent atmosphere and created a peaceful environment.

I moved through the living room, at a relaxed pace, in search of my father as we were supposed to go out into the town for the afternoon to retrieve our traditional pre-dinner dessert. I found him in the hallway towards the front door, he was placing his sunglasses on his face and taking his keys from the bowl on the oak table by the front door.

"Are you ready, love?" He asked me.

"Yes," I smiled and skipped towards him. I retrieved my sunglasses from the table and followed him out of the house.

We walked down the street together and watched the different colored cars pass by us, we noticed each color and kept a tally for how many we saw. We took note of the motorbikes as well. The cafe was around the corner from our home, we reached it quickly. We took in the warm temperature that the Summer blessed us with, the Sun beat down on our bare skin and created a desirable sense of warmth.

The cafe door was propped open by a wooden sign, I smiled as I saw the elegant script written across the matte black surface that told what the daily specials were. My father ordered our typical gelato, the one dessert I would be able to eat for the rest of my life. We waited for a moment before we received our orders and once we did, we walked outside of the cafe.

I looked around at the people in the cafe before I walked out, I noticed a beautiful looking pair seated in the corner where the Sun never touched. They were a woman and a man; the woman had beautiful, flowing, red hair and delicate, blue eyes while the man had light blonde hair and a striking smile. His eyes flashed over to me and I scurried along side of my father and out of the cafe, embarrassed that someone had actually noticed me observing them for once.

We ate our treats on the way home and discarded the trash in one of the bins on the side of the road. We laughed about different things that we observed throughout the city. We reached the corner where we would turn to reach our street. A man approached us looking for spare change, my father provided all that he was carrying in his pockets.

The man gave a sweet smile and dropped the cup on the ground. He placed his hands on either side of my father's face as though he was going to thank him for his contribution. He bared his teeth in a smile and then moved quickly, snapping my father's neck. He flashed out of my field of vision and my father dropped beside me.

I dropped to my knees next to him and shook him, I begged for him to wake, he never did. I cried out in emotional pain and cried for help, minutes passed before any came. I gave my witness report, but I was not taken seriously once I told the police that the man disappeared within the blink of an eye. Once I was home I cried myself to sleep, both for the sadness of losing my father and for the fear of what I did not know.