Happy Birthday, Lorraine!(Samantha Lim) The date 10 December 2013 had finally arrived to flush off the dates before. It was a misty Sunday. As usual, Lorraine’s father had to run his hawker stall. Her mother, on the other hand, worked as a hairdresser in a well-known salon located several kilometres from their housing estate. Despite facing some income problems, there was never a massive pillar blocking parental love from reaching their only child, Lorraine. Lorraine was a petite-sized eleven-year-old. Her pair of ebony, sparkling eyes and her fair complexion had made her very lovable regardless of age and gender. Being the only child, life treated her well until the day her parents came to the peak of divorce. The only thing she could do whenever fights occured between her parents was hide behind the curtains to shed warm tears. There was nothing that she could do to stop the torment of her parents’ loud voices.

She was still sitting at the edge of her bed, face down. It was her birthday but no one had came to wish her ‘Happy Birthday’. No one had left any presents for her. Usually, she would receive postcards from her Aunt Melanie of Birmingham but a tragic road accident had taken her away from them last Christmas. Lorraine waited in silence. The only sounds which hit her eardrums were the chirping of birds and the rustling of the leaves from the oak trees outside. Physically, she was abandoned. Mentally, she was hurt.

Finally, she stood up and walked towards her writing table. She slowly picked up a brown box and lifted up its cover. Inside, lay a toy monkey. All this while, she preserved the toy monkey well. Not even a minute amount of dust was let into the box. She even named the toy monkey Jeanna, after her mother. Beside the brown box, lay another gift wrapped in silverish purple. It was from her father. It had been 365 days that that gift was in the wrapper. It felt like a book. Lorraine preserved her gifts well from her parents because she knew that those two gifts received from her parents during her tenth birthday would be the last. A serious and temperamental fight occured between her parents a day after her tenth birthday.

With shuddering fingers and teary eyes, she tore the blue wrapper open. From a neutral expression, her face turned pale. It was a diary book. Not of any other ordinary diary, but her FATHER’S diary. Lorraine started to flick through the yellowish pages stained with concoctions of dried tears. She flicked the pages until she came across a book mark in between pages dated 10 December which read:

10 December ‘12

Dear Diary,

Today will be my last day writing to you because my daughter, Lorraine will carry on writing to you. Today is indeed a significant day for my daughter as her birthday has come again. I am very glad to see her grow up each day and I am also happy to know that Lorraine has a mature and intelligent mind. Jeanna and I had failed to tell Lorraine the truth. Thus, I chose to write to her through you, dear diary.

Lorraine is not my biological daughter. In other sense, she is my stepdaughter. Her father is not a hawker, but a doctor. Dr. Philip Makerna is her biological father. He had come to our house once while Lorraine was in school to claim Jeanna and Lorraine. Frankly speaking, I hated lies. Thus, I had made the decision to arrange a divorce with Jeanna after I found out the truth.

Dad is truly sorry, Lorraine. Hope you discover this message as soon as possible. Your mum and I will only divorce after you’ve read my message in this diary. You may bring this diary when you leave for your father’s. Goodbye my child.
DAD

“Why haven’t I discovered this earlier?” Lorraine murmured, until she heard her doorbell ringing.

As soon as she opened the door, a tall man with heavy moustache smiled at her, then handed her a bouquet of roses.

“Hi, I’m Dr. Philip Makerna. Happy Birthday, Lorraine,” greeted the tall man.

Lorraine looked calmly at the bouquet of roses she was holding before throwing it onto the floor. Then, she looked away and said, “YOU... are NOT my FATHER. My father is a hawker not a doctor and my father’s name is Jordan Rhode.”

Lorraine swung a pointy look at the man before turning her way up the staircase. She would rather lead a poor life with an upbringing of a loving stepfather than an enriched life with a never-showed-her-love biological father.

END

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