Charlie is an ordinary boy with ordinary dreams, or so he thought... 

Charlie woke up one day, little did he know his life was about to change. Charlie is an only child with two parents. He just turned nine years old today and was planning a birthday party with a couple of his friends and classmates

 His parents have been having financial issues and been fighting nonstop but the one thing he asked his parents as his birthday wish was

 “please no more fighting.”

That morning his father brushed it off and went off to work, but his mother bent down on one knee with a worried look on her face and said

“of course today will be different.” 

The word “different” stuck to Charlie's head as he thought about how different his life could be from here on out but didn't necessarily know where it would start. On his way to school Charlie made a list of goals in his head. 

1. Fake a smile 

2. No crying 

3. Sleep

It seemed like an easy list but those were just daily things he would just have to remind himself to live in a false reality of the life he did not want. He loved and appreciated his parents more than anything in the world but always thought to himself “Why me? Why can't my parents just notice me?.” Child neglect is one of the most common things that happen world wide. At least 1 in 7 children in the past year have experienced their parents failure in providing them with emotional and physical support. Unfortunately Charlie was one out of millions. Approximately, 657,000 children are victims of their parents not giving them the attention they need and about 74.9% suffer neglect. It is something children nowadays suffer silently and it has to come to an end immediately. 

Charlie then heads to school getting dropped off while his mom kisses him on the cheek to say her goodbye. 

Charlie just nods and replies with a thank you. 

Once Charlie walks into his classroom he gets surprised with the Happy Birthday Song getting sung by every single person in the room.His smile widens from cheek to cheek and blushes.He couldn't believe the genuine smile that came out of his body where it did not have to be forced or fake. He already broke his number one goal...He just hoped to not break anymore. 

“Have fun and happy birthday, I love you!.”

 He sits down in his assigned seat with an anonymous letter saying “You're the best student” with a chocolate bar. As he looks up he sees his teacher smiling at him with grace, he whispers ‘thank you!.’

Lunch time approaches and he gets seated next to his friends, next thing he realizes today his favorite lunch was being served... mozzarella sticks with marinara sauce, whole wheat chips and chocolate milk. He thought “My day could just not get any better.” 

Charlie’s best friend David then asks... 

 “What do you think your parents will get you for your birthday today?” 

“I really don't know but I have always asked for a puppy”

“Yeah my parents usually don't listen to me but I am hoping today is different” 

“I'm sorry to hear that Charlie but keep your head up, you never know what can happen... After all I am coming and that is the best gift you could ever get. Am I right?” 

“Oh my god! It would be so cool if you got a puppy. I always wanted one too but my parents always say it's too much work to take care of it”

Charlie laughed so hard that he almost spit his milk out of his mouth. David has been his best friend ever since the second grade, he is the only person in the world that could always make him laugh and serve as an escape from his house issues. At some points he even trusted David more than his parents. Parents are something Charlie thought about day and night, to slamming doors and yelling, and ending up having to push his feelings away when he cried helplessly most nights. 

It was not something he was proud of but it was his biggest fear. A fear that no child should deal with. The story about neglect is not as simple as people may believe. As children grow up, mental health is one of the most important and fragile things that should be taken very seriously. It affects millions negatively where they can undoubtedly lose themselves from within and become numb where they all believe it is something normal.

The end of school comes near where Charlie’s father comes to pick him up and Charlie is far more than happy. His father is usually always late but today is different. Charlie runs to the car as his father is standing beside it and jumps on him to give him the biggest hug. Charlie’s father was looked upon as a hero. He always admired his father and wished to be just like him when he gets older. Charlie saw him as a strong, hardworking, and kind man that even after a long day being tired as a constructionist, he still managed to play board games and charades with him and tops it with a story before bed every single night. He was Charlie's biggest inspiration and the best father. Charlie could not and did not want to imagine a world without his father. Back in the car... 

“Where do you want to go for lunch today birthday boy??” 

“I don't know dad you pick” Charlie said, picking at his untied shoelace.

“Me? Pick instead of you? Are you crazy?!, today is your day. I am your ship and you tell me where you want to go captain.”

“Ahhh pizza?”

Charlie chuckled and smiled uncontrollably. His father always knew how to make him smile by creating scenarios. “Okay. I want my favorite food and ice cream after please.” 

“You guessed it!” 

“Of course, I know what you always want, son.” 

Did he really know what Charlie always wanted?. This was Charlie's special day but this is what he has always hoped for and when he finally got it, it was almost as if a hole in his chest was being restored. His father became unrecognizable, to the point where he wanted to relive this day forever and ever. 

Charlie and his father head to grab some slices of pizza at their favorite restaurant “Angelos” ,where they have been going ever since he was 4 years old. It was their spot, their only alone time where the world was quiet and they just talked for hours. Hours would pass and at times even Charlie’s mother would have to call his father just to make sure nothing happened to either of them. Time stood still for them and Charlie knew he could finally breathe and get away from his abuse that he's been running away from most of his life.

Later that night as Charlie and his dad were arriving home, Charlie’s dad asked him “did you have fun today son?” Charlie couldn’t contain his happiness as he expressed his excitement by shouting “YES TODAY WAS THE BEST DAY EVER!” Charlie couldn’t wait to get home to tell his mom about how his day went perfectly. As Charlie and his dad pulled up to the driveway in their house, he noticed that all the lights were off. He thought it was strange however he had a slight suspicion as to what was about to happen. Then, as they opened the front door the lights turned on and he heard a loud:

SURPRISE!”

Charlie’s mom was in front of a bunch of neighbors and Charlie's friends. Charlie wasn’t expecting so many people to be over at his house. He nearly began to cry tears of joy because he’s been having a rough couple of months and he couldn’t have asked for a better day than today. He felt his dad put his hand on his shoulder as he told him “everyone is here today because we all care about you son.”

Charlie thanked everyone for being there. The surprise birthday party began with a bunch of games for the kids to play while the adults had their time to talk. Although all Charlie really wanted was attention from his parents he still really enjoyed playing with all his friends. There was candy and chips for everyone to grab. Charlie didn’t care that he had already eaten pizza with his dad before. He knew it was his birthday and he was going to take advantage of this special day no matter what anybody said.

Charlie’s favorite part of the party however was the pinata. Charlie loved the idea of hitting a batman shaped box for candy. He wanted to show off how strong he was in front of his friends and since he knew his parents were watching he knew that it was his chance to make them proud of him for accomplishing something in front of them.

A bunch of his friends attempted to break the pinata but they weren’t able to. Once it was Charlie’s turn to attempt to break it he felt slightly nervous but excited to show off. He put the blind-fold on and began swinging.

Charlie heard everyone screaming:

“Go Charlie!”

“Aim higher!”

“You got this!”

“A few more hits!”

A minute later Charlie realized he broke the pinata as he heard all the candy fall to the ground and all the kids ran in his direction to get as much candy as they could. 

As he took his blind fold off he saw a bunch of kids on the floor fighting for candy.

Charlie wanted candy too but before he tried to get some he looked in the direction of his parents and saw them smiling at him. He never felt happier. Charlie felt that he made his parents proud of what he did.

He noticed them saying something but he couldn’t quite understand as it took him a few seconds to realize the words they were mouthing out. They were saying “Hurry! Get the candy!”

Charlie then snapped back and realized that there wasn’t much candy left to grab.

He immediately dropped down to get as much candy as he could.

Charlie only managed to get a few candies but he didn’t care. All he really wanted was to make his parents proud. He began to brag to his friends that he was stronger than them for being able to break the pinata. They let him brag since they were able to get a bunch of candy because of him and since it was his birthday.

When it came time to cut the cake Charlie realized that his mom bought him his favorite cake. A chocolate ice cream cake. Everyone sang Happy Birthday to Charlie and then everyone ate a slice of cake. 

The party began to end soon after since everyone had school the next day and the parents had to go to work.

...happy birthday dear, Charlie happy birthday to you! 

Charlie asked his parents if it was okay to sleep over at David’s house that night and they allowed it. Both kids were excited that they were about to have a sleepover. Charlie had waited until the party was over and everyone was gone so that he could open the gifts that they had bought him. The two best friends had a field day opening the gifts as they played around a bit with the new toys Charlie got. David’s parents allowed them to stay up later than usual since they knew the kids would be hyper from all the sugar they had eaten at the party.

David told Charlie that he had the best parents and he wishes that his parents were like his. Charlie smiled but then he remembered how his parents would ignore him and how they have been fighting. Charlie shrugged it off since he was so happy about today's events and thought that his parents were actually trying to pay more attention to him now.

Once it was finally bedtime the two best friends went to David’s room to sleep. They began to talk since they were both still hyper and excited from before. They still wanted to play more but they knew they couldn’t anymore since they had to go to sleep to go to school tomorrow. 

They began to talk about their dreams and just made jokes with each other. Charlie began to talk about how his parents weren’t paying attention to him these past few months and how their arguments amongst themselves were making him feel like they didn’t care about him. 

David couldn’t see how Charlie’s parents could be like that after seeing everything they did for him today. David told Charlie that he shouldn’t worry too much about it and to look forward to tomorrow since it would be a new day and they will get to go to school together.

The next morning Charlie woke up with a huge smile on his face. He was thinking about yesterday’s events and the love he felt from his parents. It had been a while since Charlie felt seen by his parents. He felt like his parents were gonna change and stop arguing as much. He couldn’t wait to see them so he asked David's dad to drop him off at his house so he can see his parents before they go to work.

“Are you sure bud? It’s kind of late, I wouldn’t mind dropping you off” David’s dad suggested to Charlie.

“Thank you but I want to hug my parents goodbye before they leave for work” Charlie responded with a puppy face.

David’s dad couldn’t say no and decided to drop Charlie off at his house. Charlie entered the front door 

“I’M BACK MOM AND DAD!”. Nobody responded. 

 “HELLOOO” he yelled. Only silence responded and Charlie’s excitement died down. Then he heard footsteps going down the stairs. His mom was on the phone with a very serious face.

     “Yes, I’ll have the reports by this afternoon” She spoke sternly into the phone. 

    “I’m sorry I’m going to have to call you back” She noticed Charlie and her face filled with worry.  

    “Charlie! I thought David’s dad was going to drop you off. It’s late! We’re both going to be late” She yelled. 

This wasn’t the response Charlie expected. He thought his parents would greet him warmly and rush to hug him at the door

     “Your dad took the car when he left for work. Now we’re going to have to take the bus” His mom exasperated with annoyance. 

Charlie felt disappointed and felt bad for making his mom late. He stayed silent and followed his mom to the bus stop. His mom’s phone started to ring as they got on the bus. 

    “I’m going to have to take this” His mom whispered to him as she ushered him to a seat. 

Charlie stared at the window across from his seat and noticed another mom with her son. They seemed to be chattering and laughing together. 

Charlie couldn’t help but feel jealous and stared at his mom with sadness as she talked on the phone. Charlie’s sadness quickly turned into irritation and anger. 

Why can’t I have a parent like that? Why do I have to be the unlucky kid? This is so unfair! He thought. 

When they finally arrived at school Charlie’s mom quickly said goodbye and left without noticing Charlie’s sour mood. Charlie felt very upset and angry with his parents. 

He thought things were changing for the better but was proven wrong in the morning. He didn’t know how to cheer himself up and it only made his mood worsen. 

It was lunchtime and he rushed to line up in the cafeteria to receive his plate of food. His favorite part of the day was lunchtime because he knew he would be able to play with his friends in the courtyard after eating. But today he was looking forward to it even more after his rough morning.