Balloons, streams and streams of ribbon, endless fairy twinkle lights, a million of my classmates all clustered together in my living room just waiting to assuage me with a million happy birthdays even though I really know they're there for the beer, dancing, and cake, and of all things, Carly Rae Jepson and Taylor Swift playing as a nuance musical background noise just to fill the already intermediated humdrum of excited hushed voices—everyone, waiting for me.
And I had to act surprised.
Now, you might be wondering. What is so wrong with surprises that you would hate be surprised with your own birthday party?
Well, it's pretty simple actually.
My mom left me on my birthday. Yup, the woman who had given birth to me had also chosen the same day to abandon me. You gotta love irony.
I mean, sure, I hardly knew her. I was only four—but it was seeing my dad trying to make my birthday special despite how heartbroken he was that made the day worst for me.
And celebrating my birthday just didn't sit right for me from then on. I kind of just choose to treat it like any other day.
Mostly because dad isn't here to celebrate it with me anymore. . .
Well, you better believe the second I opened my door, boy was I surprised.
And—-I frowned.
"Huh."
The living room was dark, so was the hallway. I mean, you'd expect that for a surprise party, but I didn't see any silhouettes of balloons or streamers, nor did I hear anything or anyone. I flicked the light on, only to be greeted by yet again, nothing but an empty hall and an empty living room.
Was everyone upstairs? Or hiding in a closet or something? I began to check literally every room of the house. And again, nothing. They were all empty and it was especially silent because no one was home. When I entered the kitchen, also empty, I found a small note sheet stamped to the fridge door written in bold lettering;
IM WORKING AN EXTRA SHIFT TONIGHT. CHARLIE WILL BE BACK EARLY TOMORROW FROM HIS FISHING TRIP WITH BILLY. IF YOU'RE HUNGRY, THERE'S SOME LEFT OVER PIZZA I ORDERED IN THE FRIDGE. I'LL SEE YOU IN THE MORNING! P.S. DON'T FORGET TO LOCK ALL THE DOORS AND SET THE ALARM TO THE HOUSE.
