A Little Piece Of Andley

Happy Birthday

I sit by the fireplace of my homely LA apartment. Sitting back in the cushioned armchair, I know it's that time again.

"Happy birthday to me" I sing sarcastically in my head. With a deep sigh, I begin to read the letter from my parents once more.

Dear Ash,

If you get this note we must be dead. We wrote it when you were only a child in case something happened.

Have we done this like always? We knew that you would cry like you were in a trance. He used to be such a pyromaniac. If you want, we'll see when we can do this and receive your message. What it means is that you have got happy, not angry like usual. Together we hope it's enough to set you on your way, not set it on fire.

Hopefully you know what that means and you will really want a cuddle to help comfort you, just like when we meet because we know you love us. As much as we love you too, we must leave soon as there's something important you must do, please talk to the therapist because it does help lots. Mrs Peterson or Mr Fisher are especially good at listening to problems, and they'll also tell you how to deal with them, but be nice to the Stewart-Baxters as we don't know where we are with them. We hope they will look forward to seeing you.

Lots of love,

From mom and dad

Every damn year I've read this letter and it doesn't help anything: it's just a weird ass message that's probably just a prank.

I scream with frustration, screwing it up, then shoving it into the fire.

Just then, something strange begins to happen. Paper crackling and ink hissing on the fire fill the room.

Curiosity gets the better of me and I look inside the fire to see that the writing is glowing red!

As the letter is on top of the roaring flames, I manage to pick it back off, and weirdly it stops burning straight away. Unfolding the paper, I realise that some of the writing has disappeared, leaving a less cryptic message.

Dear Ash,

If you get this note we must be dead. We wrote it when you were only a child in case something happened.

Ha we always knew you were a pyromaniac. If you see this message it means you got angry enough to set it on fire.

Hopefully that means you want to meet us. As soon as you do, please talk to Mrs Peterson or Mr Fisher and they'll tell you where we are. We look forward to seeing you.

Lots of love,

From mom and dad

I jump up from my seat and run over to the neighbor's house. This is the best birthday I could wish for.