CREEPYPASTA VOL 2

Happy Birthday

Yesterday was my birthday, and I woke up late. At the time, I thought that the rush of getting ready for work would be the worst part of my day, but looking back, it was the high point.

I didn't have change for the bus, so I needed to stop by a convenience store on the way to break the $20 I had. Luckily, there wasn't a line when I got there, so I grabbed a pack of gum and handed the money to the man behind the counter.

Usually this man would look at me with general indifference when handling my transactions, but this morning he was smiling warmly, like I was an old friend. Instead of just handing me my change, the man started looking around, as if in search of something without knowing what he wanted to find, and eventually plucked a lighter from the display on the counter. "Here. For you, my friend."

"I don't want that."

"Oh? A different color?" He started to put it back.

"No, I don't wanna buy a lighter," I said impatiently, assuming that the smile was him trying to get me to spend more money.

"You misunderstand," he replied, still smiling. "A gift. No charge."

After glancing at my change and guessing that he was telling the truth, I took the money and lighter. "Thanks," I mumbled, confused, shoving the money and lighter in my pocket so I could hurry to the bus.

"You're very welcome," he called as I made my way to the door. "Happy birthday, AJ."

I stopped long enough for a shiver to crawl up my spine, then chose to keep walking. It was strange enough that he knew my name, but the fact that he knew it was my birthday was just creepy. I never tell anyone that it's my birthday, and I've never showed him my ID before.

The strangeness continued on the bus. When I tried to pay for my ticket, the driver placed a hand over the money slot and manually printed out a day pass on the machine. Before I could ask why, he smiled and gestured to the ticket. "Not today, AJ. Happy birthday."

I nodded and took the ticket, sat down and started mulling it over, trying to make sense of these surprise well-wishes. Someone, for some reason, must have decided to give my birthday a memorable start by paying these guys to be nice to me, right? Pathetically, I realized that I didn't know anyone who would go to those lengths to mess with me. I don't have any friends outside of work, and I'm not even really close to any of my coworkers, so none of them would even know my birthday.

More importantly, how would someone know ahead of time that I would be at the convenience store when I didn't even know it? And how would they know that I'd be on a later bus than usual?

After a few minutes, my stop was on the other side of the intersection we were at, right in front of the large parking lot and the supermarket where I stock shelves. I started tapping my foot, worried that I'd be more than a few minutes late if the light didn't change quickly.

The bus driver sighed happily and turned on the intercom. "Alright, everyone. We have just enough time to do something special before this light changes." When I looked around me, I expected that the other passengers would look just as confused as me, not that they would all be looking at me like they were. Warm smiles, familiar stares, all in my direction.

I stood up, but the driver, who was now beside me, lightly pushed me back in my seat. "Don't be embarrassed, pal, just be happy that we're not giving you birthday spankings." The other passengers laughed at that.

I felt helpless, surrounded by all of these strangers that seemed to be planning something for me. I always thought that I would run away in a fight-or-flight scenario, but apparently there was a third option- fright. I was glued to the spot, terrified, and couldn't will myself to do anything about it.