Silent Interaction

I wave my hand in order to get my friend, Monica's, attention. She was left mute when she got into a car accident a few years prior. She had bitten her tongue clean off in the commotion. She doesn't go out much anymore, so when I saw her at the grocery store I was shocked. She sees me immediately and I make my way over to her with my full cart.

"Monica, how are you?" I ask. She gives me a huge smile and a small thumbs up. She's carrying a basket with a tub of ice cream and chocolate syrup inside. "Having a party?" I ask. She nods her head proudly and points her finger to her chest, as if saying the party is for her. Then I remember, her birthday is today! How could I have forgotten?

"Oh my!" I exclaim. "Monica, it totally slipped my mind. Happy birthday!" I reach over and give her a side hug, hopefully making up for my memory loss. "Are you doing anything special?" Monica shakes her head and raises her arms in defeat, then letting them slap her legs as she drops them back down. Then she motions towards the ice cream, probably saying that this was her night.

I feel horrible. If I forgot about her birthday, who's to say everyone else hadn't either? "Oh MonicaI'm so sorry." She shrugs it off, as if to say that it is what it is. "Well hey, why don't I take you out for a dinner celebration? I don't have any plans tonight" I say. She raises an eyebrow and looks down at my full cart, which had all the ingredients to make a homemade lasagna, and smirks.

"Fine," I say, "then come over for dinner. My husband won't mind your company". She stands still for a second, eyebrows crunched in contemplation. "Come on, no one should spend their birthday alone" I try to convince her. Finally, she nods and gives me a huge smile, almost letting out a laugh. "Great! Let's go check out".