Sōgo Setsuzoku (On-Going)

SS 01: The Birthday

whoosh.

The candle goes out and Hailey Carelle Mendez, turns fourteen.

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Beijing, China
11:19 pm
October 9, 3030

She was waiting for this moment, her entire 13 years of existence wanting to be in this position. She contemplates this moment in bed, 11:19 and lying awake because her coming of age was nearly approaching.

She returns back to the memories of the past, a throwback thursday if you will.

browsing 6th grade memories, her friends that were mini-crackheads.

browsing 7th grade memories, the class that she was in was the one she treasures most. The laughter, the joy, the bliss it bought her.

and the current holder of her heart: her 8th grade section. They are wonderful people and she feels like she's made very special bonds.

She continues to reminisce and think back about what she could've done differently, whethere they were good or bad.

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12:00 AM

"Happy Birthday to me." Hailey says to herself as she enters deep slumber.

She dreams pleasantly and hopes for a good celebration of her birthday tomorrow.

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Hailey wakes up pleasantly. She puts on a smart casual outfit and goes down from her room.

"Happy Birthday honey!" Hailey's mother immediately envelopes her into a warm hug.

"Thank you mom." Hailey says, filled with love.

"The celebration will start later honey."

"I love you mom. Thank you for giving me a simple birthday."

"Kahit ano para sayo. Now, go see your dad!" she points to their garden.

Hailey runs to their garden to see her dad. She sees him facing back but he senses her presence and faces her with something in his hand.

"Surprise!" Hailey's Dad says as he holds his present for her. A wad of cash.

Hailey giggles. "Daaad! You shouldn't have. But you know me well because you know how much i love practicality."

"Of course, honey. The Happiest birthday to my lovely daughter." Hailey's dad says happily and gives her a warm smile.

"We'll start soon, just hang there."

"I can wait, dad. I'll go to the living room now :) I'm going to watch netflix."

Despite being from a upper well-off family, Hailey still enjoys the little things.

Hailey watches some netflix but heads off to the kitchen where their maids are cooking in.

"Eyy mga amazing people!" Hailey smiles at them.

"Huy Hailey, Happy Birthday to you!" Both maids say with inviting auras.

"Thank you sainyo! Thank you rin talaga sa pagluto para sa birthday kong eto. HAHAHA."

"Ano ka ba, ok lang 'to Hailey. Ang simple nga ng request mo."

"Eh, di naman talaga kasi ako pala malaking selebrasyon. si Mom and Dad lang ang may gusto nun. Pero bayaan mo sila! HAHHAHAHA"

"Nako, ikaw talaga Hailey. Nood ka na ng netflix dun, sasabihan ka naman ni Madam at Sir kung kailan tayo mag cecelebrate."

"Sige guys, iwan ko muna kayo diyan. Thank you uli!" She leaves them and continues watching netflix.

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The time has come.

The table is set. Everything is ready and cooked. Just enough for them. They're ready to add the final piece, the cake.

The maids place it on the dining table and get candles.

Hailey, her mom and dad, are all looking at the cake with longing, patience and definetly excitement.

The maids get the candles. Hailey smiles at the 1 and 4 being meticulously placed on the cake.

The maids get the lighter and light the candles.

Everyone sings in unison.

"Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you. Happy Birthday, Happy Birthday, Happy Birthday Hailey." They finish and Hailey claps for herself.

She whispers to herself before blowing the candles, "Happy Birthday to me."

whoosh.

The candle goes out and Hailey Carelle Mendez, turns fourteen.

They celebrate and all the jazz, Everything was sort of a blur to hailey.

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Hailey plops herself onto her bed and immediately wants to check her phone. But while grabbing her phone, she notices something weird on her pinky finger, a red material wrapped around its radius. She decides to focus more on her pinky and finds that it has a line attached to it that seemingly leads to somewhere but is long enough for her to not see.

"Wha- What is this?" She wonders and feels the material, afraid while doing so. She looks over to her other hand and sees another red material wrapped around it.

She googles what it means or what it exactly is.

"Huh? What?" She goes, confused. "You only see this in movies, right?"

She thought wrong.

Hailey sleeps it off, hoping it'll disappear, but she wakes up, still tied.

still tied to the Red string of fate.