Welcome to birthday week! We're celebrating my birthday all week long with a short story I wrote just for the occasion, as well as a chance for you to win some ice cream. Want more information or to see the list of scavenger hunt clues you're looking for? Check it out here. Thirty. Today. 10,955 trips around the sun, give or take a leap year. Cassandra stretched languorously in her bed, unwilling to get up until she absolutely had to. After all, it wasn’t every day that a girl woke up no longer in her twenties. Besides, what was the point of taking a day off work if you couldn’t be lazy?
A beam of sunlight hit the one spot in her miniblinds that was broken and aimed itself directly at her eyes. She squinted and rolled over to block the offending brightness. Down the hall, she could hear her apartment mates clinking and clanking in the kitchen. They were noisier than normal this morning. She gave up on getting any more sleep, threw back the covers, and stood. Her favorite author’s newest release had come in the library yesterday, and Cassandra’s name had been first one the waiting list. She couldn’t wait to get back to the land of Andorya and see what Mykal and Fern were up to. She planned to escape for the whole day. No better way to face the fact that she was thirty and still single than by not facing it at all. She clasped the doorknob, twisted and shrieked as balloons cascaded down around her, swirling in the air current from the opening door. What in the world? Sarah and Lucy peeked through the streamers taped over the entryway to her room and giggled. “Happy Birthday!” “How long did it take you to blow all these up?” Cassandra kicked aside a light blue latex orb and resisted the urge to step on it, just for the pleasure of hearing it explode. “Almost an hour. We blew up thirty, but since we got the cheapest ones we could find, they didn’t stretch easily.” Lucy helped tear down the crepe spiderweb. “And we might have been eating chocolate between each one, too. Which added a few minutes.” “You knew we’d have to do something for your birthday!” Sarah grabbed Cassandra’s hand and tugged. “We can’t just ignore you hitting the big three-oh.” Cassandra glanced back at her book sitting all alone on her bedside table and then gave in to her friends as they pulled her along the hallway. “I’ll have to remember this favor when it’s your turn in a few months.” “Ta da!” Lucy waved her hands at a table loaded with waffles, strawberries and a can of whipped cream. “Wow.” Cassandra sank into a chair. “And we’ll celebrate more tonight.” Sarah glanced at her watch. “But I’m going to be late for work if I don’t leave right now.” “You really don’t have to do more.” Cassandra shook her head. “This is more than enough. I just want to be lazy and read all day. That would be the best birthday present ever.” “Don’t be silly.” Lucy gave her a hug and then grabbed her giant yellow purse. “You only turn thirty once, you know."
1 Comment
8/27/2019 01:48:00 pm
How fun and what a great idea! Happy Birthday, Sara!
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