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. If you missed yesterday's part of the story, it's here (you'll want to read it first). Who on earth was knocking on the door at this time of day? Weren’t all the people who knew her at work right now? Cassandra slid down a little further in the sudsy tub and hoped that if she pretended she didn’t hear the banging, whoever it was would go away.
The noise stopped and she breathed a sigh of relief. Then, her phone dinged with a message. “Cassandra. We’re at your front door. Let us in.” Why was her mother here? Now? She groaned and typed out a quick “Coming.” Holding her fuzzy robe as tightly as she could around her body, her hair twisted up in a towel, she peeked through the peephole. Sure enough, her mother glanced at her watch on the other side and then made an angry gesture as she said something to her father. Cassandra slid the locks open and cracked the door. “Cassandra, I know you took the day off, but I expected you to at least be dressed by now.” Her mother breezed past, motioning to her state of dishabille as she headed toward the kitchen. “I was being lazy this morning and decided to take advantage of having the apartment to myself and enjoy a bubble bath. I wasn’t expecting company.” Cassandra grinned as her father pressed a quick kiss to her cheek. “We brought you your favorite lunch.” He held up a bag from which the heady aroma of shrimp scampi wafted. “Couldn’t let our firstborn girl have a birthday without a little celebration.” Was Cassandra the only one in the world who didn’t think it was impossible to let someone celebrate her own way? “I’ll go change and then we can eat.” “This kitchen is never in order. How are we supposed to eat if there aren’t any plates in the cabinet?” Her mother’s voice carried down the hall along with the bangs of cabinet doors being shut with more force than necessary. “I think they might be over there.” Her father never sounded as put upon as her mom. Cassandra pulled on yoga pants and a pink tunic length top, twisted her brown curls up into a messy bun, and decided it was good enough. Her parents had seen her in worse. For example, the robe she had greeted them in. And since everyone seemed to be conspiring against her lazy day, she didn’t see the need to put herself out there any more than possible. She checked that her bookmark hadn’t slipped out when she tossed the novel on her bed. Running her fingers lovingly over the cover, she sighed at the interruption that would more than likely take several hours away from her reading time, and went to face the parents. It couldn’t be any worse than being left to clean up the breakfast dishes this morning. Or the threat her roommates had left her with of a party later this evening. She slid into her chair at the table, pretending she didn’t see her mother’s disapproving once-over of her outfit. “This looks great, Dad.” She spooned a helping onto the plate in front of her and readily accepted a breadstick from him. “Only the best for my birthday girl.” “Now that you’re in your thirties ...” Her mother waved a paper napkin and then spread it in her lap as if it were the finest linen. Maybe breakfast dishes weren’t so bad. Cassandra quickly stuffed a bite in her mouth to delay having to answer whatever question was about to come out of her mother’s mouth.
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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." |
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