Anita was happy she had chosen to do her masters in England. She was. But today, she missed her family. Even Rory, her older brother who never missed an opportunity to prank her.
She unboxed the birthday cake she had bought herself. She had made some friends over the last few months but hadn’t been comfortable telling them when her birthday was. Somehow it felt like begging for them to throw her a party. So here she was, all alone as she turned twenty-one with no one to celebrate with.
The worst part was that her family hadn’t even called. She’d never been away from home on her birthday. She had expected some kind of long-distance fuss. But no. There had been nothing.
Sighing, she took a fork out of the drawer, planning to eat her cake without bothering to cut it. Before she could stick the fork into it, a loud knock at her door made her jump. Setting the fork down, she rushed to the door and looked through the peephole.
No way! Rory stood there, grinning like the Cheshire cat. He had flown in from Canada! Anita threw the door open. Behind Rory stood her friends from Cambridge, complete with a cake and all the fixings for a party.
As Anita threw her arms around her brother, her mom’s ringtone started to play on her cellphone. Crying so hard she could barely get words out, she answered. “Mom?”
“Happy birthday, sweetheart! Hope you like your gift.”
This week’s Micro 2 Go prompt, in honor of Justin’s son’s first birthday, was to write a story about a birthday or other celebration in under 250 words. My story squeaked in at 249 words. Leave a comment, and don’t forget to check out Micro 2 Go. Justin writes great microfiction!
I love a happy ending. It makes the cake taste better.
So wonderful! That's some sweet family love there!