Birthday Shenanigans (A Short Story)

Saturday. February 19, 2022

She was my best friend, or so I thought. It was a warm Saturday evening when I held my phone close to me waiting for it to ring. I was expecting a call from my best friend. It was my birthday and she told me she had a surprise for me and would call me. I had been waiting all day for her to call but I never heard from her. I thought she had forgotten about the surprise and my birthday.

I tossed and turn on the bed as my excitement slowly turned into despair. I was upset, bored and disappointed. It wasn't the first time she would flake on me or go back on her promise. I cherished my birthday so much that I easily got excited by anything; in the morning I almost shed tears of joy when I saw how beautiful the sky was.

I was still wallowing in the sadness of how my birthday was turning out when my phone rang. I ran to answer it only to find out if was a marketer calling. I quickly ended the call and tossed the phone aside but it started ringing again. Unlike the first time, I checked the caller ID this time and it was Timi, my best friend!

"Hey, what's up?" I asked in a casual tone, trying to act like I didn't just spend hours waiting for her call

"Hey girl! You didn't think I would forget your birthday did you?" she asked filled with excitement.

"Uh, nah! Uh, of course you wouldn't hehe."

"Well, I have a surprise for you!"

"ooh, tell me tell me! What is it?"

"Well, you two rules. One is you have to stay on the phone, two is you have to find it."

"Huh? What are you talking about?"

"You see, I prepared you special birthday surprise down in the apartment warehouse. Follow the stair to find it."

"Can't I just go straight downstairs to the business?"

"What's the fun in that? Just do as I've said OK?"

"Urgh, fine. I'm coming,"

The warehouse is an empty space below the ground floor of the building. It has an entrance at the front of the building and another one from a staircase inside the building. No one really uses that staircase, it is dark and dusty. I stayed on the call but I turned on my phone flashlight.

I started going down the stairs and fighting cobwebs that have probably been there for years. Some of the cobwebs were already cleared showing that someone had passed there. A strong wing blew and the door to the stairs shut blocking any natural light.

The stairs were filled with junk which looked like old abandoned furnitures. I had to maneuver each one like a maze. It was so dark that I could only see the place my light shone at. As I kept jumping over obstacles, I heard a faint murmur that sounded like a crying child. I stopped moving and listened but I heard nothing. Later, I heard what sounded like a child's running footsteps accompanied by giggling.

I was beginning to freak out and I remembered I still had Timi on the phone.

"Uhm. Timi, are you there? There's something weird going on here," I said

"Oh, what is it?" Timi asked

At the same time, I heard the footsteps and giggling again

"That! Did you hear that? There's a child laughing and running about!" I yelled frantically

"I didn't hear anything. I'm sure it's nothing unless the legend that a little girl died there is true."

"Wait, what? What legend?"

"The janitor told us about it a while ago. Oh no! Do you think it's true?" she answered shakily

"Oh I'm going to die! What do I do? I don't want to die!" I pleaded as I tried to hold back my tears.

"I don't know, run!" she yelled

Her yelling pushed a button in my that made me start running immediately. I was closer to the warehouse than the door of the stairs so I ran down. I didn't even know how I managed to dodge the obstacles the blocked my way. I continued till I saw the little warehouse door. I pushed it open and ran inside then the lights came on and I heard a shout of, "Happy birthday!"

All my friends were there, including the janitor. My cloth was dirty and dusty, my arms and hair was covered in cobwebs and my mouth hung open on shock as Timi took a picture of me.

"What?" I yelled

"Remember how you always pranked us and you told us we could never scare you? Well, this is payback!" Timi said laughing.

At first I was so pissed but her laughter was so contagious that I joined in. I later cleaned myself up and had a wonderful birthday with my friends.

FICTION! FICTION! FICTION!

Hey guys, I'm feeling better than yesterday and I'm grateful for that. Thanks for reading! Although I have a random question that I want to ask. Do you cook your chicken before frying or do you fry it while it's raw?

Lead image made on Canva

Have a nice day!