Surprise or no Surprise (unedited) - contributed by Ivan

I like this piece, warms the hearts of the readers. What do you think?

Sunlight entered through the windows and the rays of golden light shone on my face, as if telling me to get out of my daily afternoon nap. Yawning as I stumbled through the room of my HDB flat, I wondered if anyone would remember my birthday.

Hopes and doubts about my birthday vanished when I saw that my sister was not in her room. That was when I was snapped awake and raced to my parents’ room. They were not there either.

Pacing around the room, I desperately kept thinking about every single place that they could have gone. “The shopping mall? The swimming complex? Where are they?” I thought to myself.

Then, a light bulb flashed in my head like the Wright Brothers. I snatched the house phone and dialed the numbers of their mobile phones. “Surely they have to pick up and answer my calls ,” I chuckled to myself.

As it turned out, there was no need for that. Mom, Dad and Lily had arrived home, lugging along huge paper bags filled with branded clothes.

“You guys bought all these…… and didn’t get any for me!” I asked with my voice trembling with anger as fires of betrayal burned fiercely while they danced around my irises.

They just ignored me and unloaded everything in their rooms. “Didn’t you get me presents or anything at all?” This time, my voice was pleading and every cell in my body was trying to deny the fact that they had forgotten about my birthday.

“Your birthday?” they asked in unison with a genuine hint of surprise in their voices. Then, something in me snapped like a crocodile’s mouth. I stormed to my room and slammed the door. Behind closed doors, I started to sob silently while my soft toy dog looked at me with pity.

The cold, hard truth was really too much for me to take. Dad-whom I worshipped like a hero, Mom-whom I trusted wholeheartedly and Lily-my own sister whom I doted on. “Why must they do this to me?” I shouted with all my strength in my shattered heart.

Like my heart, my hopes were shattered beyond repair and my worst doubts were reconfirmed. “I must put on a strong front!” I willed myself. Once my tears were dried and I pulled myself together, I went out and was greeted with a surprise.

“Surprise!” They cried in unison. Dad was there. Mom was there. Lily was there and everyone I knew was there.

“Wha…What’s all this?” I asked in utter disbelief. Without warning, they launched into a chorus of the Happy Birthday Song. Overcome by this scene, tears flowed but not of sadness and despair. It was of great pride and joy.

I stared at them like a blind man seeing the sun for the first time. With arms akimbo, I asked them, “Did you plan all this? The pushing, the so-called forgetting my birthday?”

“Well, I can’t take the credit. It was really Lily’s idea,” Dad replied with a crooked grin.

I walked over and gave Lily a light punch on her shoulder and hugged the breath out of her. “Don’t you ever do that to me again Miss Oh!” I whispered almost inaudibly.

This incident really let me think-I can trust and rely on my family members to help me, even Lily and her wacky ideas. This really was a day of happiness and I loved Lily even more.

Sunlight entered the window as the golden rays faded to deep orange rays. There really are no words to describe this feeling.