Everyday she awakes to the irritating sound of her alarm, itâs always a sure fire way to ensure she is in a bad mood from the get go, but today is different. Today, she is going to make sure that she is in a good mood for her birthday. As soon as she turns off her alarm, she catches herself groaning at the thought of getting out of bed, but she stops herself and forces a smile on her face,
âNot today! Today is going to be a good day.â
She rolls over, picks up her âself assistanceâ book and reads the chapter âSmile the pain awayâ, before getting up and getting ready for work. Whilst driving to work she encountered an unwelcome amount of traffic, but before she can start to complain, through gritted teeth she plasters a wide smile across her face.
âNot today! Today is going to be a good day.â
She turns on the radio, hoping to catch an upbeat tune, but as usual, all she could find is the news. Hoping for good news, she listens with optimism,Â
âA man and his wife were murdered toda..â
âA group of murderous thieves are on the loose..â
âToday on your local radio, we have nothing but bad news. Three houses have been broken in..â
With that she decided it best to not listen to the radio, instead listening to the sound of the sweet horns of the gridlock traffic.
By the time she arrived at work, she was late, more so than usual. She decided it be best to enter through the back door, trying to make it appear as though she had been at work that whole time. She was however, caught by her irritating supervisor, Rachel.
âLate again I seeâ, announced Rachel condescendingly.
âWhat? No I just popped out to my car because I forgot my..â she began to explain, forcing a grin on her face.
âI donât want to hear your sad excusesâ, blurted Rachel, cutting her off and just staring at her.
She didnât really know what Rachel wanted of her, and after standing there awkwardly for an agonising thirty seconds and smiling at Rachels sour face, she just decided to turn and uncomfortably make her way through the door.
As she made her way to the kitchen, she noticed a massive banner saying,
She wasnât shocked, she had been dropping hints to her coworkers all week that today was her birthday, she knew they would do something.
âAll this for me?â she announced with as much modesty she could handle, but she didnât get the reply she was after.
âOh, is your birthday in June also?â replied ditsy Emilia, with her irritatingly high pitched voice and desirable complection.
âWell last week we decided that on the first of every month we would celebrate everyone who has a birthday in that month with a cake, itâs more work efficient that way donât you think?â Explained Emilia with her patronising kindness.
âMhm, sounds .. yep!â She relied with a forced grin that took every ounce of patience she had. All she wanted was one day, one great, happy birthday unlike every birthday before and it seemed that at every turn the world was out to get her. Not only did no one know that it was her birthday, but now she has to share it with everyone else, hell she even had to share it with âFreaky Franceneâ!
From that moment on, she tried her hardest to keep a smile on her face but eventually decided there was no point in trying to be happy for her birthday, because birthdays arenât a happy day. After everyone had had a slice of the crappy cake, which was stale by the time she got a piece, she decided to leave work an hour early because she just wanted the day to be over.
Upon her arrival home, she sat in her car for a moment and sighed. As she got out of her car and made her way to her front door she heard a noise come from within her house. She slowly opened her door and peeped her head through. Upon doing so she saw a figure hiding, shamefully bad, amongst her pot plants. At that moment, all her optimism for her birthday came rushing back - a surprise party just for her!
She crept through the door and down her hall way to the light switch. With a big grin, she turned it on and there was a blinding light, blurring her vision. As her eyes adjusted, she got the biggest surprise of her life, although that doesnât mean it was a good one. The last thing she heard was a loud bang and the world around her began to disappear as an intense pain took over her whole body. Her smile weakened and her legs caved in, collapsing to the ground.Â
As she was laying on her cold tiled floor, she stared into the eyes of one of the masked faces, who was standing over her. They began collecting her things and with the slam of the front door, and her vision fading to black, she forced her mouth to form a distorted smile, trying one last time to smile the pain away.
- Leaves of the Laurel Tree