From hand to hand; from heart to heart; contagious smiles need not be forced out. That brightly-coloured wrapper holds a mystery, waiting to be brought out to light. Some of them are in the form of items, some are cash, but some… are in the form that I couldn’t forget.
It was dark as if a gigantic black piece of velvet was pulled across the sky. Gleam of moonlight shimmered by the luminous crescent enveloped the cold hard ground, bringing along slight warmness. Like glistening gems in the sky, the stars scintillated exceptionally resplendently that night. The view of the night sky was undoubtedly magnificent with all the illumination.
The serene ambience on the dark streets was broken by the celebration of my 16th birthday party. It wasn’t filled with party hats nor balloons but scrumptious food were all over the big dining table. Radios were blasting away in harmony with the laughter followed after jokes. All the fun in the party had definitely created a very vivid ambience.
I was of course playing video games with my so-called monkey friends because they were literally messing around without having the controller slipped out of their palms. Sweat escaped my pores as my busy hands were pushing the buttons with might while having to bear the ticklishness from cheeky Matthews who was tickling my neck. I didn’t bother about him and continued to focus on the video game, for I knew he just wanted me to lose the match.
“K.O.!” Andrew cheered as the character he controlled sent a final kick towards the character I controlled, setting him off the ground and back to it again with head first. He went unconscious. Other friends of mine cheered for Andrew’s victory, including Matthews who was now fleeing for his life like a deer being chased by a ravenous tiger.
I just smiled awkwardly although a part of me wanted to slam Matthews in the face with an Oxford English dictionary. “Another match!” I demanded and those ‘monkeys’ laughed even louder. They knew I was on a losing streak. Bully was definitely their secondary birthday present for me.
There was a pat on my shoulder abruptly. I turned around, only to see my mother smiling at me. “Sweetie, I suppose another friend of yours have just come.”
I got up. “Who was it?”
“I don’t know. I’ve never seen him before,” mum replied.
Questions were flowing into my mind as I walked down the stairs. Who could it be? Don’t all my friends had come? There wasn’t an answer to those questions.
As my foot reached the ground floor, I glanced at the door and saw a familiar boy sitting alone. He let out a weak smile. I walked towards him and had a shock! He was Carlos - a 6th grade friend who couldn’t continue his studies due to financial problems which led to travelling problems (he had a bicycle only).
Carlos got up and pushed a small gift into my palm. “Happy Birthday, Paul,” he wished me. The present was just a grey plastic case not larger than a pencil case, and it definitely wasn’t attractive.
I was still shocked that he didn’t only remember my birthday, he stepped into my party despite all the travelling problems too! While going from a place to another was just a normal thing for everyone, the same didn’t go to Carlos. He was born in a family as poor as a church mouse and their earnings was just sufficient for that very same day. Carlos had to drop out of school and pick up a hoe due to poverty.
“Thanks a bunch,” I said and smiled. Nevertheless, deep in my heart, I felt really bad for accepting Carlos’ gift. I mean, who knew if his gift was 5% of his income? Or even 5% of his family’s income?
I was touched by his generosity that it struck right into my weakest points. I involuntarily shed a tear but quickly wiped it off my face with my sleeve. Carlos didn’t see it, thankfully, or maybe he pretended not to see it by glancing away.
