| �SURPRISE!� As Dan walked inside the silent living room of Nic�s house from the dark and chilly evening, four voices shouted and yelled, much to his shock. Nic clicked the light on as the rest gathered around Dan to wish him a happy birthday. Today, November 18, was not only Dan�s 21st birthday, but was also his last full day in Catonsville, and his last chance to hang with his friends before his departure. �Happy birthday Dan!� Amanda greeted as Dan sat down on the lightly worn, tan sofa among his close friends. �We wanted to make this evening a special one. You know we�re all going to miss you. Here, open a few gifts.� Amanda skipped over to the table in the corner, grabbed a large box from among the many sitting there, and gave it to Dan. �This one is from all of us.� Dan tore off the balloon-covered wrapping paper, and found a generic brown cardboard box. �Wow, a box, I�ve always wanted one!� He got up, acting excessively emotional. He hugged Amanda then jumped over to hug Nic, �How did you know?� �Open it up, silly, the gift is inside!� Jennifer nudged playfully. He continued to exaggerate his excitement. �Now I have a wonderful home to live in right here, so I can come back whenever I want to. And you can all visit me! I�ll make cookies in the kitchen, and we�ll watch TV on my jumbo screen!� he joked as he always did. Finally, Craig and Jennifer sat him back down and he opened the box. He peeked inside, and among what seemed like a million packing peanuts, was one small, simple box. He pulled it out slowly, totally lost as to what it could be. �What is this?� he stammered, immediately becoming serious. He slid the lid off, and stared at his gift. Inside that huge box was something very small, yet nothing else could have seemed bigger to him. A necklace, lovely on its own, revealed itself to him, but more importantly, from it hung a small picture. Dan couldn�t hold back the tears. �It�s beautiful.� he choked trying to compose himself. �Happy birthday.� His friends resounded. �I�m going to miss you all so much. I know I�m not leaving forever, but I feel like I am.� �You�re only a few hours away, things will be different, but we�ll all still be together.� Craig said encouragingly. �Yes friends, I know, we�ll always be together,� he repeated �Here, open another one, then lets have some cake� Jennifer suggested. Evening turned into night, as the group partied and ate, enjoying their last night together with all members present. Music blared, pizza and cake were consumed hungrily, and one by one, the presents on the table were opened. Each gift was selected carefully, and each one brought back special memories the group had shared over the years. They had had many good times, and even when things got rough, they had stuck by each other. As the evening neared its end, Craig felt ready to make a speech, �I can�t believe you�re finally going off to college, Dan. The moment is here. It�s hard to fathom that all of us will be heading our separate ways soon. Next year, the rest of us will be on our way too. It seems like just yesterday we were all still ten. All except you Dan, You�ve always been the oldest. As hard as we try, we can never make up that three year gap you have on us.� Everyone laughed, �Thank you for sticking by us and being a great friend, despite age and time.� To that they drank, and wished Dan the best on his journey away from home. Amanda, Craig, and Jennifer slowly went home, not wanting to leave Dan. They knew after that night, they would not see him for quite a while. They really didn�t know when their next chance to all be together would be. Afterwards, Dan stuck around to help Nic clean up, and amidst the celebratory mess, he found one final box, still wrapped, sitting on the table in the corner. �Nic, is this an extra present?� he asked �Whoa, yeah, it is. I don�t know how we missed it.� was the reply. Nic looked at the lone gift and chuckled, �Wait, that�s my gift. How did I forget to give you mine?� �Can I open it now?� Dan inquired. �Yeah, sure. I think you�ll like it.� Carefully, he pulled back the wrapping of the medium-sized box. He fumbled with the cardboard, trying to uncover this final gift. With much struggle, he found the opening to the box; what he found inside it however, left him utterly �You�uh�kept this?� was all he could manage to say. �Uh huh, I bet you remember the whole thing like it was yesterday, don�t you?� �I can�t believe you did this? How could you do this to me?� Dan shot back angrily. �Dan, I did it because it was special!� Nic was confused at Dan�s reaction to the gift. He thought it would be a wonderful reminder of years past. Dan walked toward the door, obviously intent on leaving. �Dan, stop, what�s wrong?� Nic wondered casually. He thought this was another one of Dan�s jokes. �You are� he responded with apparent rage. �Dan�� �Stop Nic, just stop. I�ll see you later.� Dan slammed the door behind him and paced quickly toward his car. Nic followed closely behind, completely bewildered by the whole scene. �Wait Dan, tell me what�s wrong!� He reasoned. No response. Dan started his car and began to back out onto the street. Fearful now, Nic jumped into the street in front of the car, tears in his eyes, intent on stopping Dan from leaving like this. �Tell me�� he mouthed silently. Dan stared back with eyes cold and dead. He didn�t respond. He backed up further and swerved around Nic, speeding away from the house. Nic gave chase briefly, but found himself no match for the combination of machine and madness driving into the distance. �Why?� he asked pitifully as the night suddenly grew excruciatingly cold. |
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