My Birthday Wish

You drain the last of your beer, glancing around the dingy bar, this was definitely not your idea of a happy birthday. You would’ve invited your friends but you had none. That, coupled with the fact that you didn’t talk with your family led to another lonely night. You look up, scanning the crowd as you debate getting another drink. Nah, you’re tipsy enough as it is, any more and you’d just be wasting money. Whispers reach your ears from the only group in the bar, the rest being loners like you. Looks like they’re leaving. You watch them stagger out, and catch a glimpse of gold in the back of the bar. There’s someone staring right at you. Their bright golden eyes meet yours from under their hood but they don’t look away. In fact they seem encouraged by your stare, grabbing their drink and making their way to you. You decide to see what they want. Hopefully they’re looking for a friend and not a customer.

They flash a grin at you as they drop into the seat in front of you, pulling back their hood as they do so. Your lucky break had finally arrived, taking the form of a cute girl with bright blue hair. You took back that comment, you’d gladly be a customer now.

“Hey, you look lonely.” Her voice is surprisingly soothing.

“Lonely? Not cool, cute, maybe even mysterious?” Shit, you never considered yourself smooth.

She giggles. “I didn’t wanna state the obvious.” Wrapping a lock of hair around her finger, she scans your face. “So, what’s Mr. Cool doing here by himself?”

“Oh, just hanging out. You know how it is, a little quiet time is good for the soul.” It’d be pretty embarrassing to admit you’re a bit of a friendless shut-in.

“A little quiet is better at home, isn’t it? Not in some nasty bar drinking this cheap beer.” She chuckles, “Sake is more my thing though. Way better for a little quiet time.”

“I’ve never had it. But if someone was nice enough to offer, I wouldn’t mind trying that out.” You don’t know what came over you. Maybe it was the beer or she was just too cute. But it felt right, and this girl seemed nice enough.

“I was thinking of going home soon. Lucky for you, I have some spare sake lying around.”

You try not to get too excited as you accept. “First time for everything, right?”

On the way to her house you practiced your small talk. The girl who saved your birthday was called Lamy and she had recently moved into an apartment building nearby. In a dire need for new friends she’d hit the bar to do a little head hunting. A bar, especially not the dingy bar you came from, wouldn’t be your first choice to look for friends but it seemed to have worked out pretty well. Finally getting to her apartment, a nice little place for one, Lamy pushed you onto her couch before hurrying to the kitchen.

Lamy filled the two drinking bowls with a blue bottle of sake. You knew nothing about these kinds of drinks but the bottle looked pretty good. Tapping bowls with Lamy, you down the sake in one swing. The high-quality drink goes down easily, leaving a pleasant taste in your mouth. Followed instantly by a pressure in your head.

“Damn! This shit is strong! Tastes pretty good though.” The moment you set your bowl down, Lamy gives you a refill.

“It definitely hits hard, but it's my favorite.” You both have another drink, and again your bowl is refilled the moment you let go of it. You aren’t a lightweight by any means, but you already feel it getting to you. “So why were you really out by yourself? And don’t give me that ‘alone time’ thing again, you had some heavy ‘drinking my sorrows away’ vibes.”

You glance at Lamy while drinking some more. She looks so earnestly sympathetic that you can’t keep your mouth shut. The sake isn’t helping either. “I… Well, I was celebrating my birthday.” You drink some more. “Pretty pathetic, right? I got no one that’d bother hanging out with me. Not even for one night.” She gives you a refill and pats your back.

Lamy sips her sake and leans closer to you. “I get it. I used to be like you. I’d go drinking every day hoping to meet someone. Never actually talked to anyone, but I still did it. But one night someone ended up approaching me, they introduced me to a lot of really nice people. They actually helped me find this apartment.” Lamy smiles, pouring you another drink. “That’s why I talked to you. You reminded me of that old me. So I wanted to help you out too.”

Lamy leans on you, making your heart flutter, and a pleasant warmth fills you. During your conversation she keeps encouraging you to drink but, even flustered and pretty drunk, you know that a hangover wasn’t something you wanted to risk. After slowly drinking the rest of your sake, and talking about some more lighthearted things, you decide it was time to go. Lamy really didn’t want you to go, but you somehow managed it. Not before getting a tight hug, and exchanging phone numbers first. Your walk home wasn’t too bad. It was a cool, bright night, and you couldn’t help smiling all the way home.

The next day you get out of bed feeling refreshed, somehow dodging a hangover. You actually feel better than usual, although you woke up pretty late. While you’re taking a shower you can’t help but notice that your skin feels softer. You weren’t exactly rough before but it’s hard not to notice how much better it feels now. As you come out of the shower, rubbing your arms and touching your stomach, you notice something off about your eyes. You look closer and notice some golden flecks in your eyes. That wasn’t there before, right? Before you can worry about it too much your phone starts ringing. It’s Lamy. She probably wants to check up on you.

“Hey Lamy! What’s up?”

“Hey! You left pretty drunk so I was worried you didn’t make it back home.”

“Oh, don’t worry. I made it back fine. But I’m glad I stopped drinking when I did, cause I definitely would’ve passed out with another one.” You chuckle, “I thought I was pretty good with drinks but you didn’t even look tipsy!”

“Haha! There’s no way you could keep up with me! I drink sake more than I do water.” She pauses, “hey… I know we just hung out yesterday, but would you be down to hang out again?”

Hanging out again? So soon? It seems too fast. You start coming up with an apology, but manage to catch yourself. Why not? You did have fun yesterday, and this would be a good opportunity to make a new friend. Yeah, that’s why you were all alone on your birthday. Always staying in, finding excuses not to hang out with the people who talked to you, but maybe if you stopped with the excuses… She mentioned she had other friends, right?

“S-Sure! Yeah we can hang out. I’m not doing anything else today so I’m okay for whenever.” You feel a mix of nerves and excitement running through your body. When was the last time you did something like this?

“Oh! That’s great! Um… Would you be okay coming over now? I was gonna make lunch. I don’t know if you’re hungry, but I could make you something.”

“I haven’t had anything to eat actually so that’d be great. Let me get dressed and I’ll be there soon.”

“Great! See you!”

“See you soon.”

You hurriedly get dressed, not wanting to keep her waiting. You feel a bit jittery from the nerves. Even though you’re slightly anxious, you can’t help but feel excited. She did most of the work by approaching you and calling you first, but you still feel some pride at actually engaging with her. You remember those times where similar opportunities came up, until you turned them all down.

You somehow find your way to her building, and send her a text telling her you’re outside at the door. She reads it as soon as you send it, she must’ve been waiting, and buzzes you in. When you push open the door you hear Lamy call out to you. She’s peeking over the railing waiting for you. You wave at her and run up, ending up slightly out of breath.

“Hey! I just finished the food so hurry in before it gets cold.” She pushes you into her apartment and guides you to the kitchen where your food sits on a small table. There’s some of that sake again. She wasn’t lying, it really must be her favorite. You had to admit, you were craving some more, so you really couldn’t blame her. You both sit down, but before you can say anything she pours you some sake.

Lamy starts drinking and signals that you should too. “So, how bad did last night mess you up? You looked pretty wobbly when you left.”

“It left me pretty good actually. I don’t think I’ve ever felt better after a night of drinking.” You peek at Lamy over your drink. “There’s gotta be something in that sake that you’re not telling me about.”

“Ah… uhm y-yeah haha,” she quickly finishes her drink, “there’s a reason it’s my favorite. A-anyway how’ve you been? You have any plans coming up?”

“Not really. Like I said, I don’t really have friends.” It’s hard to admit again, but you’re really starting to feel a connection to Lamy.

“About that… remember how I mentioned a friend helped me get this apartment? Well I told her, and some other friends, about you, and they wanna meet you!” As she gives you a refill her face is lit up with a giddy, enthusiastic look.

“Really? Uh, when did they wanna meet me?”

“Oh, it depends. It’s just an idea, so if you don’t feel ready yet we can wait.”

You let out a breath. “Maybe some other time then. No offense, but we just met yesterday. Let’s get to know each other a bit better at least, yeah?”

Lamy nods rapidly. “Yeah! Sorry, I got excited. It’s just... they’re really nice people, and they helped me out when I was in a situation like yours.” She looks deep into your eyes and then slowly takes you in, as if she hasn’t seen you before. “There is something I should tell you…” she fidgets with her cup. You don’t want to interrupt so you wait patiently while sipping your drink. She finally shakes her head slightly. “Uh… well… I-I just really enjoy talking to you. Sorry for making that weird.”

“Don’t worry. I like being here too.” You smile at each other. Lunch goes by in a more relaxed mood. Both of you drinking more and more. At first you’re hesitant. You know how strong this sake can be, but Lamy offers to let you sleep here if you get too drunk. You decide to accept her offer; resolved to make a better effort to befriend her. Soon you’re dead on your feet, and, with the help of Lamy, you collapse onto her bed.

“Ughh…” the soft bed you lay on can’t do anything against the pounding headache you’re feeling. That’ll teach you about appropriate drinking habits. You slowly roll out of bed. Barely opening your eyes as you shuffle your way to the bathroom. You fill the sink with water and slowly dunk your head in. It’s nice and cool. Just what you needed. After collecting your thoughts you feel ready to breathe again, and slowly get up. You stand up straight, coming face to face with Lamy. “Jesus!” Your heart almost jumps out of your chest while your body freezes as if it's being submerged in ice.

“Shit! Lamy, you scared… me…” You stare at Lamy, but she looks different. Her hair isn’t as long, and the blue only goes halfway down her hair. Her eyes aren’t as golden either, they’re marred by brown spots. But you’re not staring at Lamy. The realization slowly creeps in. The pounding headache you woke up with getting worse the more you acknowledge it. You stare at your reflection and staring back is some half-formed imitation of Lamy. Your breathing quickens. You feel faint. Something’s terribly wrong.

“Hey, you good in there?” Lamy peeks into the bathroom. The moment she sees you she gasps, but instead of horror there’s a look of… joy? She looks at you with such pure, heartfelt happiness that her face seems to glow. The sheer euphoria she seems to be experiencing brings you back from the edge. Delaying the panic attack that was quickly approaching. But only delaying, when you look at her horror begins to set in again. Features you saw in the mirror jump out at you as you wildly scan her face. The hair. The eyes. You take in every feature she has, and lunge towards the mirror. Everything you saw in her is reflected in your face with your own features blending in. As if you were her child. But how… What did she do to you!

“Lamy! What the fuck happened to me!” You shout as you turn towards her.

It takes her a second to snap out of her trance. “It’s what I wanted to tell you yesterday. I-I promise I don’t want to hurt you. All I want is for you to be happy. So I did what my friends did to help me out. So just listen to-”

“What the fuck does that mean! Happy? How... What happened! What the hell did you do to me!”

“Please just take a deep breath. I’ll explain but you need to relax first, okay? Just deep brea-”

Without letting her finish her sentence you barge past her, running into the living room. You need to get out. There’s no way this is happening. You had too much to drink. That’s it, yeah. In the living room you see some bottles of sake laying around. How much did you drink last night? It doesn’t matter. You need fresh air. The room feels stifling. Claustrophobia sets in. Your head feels like bursting. Suddenly Lamy grabs you.

“Please just listen! I did what’s best for you! I just wanna help-”

You push Lamy off you. Sending her crashing into the ground. Everytime you see her your body freezes. Flashes of the mirror rush into your mind. You’re wasting time. You need to get out! You run for the door and barge out into the stairwell. You hear Lamy screaming at you. You can’t hear anything past the blood rushing through your veins. Your body shakes with adrenaline. You set off down the stairs as fast as you can. Lamy’s screams get louder.

“Stop! I just want to help! Please! You can’t leave! Not yet! They aren’t ready! Stop!”

Doors start slamming open all over the building. As you dash down you catch a glimpse of the other tenants. You lose your balance and almost crack your head open. You feel faint. This is too much. Your mind can barely handle it anymore. All around you, like an angry swarm, dozens of people run out. All glaring at you. All wearing Lamy’s face. You can barely breathe as you jump down flights of stairs. Not daring to look back. It’s right there. The exit is right there! You jump down the last steps, and slam into the door. You pull as fast as you can. Using your whole body to open the door. And finally you lunge out into the dark street, but before you can even leave the building something grabs the back of your shirt. You choke and fall on your back. Blood and shouting thunder in your ears as dozens of hands grab you. Gagging you and completely restraining you. The door slams shut as Lamy stares at you with tears in her eyes.

You sit in a small bar. Nursing some cheap beer you picked at random. There’s not too many people here. Your eyes fall on a guy sitting by himself. He’s slumped over his drink; an air of misery surrounds him. You look around making sure no one is looking at him. You slam back your beer and stand up. He looks up and catches your stare. He looks lonely.

Edit Report
Pub: 29 May 2024 04:00 UTC
Views: 152