Happy Birthday, Andy.

The bell rang. And there was a stampede. A stampede, as hundreds of young children rushed out of the school as it gave over for the summer vacations. Andy was particularly excited. It was his birthday! As he walked down the street to his house, he waved back at his friends, and kept wondering what his family might be up to. One thing’s for sure… it will be a Surprise.
The twelve year old walked up to the front door and rang the bell. No reply. He was going to ring it again, when he stopped himself and wondered, “Ah! Who’s in for a surprise? Not me, no!” He giggled. Then he crept along the wall, keeping a low profile, until he safely reached the back door. “Ah-ha! Guess who kept this open! “ exclaimed Andy as if he just won a bet. He slithered down the kitchen and made it to the drawing room when…
…” OMG! This is amazing! Loads of balloons, cake and hell lotta presents.” Was the obvious expression of a bubbling Andy. “That’s it, no more Mr. Spy… and no more Surprises, I guess”, grinned the Surprise-loving twelve year old. He stood up and screamed out loud, “Hey, mom, dad, sis, I gotchya red handed… you can come out now… thanks a lot you guys, I love you… uhmm… hey, mom… MOM?”
Andy always knew his dad was a busy person, so he might have left for work and perhaps Jennifer went out with her friends. No Surprise. But his mom would never do something like that. No Surprise regarding that, either. Once Andy had come home early as school gave over due to some Government Inspection; his mom had left for shopping, and was so surprised to see Andy sitting on the door mat with his head lost in his hands, she apologized and almost smothered him to death.
But this time it seems serious. This time, the back door was open. This time, the cake was out of the oven. He knew his mom was there. She had to be. He ran upstairs and checked the rooms. And there were tears. Tears of happiness. They were all there… his mom, dad, and Jenny too. Now that’s a Surprise. They were taking a nap. “Aww, that’s so sweet. They tried to make the party special for me, and now they’re all so tired. I guess I’ll wake mom up.” Smiled Andy as he walked up to her side of the bed.
“Mom… wake up mom, I’m here… hey, mom?”
Now that’s strange.
“MOM!!! Wake up!”
Mom wasn’t listening. Andy didn’t like that.
“MOM, this isn’t funny!”
Mom just crossed her limit… Andy pulled her towards himself. But he felt her back wet. Then his fingers touched something. Something which felt like a handle, and something sharp… which seemed to be partly inside his mother’s back. He jumped back. And stared at his hands. They weren’t as he used to know them. They weren’t the soft hands his mom and dad used to hold. They weren’t the hands with which he pinched Jenny all the time. They were different… they were wet… they were red. Yet another Surprise… Happy Birthday, Andy… Happy Birthday.
-Arka Prabha Paul