Sometimes the unknown is more comfortable than reality, desiring something bigger, more impressive than the mundaneness of your ordinary life. Tomorrow is my 24th birthday, as I find myself lying awake unable to sleep, excited for the prospects of tomorrow. I’ve been here staring at the clock watching the minutes pass, slower and slower, it always amazes me how rushed I feel during the day but in the dark, time stands still.
Finally drifting off to sleep, I couldn’t help but wonder, what or who the day will bring? Half-awake, half-in dream state, memories of previous birthdays start playing in my mind. ​​
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​ The first birthday I could remember was when I turned 6-years-old. My parents got me a brand-new pink bike with tassels coming out the handlebars. I remember ringing the bell a thousand times and I can still vividly hear the tinging of the metal. We had a huge party at my house where all the kids in the neighborhood came, we played for hours in the yard. After the party, I rode with my best friend Sarah to her house on the corner, the wind was blowing the tassels around as we sped through the empty street. I can’t remember that much about the whole day but I do remember getting home and how I’d forgotten to put the new bike in the garage, so mom sent me back outside to put it away. I can still hear the harshness in her tone when she used to tell me how I needed to take better care of my stuff, even as I whined about being dark outside already. It was October 13th and the sun set at 6 P.M, so it was dark enough to be scary but light enough to see things. The trees had already lost all their leaves, so as the wind blew through the empty branches, it swayed the trees in unison. The shadows stirred across the ground, moving as if witches were dancing all around me. I stared at the top of the big tree across the street from me and thinking it was alive and watching my every movement, I was frozen there for a few minutes. When I finally shook myself back into reality, I started to head towards my bike thinking, better hurry before it gets any darker. I looked back towards the driveway and saw a man standing there in my neighbors’ front yard, except it wasn’t my neighbor or anyone I had ever seen before. He was looking straight at me with a smile that was chilling on his face, as he watched me closely. For some reason though, I felt more at peace with him there, like somehow the witches couldn’t get me. I ran down, grabbed my bike and quickly put it in the garage but instead of going into the house through the garage, I ventured back outside like a dummy because I wanted to catch a glimpse of the man again, unfortunately he was nowhere to be seen.
When I made it safely back inside, I told my mom about the strange man that I’d just seen but she seemed uncomfortable talking about the subject. She just said under her breath, “the devil always makes his way out to sea…” and right then, my dad walked into the room, mom snapped herself back into dinner mode and started talking about the party with dad.
It would be another six years until I would see the stranger again. On my 12th birthday, my parents threw a costume themed block party to celebrate my day. The entire neighborhood came in their amazing costumes and I was allowed to choose whatever I wanted to dress up as. Mom wanted something scary because she said I was older now and it would be fun but I chose a Princess that had a custom-made pink puffy dress that sparkled in the light. Dad handmade me a crown out of wires and jewels, it was fabulous! I still have it hanging over my mirror in my room. At about 6 P.M, while the sun was setting and waiting for dad to turn on the lights he had strung up over the dance floor, when I heard Mr. Nelson, the old man that lives down the street saying that he loved the dress, so as I turned around to thank him, he wasn’t there. No one was there, just me and the man from my 6th birthday. He was standing under the tree in the front yard and intently watching everything I was doing, when I looked up at him he waved at me and without thinking, I waved back. Just then Sarah grabbed me by the arm and asked what was taking me so long to get to the yard so I could open the gifts. When I looked back, he was gone, again. Later that night I asked mom if she’d ever seen the man but she just said I must’ve had too much excitement for the day.
My 18th birthday was quite a sad day. It was my first semester studying abroad in Spain and I was truly home sick. Mom called me early in the morning to sing Happy Birthday and to tell me she had put some money in my account, so I could go out and celebrate. I promised her I would get dressed and go explore the city around me. I ended up touring some local museums and historical buildings, stopped at a Cafe for coffee and sweets. While there, I overheard this older couple talking about their granddaughter and it made me feel so lonely that I decided it was time to go home. Not just to my apartment but back to my parents’ house. As I got on the train to go back to my apartment, my eyes begin to water, when I felt someone grab my hand and I knew everything was going to be okay. When I looked up, it was the same man from my 6th birthday, he looked directly into my eyes and said, “you are never alone.” I took a deep breath while closing my eyes to stop the tears and then he was gone. All I could think about was where could he have gone, the train was still in motion and he was nowhere to be seen.
Later that night, I called mom and told her about the man on the train. At first, she was happy I met someone but as I kept explaining that I’d seen him on my 6th and 12th birthday and how he had somehow disappeared from the train, the tone in her voice changed and grew with concern. Afterwards, she warned me to just be careful of who I meet in Spain because it sounds grim, she completely ignored the fact that I had said I’ve seen him before.
I woke up from an ominous dream of being lost in a dark forest and rolled over to look at the time on my alarm clock. Ughh...6 A.M. must’ve forgotten to set the alarm, good thing I got up. I was in too much of a hurry to even think about it being my birthday so I quickly showered, went to get dressed and as I was about to put on a pair of jeans and a sweater, I suddenly remembered the box mom had sent for my birthday. I opened it up to a beautiful black casual dress and a sweater set, they happened to match perfectly with my new boots. It may be overkill for class but I knew wearing them would make me feel amazing! I headed to the subway for class at NYU, this is the last year in my master’s program and I already have an internship lined-up to start after the New Years. As I head down 4th Ave, I stop in the Little Cupcake shop to get a latte and a cupcake while singing, ‘happy birthday to me’ in my head.
Stepping into the train, I almost expected to see him, my heart was racing with excitement and fear blending into an altered state of alertness. As I sat down realizing that he was not there, I started to think about him and wonder why he never seemed to age. In fact, nothing about his appearance has changed from when I was 6-years-old. What did he mean when he said I was never alone, I decided I needed answers, skipping class I headed over to the library for research, brainstorming on where to even start.
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Something about my birthday brought about this strange being, maybe he’s an alien or a ghost!? I should start with the basics of what I know:
- My birthday is the 13th of October
- I see him every 6 years
- Starting at age 6
- Did he appear at my birth too???? Not sure
- Today is Friday the 13th
I started with the number’s, thinking about what I already knew, Friday the 13th is an old superstition of bad luck and the number six’s relations to the underworld. After hours of research and little success, I decided to stop wasting my day so as I get up to leave the library, I check my phone to see if I have any missed calls, it’s now 6 P.M. and Sarah has called several times and texted to meet her at the diner we like. I hopped on the next bus feeling thrilled to finally get the party started and as I watch the sun go down, the sky begins to look like a painting with the most beautiful sunset. I sit and as I stare out the window across the Hudson River, I am pulled back to reality by my phone ringing. I quickly answer Sarah’s call, she demands to know where I’m at because I was supposed to meet her at 6, assuring her I will be there in 15 minutes. Hanging up it dawns on me that every time I’d seen him in the past, it was always 6 P.M. and today he was a no show. I felt almost saddened to not have the mysterious encounter which made me start to question my memories, maybe they were a vision or premonition.
I finally reached my stop, getting off the bus as I head to the diner, the wind really starts to pick up and blowing everything around. Suddenly, I feel a hand reach out to help me to safety inside the shop across from the diner. This storm seemed to have come out-of-nowhere, wreaking havoc in the streets and within a few seconds, the entire area is vacant, the power is knocked out, leaving everything in darkness. I can see Sarah in the diner window with her phone light highlighting her face, I look back to see my savior and I see the man, he looks into my eyes once again and says, “you are safe now”. As he holds his arms around my waist, my phone starts buzzing with a text message from Sarah, “Where are you? Are you okay? a storm...” I don’t bother to open the phone. As I turn back around, almost expecting the man whose arms I can still feel, to be gone but obviously, he is not…
“I got you” he whispers in thy ear.
