Status: Hiatus due to Writer's Block. It's Simply Complicated is being used to distract me to let creative process work its magic. I haven't forgotten about the story!
Lemons to Lemonade
The Departure
“Congratulations!” My parents exclaimed as I opened the doors of my family’s $1.4 million dollar, Dallas estate.
My dad blew on the cheap, purple kazoo while my mom threw purple and silver confetti on me. These are my parents and welcome to The Matthews’ home, everybody, where the food’s good, the music’s nice, and the parents are overbearing. I smiled politely and processed in a manner that was no different than I normally would have, had my parents not been singing. Yep, it was my birthday, good old December eighteenth, my golden birthday. Regardless, I headed straight to the kitchen, sat at the island, and waited for my “birthday surprise”.
Lo, and behold, there was my cake: chocolate cake with whipped chocolate icing and no pink frosting. It was round and three-tiered. The base was covered in music symbols, while the second tier had my name, Addison” in bubble letters. The top tier held the “18” candle with purple and silver plastic piping sprouting out from behind it. My dad lit the candle before instructing me to make a wish and dream of it coming true.
I closed my eyes tightly. I pursed my lips together. I scrunched up my nose, before opening one eye and giving a slight smile. I took one deep breath in and leaned over my cake, ready to dish out a big blow.
“Wait!” My mom interjected. “Jonathon, give the gift to her.”
“What? Why?” Let her blow out the candle first,” my dad protested.
“No,” my mom started. “I don’t want her to waste her wish on something that she already has.” She looked at me with a wide grin and gave me a small wink. Had they done? Did they do it? Is really happening?
“Fine, happy birthday, sweetie,” said my dad as he handed me a sealed envelope.
I raised an eyebrow at them. It was surprising to see an envelope. Last year for my birthday, I got Toby, my purebred Cairn terrier. For my Sweet 16, I received a Mercedes CLK 2-Door Coupe with a bow. Before that, they bought me a star, state-of-the-art telescope since I was this astronomer fetish, and renovated the pool house so it would be my own observatory. So, it’s quite clear how I was a bit confused as to why my gift could be compacted into an envelope. Nevertheless, I opened it anyway. I saw the edge of the tickets and jumped off of the barstool I was sitting on and ran to hug both of them. I quickly blew out candle, which had been neglected because of all of the excitement. Who needed wishes? I got what I wanted: two tickets to New York. City.
“How did you know?” I asked them with huge smile on my face.
“How did we know?” Dad responded rhetorically. “You’ve been asking for it since August. When I told you ‘No’, you lost all color in your face and looked like you had been shot.”
I chuckled not only because it was funny, but also because it was true. Before moving to Dallas, we lived in Greenwich. So by the time, Christmas would come around, everyone would be sick of the snow so we’d vacation to Australia, New Zealand, the Bahamas, Costa Rica, and anywhere else that was warm at the time.
In the summer, my family and I would visit New York and stay in our penthouse and I loved every moment of it. The one thing I’ve always wanted to do, however, was go during Christmas Break to see the snow, witness the ball drop in Times Square, and have the picturesque, idyllic Christmas. Because of this undying love for the city, it’s no surprise that for my golden birthday I asked my parents for a Christmas in New York and what do you know? It came true!
I couldn’t resist give them another hug before running upstairs to call my best friend: the one who would be receiving the second ticket, the one who has been there for me since seventh grade, and my unfailing partner in crime.
“Jordy!” I cried into the receiver as soon as I heard the familiar voice.
“Yeah?”
“Pack your bags! You’re coming to New York with me!” I exclaimed as I started jumping up and down on my bed.
“Ok,” Jordy said, nonchalantly.
“What? What’s wrong? Why aren’t you excited?”
“Nothing.”
“What? Tell me.”
“No, seriously. Tell me or I’ll chop off your legs.”
“I already knew.” I could hear a faint chuckled being suppressed. “Your parents talked to my parents two weeks ago and sent me the itinerary Thursday so I could start packing.”
“Wait, Thursday was like nearly a week ago. Today’s Wednesday.”
“Yeah.”
“So you mean to tell me you knew about this all week and you let me rant about my parents this whole time and you never said anything.”
“Yeah, I didn’t want to ruin the surprise.”
A small smile crept on my face. I couldn’t be mad at Jordy for not telling me; it was a birthday surprise after all but I just let the awkward silence fester for a few moments, before deciding to finally speak.
“See you in the airport, girl, I guess I have packing to do.” We hung up and I put my iPhone 5 on its docking station to listen to music. I retreated to my walk-in closet and began planning my outfits, shopping trips, outings, and experiences for the next three weeks. I knew without of shadow of doubt in my mind that it would be fun and memorable. Somewhere, deep inside, I also knew that it would be magical.
My dad blew on the cheap, purple kazoo while my mom threw purple and silver confetti on me. These are my parents and welcome to The Matthews’ home, everybody, where the food’s good, the music’s nice, and the parents are overbearing. I smiled politely and processed in a manner that was no different than I normally would have, had my parents not been singing. Yep, it was my birthday, good old December eighteenth, my golden birthday. Regardless, I headed straight to the kitchen, sat at the island, and waited for my “birthday surprise”.
Lo, and behold, there was my cake: chocolate cake with whipped chocolate icing and no pink frosting. It was round and three-tiered. The base was covered in music symbols, while the second tier had my name, Addison” in bubble letters. The top tier held the “18” candle with purple and silver plastic piping sprouting out from behind it. My dad lit the candle before instructing me to make a wish and dream of it coming true.
I closed my eyes tightly. I pursed my lips together. I scrunched up my nose, before opening one eye and giving a slight smile. I took one deep breath in and leaned over my cake, ready to dish out a big blow.
“Wait!” My mom interjected. “Jonathon, give the gift to her.”
“What? Why?” Let her blow out the candle first,” my dad protested.
“No,” my mom started. “I don’t want her to waste her wish on something that she already has.” She looked at me with a wide grin and gave me a small wink. Had they done? Did they do it? Is really happening?
“Fine, happy birthday, sweetie,” said my dad as he handed me a sealed envelope.
I raised an eyebrow at them. It was surprising to see an envelope. Last year for my birthday, I got Toby, my purebred Cairn terrier. For my Sweet 16, I received a Mercedes CLK 2-Door Coupe with a bow. Before that, they bought me a star, state-of-the-art telescope since I was this astronomer fetish, and renovated the pool house so it would be my own observatory. So, it’s quite clear how I was a bit confused as to why my gift could be compacted into an envelope. Nevertheless, I opened it anyway. I saw the edge of the tickets and jumped off of the barstool I was sitting on and ran to hug both of them. I quickly blew out candle, which had been neglected because of all of the excitement. Who needed wishes? I got what I wanted: two tickets to New York. City.
“How did you know?” I asked them with huge smile on my face.
“How did we know?” Dad responded rhetorically. “You’ve been asking for it since August. When I told you ‘No’, you lost all color in your face and looked like you had been shot.”
I chuckled not only because it was funny, but also because it was true. Before moving to Dallas, we lived in Greenwich. So by the time, Christmas would come around, everyone would be sick of the snow so we’d vacation to Australia, New Zealand, the Bahamas, Costa Rica, and anywhere else that was warm at the time.
In the summer, my family and I would visit New York and stay in our penthouse and I loved every moment of it. The one thing I’ve always wanted to do, however, was go during Christmas Break to see the snow, witness the ball drop in Times Square, and have the picturesque, idyllic Christmas. Because of this undying love for the city, it’s no surprise that for my golden birthday I asked my parents for a Christmas in New York and what do you know? It came true!
I couldn’t resist give them another hug before running upstairs to call my best friend: the one who would be receiving the second ticket, the one who has been there for me since seventh grade, and my unfailing partner in crime.
“Jordy!” I cried into the receiver as soon as I heard the familiar voice.
“Yeah?”
“Pack your bags! You’re coming to New York with me!” I exclaimed as I started jumping up and down on my bed.
“Ok,” Jordy said, nonchalantly.
“What? What’s wrong? Why aren’t you excited?”
“Nothing.”
“What? Tell me.”
“No, seriously. Tell me or I’ll chop off your legs.”
“I already knew.” I could hear a faint chuckled being suppressed. “Your parents talked to my parents two weeks ago and sent me the itinerary Thursday so I could start packing.”
“Wait, Thursday was like nearly a week ago. Today’s Wednesday.”
“Yeah.”
“So you mean to tell me you knew about this all week and you let me rant about my parents this whole time and you never said anything.”
“Yeah, I didn’t want to ruin the surprise.”
A small smile crept on my face. I couldn’t be mad at Jordy for not telling me; it was a birthday surprise after all but I just let the awkward silence fester for a few moments, before deciding to finally speak.
“See you in the airport, girl, I guess I have packing to do.” We hung up and I put my iPhone 5 on its docking station to listen to music. I retreated to my walk-in closet and began planning my outfits, shopping trips, outings, and experiences for the next three weeks. I knew without of shadow of doubt in my mind that it would be fun and memorable. Somewhere, deep inside, I also knew that it would be magical.