25# Future Descendants of the Past
Published 2024-06-11
She texted back a quick "Ok, be back soon" and put her phone back in her pocket. "What's up?" Cass asked.
"Your parents need us for something. I dunno. Better head back," Audrey replied nonchalantly.
Cass raised an eyebrow but didn't question any further.
"Mrs. Jones said they need help cleaning the gutters or something like that. Sorry."
"Hmm, okay," Cass said, but still didn't quite believe her.
Audrey grabbed his hand and pulled him back toward the way they came. "C'monnnn!"
He followed, wondering why Audrey was suddenly so excited about cleaning gutters, if that really was what Mrs. Jones wanted.
But, oh well, he had nothing better to do, he supposed. He might as well just follow along.
Audrey was buzzing with excitement by the time they reached the house.
"Why are you so excited to clean gutters?" Cass asked, shaking his head good-naturedly.
"Oh, um..." Audrey hesitated, not sure how to respond.
She grinned as she thought of the perfect excuse. "My parents never let me help them do it because I was "too young," so this is the first time I've gotten to do it!"
"Okee then," Cass slowly nodded, wondering why she was acting weird.
He glanced at the windows, frowning slightly. "Why are all the lights out? This is getting weird."
"Just come on," Audrey said, pulling him inside.
"Okay, okay, geez!" He exclaimed jokingly.
Audrey dragged him inside and the lights turned on.
"Surprise!" Mr. and Mrs. Jones shouted, appearing around a corner.
A banner hung in the middle of the room saying, "Happy Birthday Cass!!" Happy tears formed in Cass's eyes as he stood there in stunned silence.
He backed away, looking oddly uncomfortable. "Uh...thanks...I-I appreciate it. But you didn't have to do this," he stuttered.
"Yes, we did," Laura told him, giving him a hug.
He froze and then hugged her back before turning to Audrey.
"You were in on this, I take it?"
Audrey nodded, grinning. "Of course I was!"
He gave her a hug as well. "Thank you, I needed this," he whispered.
"I know. And you deserve it. You're awesome," she told him.
He stepped back. dashing the tears from his eyes. "Yeah, thanks."
He gazed around the room, taking it all in. Balloons, streamers, and other decorations covered everything.
"Do you like the decorations?" Mrs. Jones asked. "Audrey picked out most of it. She knew you liked red and blue, so we decided to pick that as the theme."
Cass nodded. "They're perfect!" he told them.
"LET US START THE FESTIVITIES!" Audrey proclaimed, doing a silly little dance.
Everyone chuckled and Laura brought out a beautifully decorated cake.
Mr. Jones fumbled through a couple drawers, looking for some matches to light the candles. Finally, he just grabbed a tiny lighter from one of the drawers. "Eh, this will work good enough, I s'pose."
They surrounded the cake as Rob lit the candles.
They turned out the lights and began singing. "Happy birthday to youuuu!"
"What do I do?" Cass whispered to Audrey, not sure why everyone was staring at him.
"Don't worry, no one on earth has figured out what to do when people sing happy birthday. Usually we just settle for sitting and staring awkwardly," she half-jokingly assured him.
Cass looked at her questioningly once they had finished singing.
"Now you blow out the candles," she whispered.
Cass looked confused. "But wouldn't that get spit on the cake?"
"We just try not to blow too hard. I have no idea who came up with the idea, though. It /does/ seem kinda weird and gross."
Cass shrugged his shoulders and attempted to blow out the candles. Only half of them went out.
"Do I blow the rest of them out or do I only get one chance?"
Audrey laughed. "You keep trying until they're all out," she explained.
"K. Just checking." The rest of the candles went out after another gentle blow.
"Did you make a wish?" Laura asked.
Cass quickly looked towards Audrey. This was getting weirder and weirder by the second.
"It's just a little tradition some people have. You make a wish and, supposedly, if you don't tell anyone, it'll come true."
Cass slowly nodded and then closed his eyes. A couple seconds later he opened them and smiled.
"Yayyy!" Audrey exclaimed, throwing a handful of confetti in the air above Cass's head.
Cass laughed. "You just got confetti on the cake!" he said, picking sparkly paper squares out of the frosting.
Audrey grinned sheepishly. "Whoops."
Mrs. Jones shook her head, smiling at the exchange. "Shall we eat some cake before we get too much more confetti in it?"
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Writing by Rena Gale and Calla Tolliver
Cover designed by Calla on Canva
Music from the public domain