Happy Birthday to Me by Brian Rowe

Author:Brian Rowe [Rowe, Brian]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2011-04-04T22:00:00+00:00

13. Forty-One

On Tuesday I finally resumed basketball practice after school, and despite Coach Welch and Ryan both wanting to slaughter me and feed me to a rowdy crowd of filthy pigs, the practices were so grueling I could hardly notice. After Thursday’s practice, I found myself limping toward my house from the driveway like I had just survived the world’s first ever weeklong triathlon.

I was around forty now. My skin looked more rugged, particularly around my face, and my hips weren’t behaving with the distribution of my fat content the way I would’ve liked them to. While nothing compared to those initial few days of chubbiness, it was becoming more difficult to maintain the slenderness of my teenage body, even though I found myself eating less with each passing day. Just weeks ago I was scarfing down French fries and milkshakes, super-sized. Now my daily food regimen consisted mostly of nutrition shakes, with the occasional non-fat yogurt thrown into the mix.

But of all the horrors entering my daily life, what scared me most of all was something I hadn’t foreseen happening for at least another week or two.

A gray hair.

I noticed it on my way home from practice, still breathing heavily from all my running. I realized I hadn’t taken a good look at myself in days, preferring to stay away from the mirror just as actors do looking at their own movies. I glanced at myself enough in the mornings to make sure my clothing was decent and my face was clean-shaven, but I wasn’t really trying to see myself. I looked into my rearview mirror and saw only the top of my head. I was about to look back at the road when I noticed the gray hair, sitting stiff and proud on the left side. I wanted to pull it out but stopped myself, having read somewhere that pulling a gray hair caused two more to appear, and then two more after that.

I decided it best not to touch it.

Who am I kidding? More will come. Lots, lots more will come.

The front door of the house was locked, so I went in through the garage. Not a single car was inside, so I figured the house was deserted. I walked in and was met only with silence.

“Mom?”

I was disappointed. I hadn’t eaten anything all day, and I wanted Mom to make me something other than a nutrition shake. A salad, maybe?

I yawned twice and realized that if I didn’t make it to my bed, I would fall asleep right there on the kitchen floor. I needed a catnap—even if it lasted only ten minutes I would be grateful. I started heading down the hallway toward my bedroom when I heard a faint bark coming from my right.

First, I thought it was coming from outside. Taking a few steps back, I realized it was coming from my parents’ bedroom.

“Cinder?”

I made my way up the steps and opened the door to see my dog shaking.

“Oh no! Did Mom lock

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