Stars are Better than Candles when It Comes to Granting Wishes

Let me tell you a story. This story is kind of funny, kind of cheesy, but somehow not as clich?d as you think it would be for a love story that happened on a birthday.

Hi, my name is Josh, and I'm going to tell you how my 20th birthday went down. See, for the past six years of my life, I've been in relationships, and for the past six years, I've had bad birthdays. And when I say bad, I don't mean it in the "good" way. I mean it in the God-I-wish-I-had-never-been-born kind of way. Kind of ironic, considering that this was the day that I was - born, that is.

I won't go into the details, as this might make you shake your head and go, "Jeez, this guy would have been better off if he had been run over by a truck on his birthday", but let me give you a few examples. I had a birthday where my dad got confined in the hospital. And there was one when I found out my then-girlfriend was cheating on me with a friend. Then there was that time when I got confined in the hospital myself. See what I mean? So, where's the truck?

Anyway, on my last birthday, I went up to the terrace of my house, lit a candle on a cupcake that I had brought with me, and blew it out, wishing that just this once I would have a birthday that I would never forget, this time, in a good way. So, there, alone on the terrace, under the star-strewn velvet sky, I half-heartedly blew out my candle and went back inside - but not before noticing how many stars were twinkling in the sky. In my depression, though, I never really paid them much attention. The next day, I had forgotten all about it - that is, until 364 days later.

The day before my birthday, I started to get nervous. Not another miserable 24 hours, I thought to myself. I tried to get my mind off it, but in accordance to Murphy's Law, the more you dread something, the faster it will come. Before I knew it, it was my birthday.

Yeah, the sun was shining brightly, but I had learned not to take that too seriously, as the day could still end with all the dark clouds in the world hanging over my head and me wanting to hang myself. So, imagine my surprise when my birthday was nothing at all like what I expected. Want to know what happened? Well, here it is:

My new girlfriend singing me a happy birthday and a very sweet kiss on my lips awakened me. I immediately woke up and readied myself for the bad news that I knew HAD to be coming. So imagine my surprise when she told me that we were having lunch at a beautiful floating restaurant nearby. I mused to myself that this wasn't bad news at all, but I also reminded myself that the day wasn't over.

So, we had lunch, and over our meal, she suddenly turned to me and said that there was something that she had to give me. I steeled myself inside, ready for the worst. She reached behind her and pulled out a gift-wrapped package. The first thought in my mind was to chuck it into the lake and get rid of whatever evil thing could be inside, but I took it, anyway. Again, imagine my surprise when I peeled back the wrapper and found the cutest pillow with a Superman logo inside. Superman was my favorite superhero. I wanted to cry and apologize for being such a paranoid idiot.

I was pretty confident throughout the afternoon. We hung out at a park the whole day, just cuddling on the benches, and afterwards, had dinner with our friends. It was perfect - maybe just a little TOO perfect.

After dinner, my girlfriend suddenly looked at me seriously and asked me if I could walk her home. I knew it, I thought. The day WAS too perfect, and since I had let my guard down, I was about to hit the ground hard.

So, we walked home in total silence. I had no idea what she was thinking, but my own thoughts were going crazy with the possibilities. I was so nervous, but that level of nervousness was nothing compared to what I felt when we stopped in front of her place and she stopped and looked at me.

I asked her what was wrong, and she said that there was something that she wanted to tell me, but couldn't do so in front of her friends. I asked her what it was and readied myself for whatever torture was to come. Imagine the biggest surprise in my life when she suddenly took out a small piece of paper, full of scratches and scribbles, and slowly, hesitantly, recited a poem that she wrote for me on my birthday.

There was no pain, nor words of rejection. Just a girl with shy eyes and a faint but determined voice, reading a small scrap of paper, telling me how much she loved me, how much she loved being with me. When she had finished, she didn't give me time to react, but leaned over and gave me another kiss - this time, sweeter and more gentle than the one I had received this morning.

The night ended on a song, one whose sweet melody will echo in my heart and mind forever. There was no candle to wish on this time, but the stars, the same ones that had watched me 365 days ago, twinkled even more beautifully against the sky that night than they did ever before. I guess that's what happens when your wish comes true: they shine  over a job well done.

Here's to my next birthday.