The Surprise

Brian was drowsy and clueless to what had just happened to him as he laid on the road in the dead of the night. The sky began to rumble as it started raining. Bits of water landed on Brian's eyes, as he awoke with a heavy head and a cool breeze running through his cheeks. He rose up horrified, a hand on his brow, and looked about, stunned that the roadway he had previously seen blocked by fire was suddenly as good as new. Brian rubbed his eyes in bewilderment, terrified, for he just could not believe what he looked at now was true. He sat down, holding his head, thinking he'd gone insane or that it was a crazy dream, but then he remembered that he'd damaged his head when he initially skidded off the surface. He hurriedly wiped his hands all over his forehead, looking for the wound that he thought had bled previously, but there were no wounds or scars anywhere on his body, much to his surprise. Weeping in dread, he stood up and turned towards his bicycle, which, following the tragedy he witnessed, had collided with a nearby tree was now parked in pristine shape beside where he stood. He paused there, holding his head, struggling to figure out what had truly happened, and in the process, he searched himself. While checking his pockets he found a clue that presumably indicated to him, what he saw was genuine and not a dream, he noticed the glass on his watch was cracked.

He stood there staring at his watch when he realized the time: 11:50 p.m. 'shoot!!' He remembered he was on his way home, where God only knew what storm awaited. He hopped back on his bike and began peddling again, still perplexed by what had happened and contemplating what he would tell his parents. If he told them the truth, they would never believe him and would label him insane and crazy. "I'll talk to Jonathan about it," he hissed to himself. He peddled distractedly, thinking about what he had seen but every time he thought about it, he couldn't forget that when he woke up, the forest around him was in perfect condition, which really convinced him that it was all a bad dream, "but then how did I end up dreaming in the middle of the forest," he questioned himself, dropping all other thoughts that followed. Confused and scared he peddled, and he eventually had the feeling of being watched. He peddled harder than ever when he heard cracking from the woods on his right; he looked towards it and felt someone running beside him. Despite the fact that he couldn't see anyone, he had the impression that he was in the company of someone else. Petrified yet again, he peddled furiously, telling himself that there was no one in the trees and that what he had heard was the sound of a monkey. The feeling had faded as he got closer to his house, and after what felt like years of travel, he was finally home.

He dropped his bike in front of the garage and dashed towards the door, where he hesitated for a while, telling himself that he wouldn't walk inside all scared since he didn't want to startle his parents. He stood there for a long, calming himself down and attempting to forget what had happened. As he looked at his watch, he noticed it was almost 12:00, and it occurred to him that why would his parents be awake this late, they must've slept thankful that he'd spend the night at Jonathan's. So, he could now easily sneak in, and no one would notice. Thinking this he creaked open the door and tip toed his way in. Seeing the living room clear he moved towards the stairs and as he did so he heard a small thud from his room above. 'Not again!' he said as he reached for the umbrella from the umbrella stand. He proceeded to tiptoe up the steps, praying, 'God! be it a mouse'. He was now standing in front of the door, and as he twisted the knob, he heard some hissing noises from inside, so he clutched the umbrella as tightly as he could.

With trepidation in the back of his mind, Brian opened the door aggressively, and a slew of people shouted, "Surprise!" His parents, brother, and Jonathan were there.

"Happy birthday," they cried yet again.

His parents embraced him and hugged him as he stood there, still puzzled, trying to digest all that had happened around him; he wanted to talk but couldn't find the words that would help him.

"Shocked, eh?" said Jonathan.

"You bet your ass!!" Finally, Brian's mouth uttered some words.

"Come here, honey, sit down, and I'll explain it to you," mum said as she drew Brian to a chair they had set up.

Brian sat down as she said, "Honey, we were never angry on you, given that you apologized, we had all of this arranged when Mr. Gladstone departed the other day."

"Yes, it was my idea, because I knew you'd be embarrassed by what had happened, and then we were also aware that your birthday was only a week away," dad explained.

"Fun!! seriously"

"You thought it was humorous to see me in misery, I just can't believe you," Brian spoke as he stood up.

"Let me get this straight, I was truly on the verge of a mental breakdown just because you guys wanted to have some fun."

"And you.... you knew about it? didn't you.... please tell me you didn't" He yelled, referring to Jonathan, who stood at the corner.

Jonathan, baffled, attempted to speak but was cut off before he could open his mouth.

Brian spoke up once again "You hypocrite! I come in crying, complaining about what's going on at home, I call you my brother, and this...is how you treat me? Shame on you, man! ".. "Shame on each of you," he said to everyone, "I can't believe you find seeing me in misery amusing."

"No, honey, it's not that-" mom said as she tried to put a hand on Brian's shoulder to calm him down. Brian yanked her hand away and spoke before Mrs. Douglas could open her words. "Please leave! "Please, everyone, leave; I don't want to say anything in anger right now that I'll have to repent on afterwards." ". As he held open the door, he motioned for everyone to go. "No, honey, you're mistaking us; we didn't mean to—" spoke Mrs. Douglas, but she was cut off by Mr. Douglas, who shook his head as she glanced at him and hissed, "come on".

"And take this cake with you," Brian said, pointing at the chocolate-topped cake that had been delivered to his room. As Brian reclined on his bed with his head turned down, everyone began to leave.

"Are you staying or not?" Brian said again as Jonathan approached the door.

Jonathan replied, "only if you let me."

"Grab yourself a pillow and lie down... and when you're through, turn out the lights as well." Brian spoke as he lied down where he sat.

"I swear I had no idea things had gotten this bad-" Jonathan spoke.

"Just shut up and go to sleep," he said to Jonathan.