Eight Birthday Wishes

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NEW PROMPT:
A small boy/girl turns eight years old.
He/she receives eight wishes from the eight people who are invited to the party.
As he/she blows out the eight candles on the birthday cake, which says, by the way,
Happy Birthday W.C.,

What does he/she think, wish, say, and do?
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Seven decades had passed since Anne escaped from her childhood home after her 18th birthday. Those 70 years, containing both joy and sorrow for this elderly woman, seemed to have passed for her in only a minute.

As she sat there, slowly rocking in the chair her husband had given her on their 25th anniversary, the sight of her great-grandson celebrating his eighth birthday faded. Anne no longer saw the beautiful chocolate cake with waxy candles and the words “Happy Birthday, W. C.” written in white icing on top.

* * *

Her thoughts returned to the first year after she left home to enroll in college. Her father and Doris died in a car accident while Birdie, Lawson, and her two sisters also passed away in following years.

She forced herself to date three classmates, randy young men who were only interested in seducing the shy woman. During that year, she heard complaints on her first and only date with them. “Anne, you’ve got an anti-magnetic personality.” This was once followed with “I get more affection from my sister than a cold fish like you.”

The following year, an especially popular sophomore asked her for a date. While getting dressed for that date, Anne’s roommate gave her some words of advice. “If you want Robbie to ask you out again, you have to stop being so frigid. Letting him have sex with you is the only way to keep a guy like Robbie happy and coming back for more than one date. Trust me on this.”

Later that night in the privacy of his car, Anne gave in to the pressure of his sexual demands. Robert kept telling her how beautiful she was and how much he loved her. While distracting her with kisses to prove his love, he expertly positioned her body on the back seat. Only when the cool night air touched her thighs did she realize she was naked from the waist down. By then it was too late, and she lay there absolutely still as she had learned to be with her stepfather.

Seconds later, Robert got off her, an angry look on his face. “You bitch, you promise and don’t deliver.” With that, he took out his sexual frustration on her for not giving him a lasting erection. Anne’s bruises disappeared in a few days, but she never again dated while in college or for years after.

When she was in her early 40s, Anne met a gentle man named William Charles Chadwick. It took him many patient months, but he finally was able to initiate this damaged woman in the art of loving sex. After that first time together, he held her in his arms while she cried uncontrollably at the joy she had just experienced. Soon after, they married, and their only child, Karen Elizabeth, blessed their lives.

When Karen Elizabeth married in her late 20’s, she produced what Anne considered a miracle, a granddaughter they named Deborah. Both grandparents attempted to spoil the child, but Karen and her husband managed to raise a sweet, caring child.

One day soon after her 25th birthday, Deborah invited her parents and grandparents to come to her apartment. Waiting there, standing beside the beaming woman, stood a tall man, nervously twisting his hands behind his back.

“I’d like you to meet my husband,” announced Deborah, surprising her relatives. Even more surprising were her next words she blurted out in one hurried sentence. “We got married yesterday, and I’m pregnant.” Seven months later, William Charles came into the world. The event was not as joyous as it should have been. Two weeks before, Anne’s husband, her loving companion of many years, died of complications from a recent heart bypass surgery.

* * *

The giggles of little William Charles, named after her beloved departed husband, brought Anne back to the present.

“W C, did you make a wish when you blew out your candles? Mommy can’t cut your cake until you do.” This gentle nudge from his father caused the child to stop giggling and brought smiles to the eight relatives in the room with him.

“I didn’t know what to wish for,” W C said, a puzzled look on his face. “What would all of you want me to have?”

His mother thought for a few seconds. “You could wish for a long life.” W C shook his head at this. A long life meant nothing to an eight year old.

“How about good health?” This came from Sherry, his father’s youngest sister. W C again shook his head, his aunt’s wish for his good health making no sense. The boy hadn’t been sick a day in his life and didn’t understand the concept of illness.

Sherry’s husband joined in next. “I know, W C! How about wishing for a million dollars?” This comment had Millicent, his only daughter, glaring at him. Weeks before, she and her husband had to declare bankruptcy. The mention of money was a sore point with her, and her father knew it.

For the next few minutes, more of the family made suggestions for a wish, ranging from getting a new bike to having his parents take him on a trip to Disneyland. W C shook his head for all seven ideas until only Anne hadn’t made a suggestion.

“Nana, what would you wish for if it was your eighth birthday?” His innocent question brought Anne’s memory back to her sister Mae’s birthday. That was when the emotional pain of her childhood started with physical pain coming later. With an effort, she smiled at her great-grandson before answering, “My child, you have everything you need with people who will love and protect you always.”

She thought for a moment before giving him the eighth suggestion of what his wish might be. Her words had everyone in the room laughing at her idea. “Why not just wish that your mother would hurry up and cut your cake? I’m getting hungry waiting.”

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Microsoft Word count = 1,000

"The Writer's Cramp"  daily entry for 09/07/08
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