Outstanding Story (Sub-junior) - The Birthday Party

“The Birthday Party” is one of the outstanding stories (sub-junior) of the first biannual International Short Story Contest 2019 written by Maulika Pandey, Aduvie International School, Nigeria.

The Birthday Party

As the sun was rising, Sofia was jumping on her pink bed with excitement. It was her tenth birthday! The best thing about her birthday was it’s on the first of January, the day world celebrates as the New Year day. She just couldn’t wait for her ‘Purple and Pink’ themed party to start, the gifts she was going to get, the huge cake she was going to cut and all the fun she was going to have.

With all this exhilaration, Sofia went to her pink bathroom, took her purple toothbrush and put the toothpaste on it. She brushed her teeth, rinsed her mouth and washed her face thoroughly with water and soap. Then she entered the shower, took her bath and wrapped herself with a pink striped towel. As she came out of the bathroom, she saw her mom bringing out a very beautiful purple dress from a bag. As Sofia’s mother saw her, she said “Happy birthday my dear sweetie… Come and wear these clothes, then come down for some breakfast. Okay!” “Thanks, Mom. I’ll be right there for breakfast.” Sofia said. As Sofia’s mom left the room, she hurriedly got dressed, brushed her hair beautifully and put a pink bow. She then wore a shining pair of pink high heels and a lavender necklace.

Sofia came down to the big and beautiful dining room to have breakfast. “HAPPY BIRTHDAY!” Sofia’s brother, Ben, little twin sisters, Kate and Katherine and parents exclaimed. Sofia was so amazed! There were party poppers which Ben and her father popped, pink and purple balloons blown happily by Kate and Katherine. There was a birthday breakfast specially made for Sofia which had peanut butter sandwiches, a cupcake iced with violet icing sugar and sprinkles, and an omelette with a cup of strawberry milkshake. After the delicious breakfast, Sofia thanked and appreciated her family for the gesture. She wouldn’t have had a good birthday morning without them.

Later on, Sofia’s father took Sofia on a shopping spree. While at home, her mom, Ben, Kate and Katherine started preparing a surprise cake for Sofia’s party. As Sofia reached the shop, she looked at all the dolls on display. It was very difficult to choose one. She loved them all. Finally, she chose the one that had a pink birthday dress. Sofia and her father waited in the customer’s queue, paid and checked out. Meanwhile, Sofia’s dad informed her mom that they will be arriving soon so they should get set for the surprise. As they stepped out, Sofia saw a poor girl of her age watching the dolls on the window display with sad eyes. Without thinking twice, she gave her doll to the poor girl. Sofia’s dad was amazed and proud. He promised her another doll whenever they come next.

As Sofia got home she opened the door and suddenly everyone exclaimed “SURPRISE! HAPPY BIRTHDAY SOFIA!!!” “Wow!!!” Sofia said happily as she saw all her friends. She was stunned to see the delicious cake, the pink and purple decorations and balloons that hung from the ceiling. But that wasn’t all, as Sofia entered her room she saw all the presents and couldn’t wait to open them all. “Eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen…” Sofia said as she was counting it. When she got to the living room, all her friends gathered around and sang happy birthday song as she cut the cake.

They started playing games. Everyone was enjoying. Suddenly there was a loud noise ‘BAAAMMM’. Another one came immediately after it, ‘BAAMMM’. It went again but everybody thought they were fireworks. After all, it was a new year! Just as Sofia was about to share the party packs, her dad heard someone crying for help. As he went out, he saw armed robbers attacking a family. He tried to shout and call the police but one of the robbers caught hold of him. Sofia’s Mum came out and was caught by them too. Sofia saw all that was happening from the window. She quickly asked everyone to be quiet and dialled 100 to call the police. She took one of the toy guns and went outside. She shouted at the robbers to leave everyone or else she will shoot. She knew she wouldn’t be able to hold them for long as very soon they will discover it’s a toy gun. But she had to take the risk. As she was engaging the robbers, she was secretly praying for the police to come quickly.

Suddenly there rang the police siren and the robbers fled away. Everyone took a breath of relief. Sofia’s parents invited the family to Sofia’s party. The party finally ended at a good note. At night, as Sofia lay on the bed she thought, “What a day it was…. amazing, adventurous and filled with plenty surprises. But thank God everything went well!”