Microfiction: Short-short stories that take an itsy bitsy amount of time to read. Each microfiction piece on this page is under 350 words (comparable to three minutes or less reading time).
Faith sings happy birthday for the seventeenth time in three years to one of those two silly girls that come from the bar across the street. They laugh uncontrollably every time until (and even after) the other patrons begin to look over at them, almost in a ‘shut the f**ck up, already’ sort of way.
The girls act genuinely surprised each time Faith turns off the lights in the restaurant to sing happy birthday as she walks over with the handwritten birthday card, paper crane and lit candle. Everyone in the small crowded restaurant always sings along. Faith used to wonder why the girls appeared so surprised each time, wouldn’t they expect it by now? She came to the conclusion a while back though, that the two girls are just dumb and immature and she’s tired of writing happy birthday wishes to them.
“The girls”, by the way, are not girls. They are both over 30 years old. Whenever they make reservations, they go early so they can stop at the bar across the street for drinks first. By the time they get to dinner, they’re tipsy. One of them always thinks it would be clever and funny to pull off getting the restaurant to sing happy birthday to the other one. Only tipsy people would think this is funny over and over again.
Faith, by the way, knows. She goes along with it because screw it, what’s wrong with handing out a few extra birthday cards and paper cranes to make someone happy? She also knows the ‘girls’ leave hefty tips. They leave hefty tips because they feel bad about their ‘trick’. Funny how things even out sometimes.
Time and time again, Faith brings them sips of plum wine in the cutest mini glasses and then she watches through the window as they leave, both laughing hysterically. Faith smiles and shuffles off to restock the birthday cards.
PAPAYA DARLING 