I left the loud and uninterrupted snoring behind me as I sneaked out of the house, starting up my Suburu Outback to visit the first destination on my list.

Alice

Dana had been acting strangely for the two days before my birthday and I was desperate to know what she was up to, I knew she was planning something. I had been worried that what Dana had found me had disturbed her and that she would think that I was some kind of freak. Luckily, she didn’t mention it again, she was too busy running off and being secretive. I tried ringing Shane to try and find out what was going on but she said she was sworn to secrecy, no matter how much I begged her. I was tempted to drive over to hers so that I could give her my adorable puppy eyes to try and get her to tell me but I decided against it- I knew that doesn’t usually work on Shane anyway, she’s scarily good at keeping secrets, unlike me.

The morning of my birthday I was woken by someone shaking me gently. I’m really not a morning person so without realizing what was going on I swatted the person away, refusing to open my eyes.

“Ow! Careful Al” I heard Dana’s voice and instantly opened my eyes, firstly to check that I hadn’t hurt her but mainly just to look at her beautiful face.

“I’m sorry honey, you know I’m not a morning person” I grumbled and saw that Dana was holding a tray out to me. I grinned at her and sat up in bed before Dana placed the tray on my lap and reached down to kiss me.

“Happy birthday baby” My smile widened when I saw what was on the tray- my favourite breakfast, blueberry pancakes. Along with them there was a vibrant yellow flower in a tall thin vase, a cup of steaming coffee and a small blue box with a curly yellow bow stuck on top. Dana knew that yellow is my favourite colour.

“Wow! Thank you!” I saw that Dana was still standing beside the bed. “Come back to bed and share some of these magnificent pancakes with me” I patted the empty space beside me and Dana walked round and climbed onto the bed.