Final Wish

I swiftly blew out the candles on my cake to end the night. The smoke drifted above the candles and, I pulled them out to lick the frosting and crumbs off the bottom.

“What’d you wish for?” My dad asked excitedly.

“He can’t tell you, or else it won’t come true.” My mother said as she stood up and began to cut the cake.

“I wished that something exciting would actually happen.” I said.

“Aw, now your wish won’t come true.” My dad frowned.

“It’s ok, dad,” I said, putting the candles to the side. “Even if I kept it to myself, it wouldn’t come true. This is the most boring neighborhood ever and nothing could change that!“

My mom shook her head and put a large slice of cake in front of me. I scraped some of the frosting off with my fork and licked it off. 

“Kyler, don’t be a buzzkill on your birthday. We couldn’t afford to raise a kid in the city so we had to move to the suburbs. I know it’s not your ideal home, but it’s all about what attitude you approach it with.” My mom said, continuing to pass out cake. 

“Well, I can’t exactly approach it with a positive attitude. Every ‘exciting’ thing that has happened here, really wasn’t all that exciting. To a little kid, sure, but to me, not really.” I argued.

My mom didn’t respond. She cut herself a slice of cake and slowly dug into it with her fork, taking small bites of her slice until it was gone.

I helped clear the table before going to bed. Once I was alone in my room I lit another candle and whispered, “I wish for something actually exciting to happen tomorrow.” Then blew the flame out. I closed my window then rested my head on my pillow and watched the time go by until it hit midnight. My birthday was officially over. 

I started drifting off to sleep when my phone started going off like crazy. My heart jumped to my throat and nearly leaped out of my chest because of how loud my phone was. I don’t remember putting my ringer that high. I checked the contact name. Unknown number. It was probably some stupid kid trying to prank call me. I sighed heavily.

“Who is this?” I answered in a weird voice to hide my actual voice from the kid on the other end of the call.

“I’m out.” A low raspy voice said into the phone.

“Out of where?” I asked in my regular voice.

Whoever was on the other end hung up and left me with a chill creeping up my spine. I shook it off and continued to watch the clock. The illumination from the bright green numbers kept me awake like caffeine in a fresh cup of coffee. 

My phone rang once more. The same unknown number trying to contact me. I angrily swiped up my phone and held it to my ear.

“I’m close.” The same raspy voice chuckled.

From their twisted, satisfied tone, I could tell that they were grinning into the phone.

“Close to what?!” I screamed.

Once again, they hung up and I sat on my bed, unable to even close my eyes for a second. My phone rang once more. Finally fed up with how long this prank has dragged on, I picked it up without checking the number and prepared to show them who's boss. Assuming it was the same unknown number trying to mess with me late at night, I released all my anger into the phone.

“Listen! I’m not in the mood to deal with whatever kind of prank you’re trying to pull! Go to bed! You’re probably a stupid 12-year-old!”

“Woah. Kyler, it’s me! I’m not trying to prank you.” The familiar voice of my friend Parker came through the phone.

“Sorry Park. I’ve received these prank calls from some stupid kid and it’s been freaking me out.” I explained. 

I wiped the sweat on my forehead and opened my window to cool my room down.

“Oh really? That’s annoying.” He said. “I’m calling because I’m home alone and this scary story came on the news and it’s making me feel paranoid. I thought that I should call you so I wouldn’t be as freaked out.”

“W-What was the story?” I asked, my hands still on my window.

“Apparently this crazy dude escaped from a hospital. He was sent there because he went crazy and killed his family one night. They even showed his picture on the tv. His crooked smile is still running through my head.” He said. 

I slammed my window shut, locked it then ran to my kitchen and grabbed a knife. That was my first instinct, get a weapon.

“T-That’s crazy,” I said, struggling to hold my phone to my ear.

“Yeah. The story really scared me. He escaped from that hospital on Walton Lea Road-” He stopped, and I knew why he stopped: because that’s only a couple blocks from my house.

I didn’t respond. My phone slipped out of my sweaty hand and came crashing to the floor. My screen broke, sending bits of glass flying across the floor. I bent down and hung up immediately and put my phone on the dining table. My phone flashed 1 am before the screen went black. I gripped the handle of the knife. Beads of sweat trickled down my face.

“Ok, Kyler. Calm down. I’m sure that he’s probably far away from here. He’s probably not coming here. He’s most likely on his way to the border to escape. Why would he come here when there are so many other houses to go to?”

My phone rang vigorously with the same unknown number. I let out a small, quick scream and dropped my knife into the sink then crept over to the table my phone was on and answered it.

“What?” I asked in a strong, confident tone to hide how scared I was.

“I’m here.” The voice said before hanging up.

I put my phone back and crawled underneath the table. My front door began slamming back and forth aggressively and I could hear someone pounding their fist on the door. I covered my ears and tears poured out of my eyes. The lock holding the door shut sounded as if it could break at any moment. After waiting and crying for what seemed like hours, the sound suddenly stopped. It was quiet for a minute until the scratchy voice broke the silence.

“Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday dear Kyler. Happy birthday to you.”

The singing crept around my house and pounded around my head. I burst out from under the table and ran to my front door to look through the peephole. Nothing. The terrifying truth hit me when I caught a glimpse of the back door. I realized that the lock of the back door was broken. I crept over to the back door and looked through the keyhole. My stomach twisted as the sick sight of a disturbingly crooked smile met my eyes and a chilling voice asked me,

“Is this exciting enough for you?”