100 Candles

(12 Lines)
New Prompt: Write a story or poem about a birthday celebration for a person turning 100 years old where the party guests are all people the birthday boy or girl hasn't seen in years.

100 Candles

“100 years, how could this be?”
Time has taken wings.
Age has settled in.
Memory is slipping away.

Lonely now for a decade or two.
As if no one ever was there.
“Why don’t they call, they used to write!”
“Did I ever have friends at all?”

Vague faces shake memories of names long lost.
Laughter and light filled the room.
He gazed at his cake… “How could this be?”
Each candle placed by a dear friend he once knew.

Stargazer