Surprises

Surprises

    The lights went out, and Ellen felt her throat tighten.  As she gasped for breath, she could feel her stomach tighten as well.  When she heard a click behind her, she didn’t need her eyes to tell her that someone had just locked her in the room.  The pattering footsteps she heard told her that whoever had done it was still there.  In spite of herself, she shivered as a chill ran up her back.  Had something just brushed against her leg?
    “Steve?”  She tried not to sound as afraid as she felt, but the cracking of her voice betrayed her.  “Is that you?” 
    She really hoped he was there someplace.  She’d only come to the bar in the middle of the night because he’d called her and asked for a ride.  She must’ve been in Wunder Bar a hundred times with him, but she couldn’t remember the lights going out like this.
    The only response to her question was a stifled giggle.  She only heard it for a few seconds, but it didn’t sound familiar.  It was a little too high to be Steve.
    “Who’s there?” she demanded.  “I know somebody’s there.  I can hear you.”
    The only reply was another stifled giggle.
    Oh man, she thought.  How many times had she seen this in horror movies?  The girl, usually a blonde, is fumbling around in the dark getting more and more scared.  Meanwhile, a monster, rapist, or serial killer is circling her ready to jump.  Ellen watched these movies over and over again, yelling things like, “get out of there, dumbass”, or something equally damning.
    <i> I never thought of myself as a dumb blonde, but here I am.</i>  She also knew where this might be going.  At this point of the movie, one of two things came to light.  Either the boyfriend was dead, killed by the monster, rapist, or serial killer, or the boyfriend <i>was</i> the monster, rapist, or serial killer.  <i>Where the hell is Steve?</i>  She rolled her eyes in the dark.
    She tried to will herself to walk, but her feet just wouldn’t be ordered around.  Suddenly, she shrieked before she even knew she was doing it.  She still couldn’t see, but she was sure something had brushed her leg.  She heard the chuckle again.
    “All right,” she exclaimed.  “I know someone’s here, and I want to see you.  <i>Right now</i>!”
    She heard another chuckle from further away.  She was just about to scream again when the lights came on.
    “Surprise!”
    Ellen looked around her in stunned silence.  It was Wunder Bar, just as she’d seen a hundred times before.  The place was packed.  All of her friends were there, and she even saw a few people she hadn’t seen in years.  In the middle of the room, with the dumbest grin she had ever seen on his face, stood her boyfriend Steve.
    “Happy Birthday babe,” he called to her over the applause that filled the room.
    Right.  It <i>was</i> her birthday.  She’d forgotten about that. 
    “You scared me half to death,” she yelled back at him as a tear ran down her face.  “What the hell’s the matter with you?”
    “I’m sorry about that,” he replied as he started towards her.  “After we turned the lights off Bob over there couldn’t see it to turn them back on again.”  He motioned towards the bartender, who looked sheepishly at her.
    “Sorry.”
    Steve put his arms around her.  She wanted to push him away and slap him, but his warmth felt good against her.  The smell of his cologne made her not want to slap him anymore.
    “That’s okay,” she said as a slight grin crept across her lips.  “<i>Your</i> birthday is next month.”



618 words