Birthday

Oola Breen-Ryan Grade 6

My life ended on my birthday. How ironic. The cake had neon green letters spelling out “Happy Birthday Ella” on the top. I’d broken of a piece of the letter “a”, so it just said “Hppy”. The letters tasted like sawdust.

The letters had returned in the mail as I was opening my gifts. Only Dad was there, because Mom had left a week earlier. Maybe she would come back, though, once I had gotten into an Ivy League university and she had a reason to be proud of me.

I knew almost immediately that I hadn’t gotten into Yale, Columbia, or Dartmouth. The envelopes were tiny, but I opened them anyway. “We regret to inform you” was the frst line of each.

I wiped away my tears and glanced at the envelope for Harvard. It was larger than the others. My heart sped up.

Addressed incorrectly. My address, 99 Poplin Lane, had been confused with 99 Pansy Lane. I held back my tears until the inside of my mouth bled. I hadn’t even realized that I was biting it until the metallic taste swarmed around my tongue.