Series 5: Her Testament: Series of a Paranormal Life, The Surprise

Being summer, school had let out at the end of May and my birthday month of June was approaching. I was turning 9 and for some reason, I felt like I was going to be thrown a ‘surprise’ party.

It felt as if the days flew by. The day was here, my birthday. I went into my parent’s bedroom where my parents were still asleep in their bed. I looked and saw the dress was still hanging in the closet. I turned to my mother and asked, “Who’s fancy dress is this? Why is it hanging here in your closet?” With sleepy eyes, Mom looked over towards the closet and said, “That’s for you, it’s for your surprise party.”

I took the hanger that held the dress, and put it up to my chin, dancing around the room, I was singing,

“Happy Birthday to me, Happy birthday to me…” Then I heard myself crying out, in pain, my eyes blurred from sleep, I thought, “It was all just a dream.”

As my left ring finger, wrapped in bandages and a splint, with red blood spots on the white cloth, began to throb I woke up, realizing this was the third time I had had the same dream!

I had never had a birthday party before. We were either traveling or getting ready to travel, so my thought was that this would be the year. We would be packing soon in preparation of the move, so I snuck into my parent’s room and saw a new dress hanging in my mother’s closet, just my size. It was in the exact place as in my dream, last hanger on the right. It had to mean that a party was to follow, right?

As I made my way through the house, the smell of pancakes filled the air. Everyone was already up and waiting for me, as I walked into the kitchen, Mom, Dad and my three sisters, all screamed, “Surprise! Happy Birthday Sheri!” Said in harmony, “We have your favorite blueberry pancakes ready for you.”

Dad was a master at making pancakes, always homemade, with real blueberries and Maple Syrup. The pain in my finger was barely noticeable as I began to scarf down the plate of blueberry pancake goodness.

Mom came back into the kitchen, holding the dress. She must have snuck out while I was distracted by the pancakes. “Happy Birthday Sheri! We had Mrs. Brown make this dress just for you! Isn’t it beautiful?”

The dress was made of silky soft white material with pink trim, no sleeves, and a petticoat underneath that made the bottom swirl around. There were little pink and blue flowers all along the neckline and the bottom of the dress. A perfect summer dress! Just like in my dream! Jumping up from the table, I took the dress from my mother, giving her a tight hug, “Thank You! Thank You so much, It’s Beautiful.” “Do I get a hug?” Asked my dad, as he walked over to inspect the birthday dress. “Yes, Thank You Daddy and thank you for the pancakes, they were delicious!” And with that, I ran out of the kitchen, into my bedroom, to put on my new dress.

Excited that my dream was coming true, thoughts of a ‘Surprise Party’ were even more thrilling and invading my head. This would be the Best Birthday Ever!

My little sister, Angie, walked into the room just as I was putting on the last shoe. Excited for the day, I told her, “Let’s go outside.”

“I have to get dressed first. Daddy made me do the dishes since it was your day, but it’s your birthday, so you didn’t have to do them. Happy Birthday from me.” Angie said as she laughed, “That’s your present from me, I didn’t argue, I just helped, for you.” Standing up to give her a hug, I said, “Aw, that’s so nice of you. Thank You! Now get dressed and meet me out front.”

Walking out the front door, it seemed as though the sun was shining brighter, as if Nature herself was saying, Happy Birthday! I walked into the middle of the yard and started twirling, spinning around and around, singing to the birds and grass, “It’s my birthday, I got this pretty dress and going to have a party!” As I turned around and around, again and again, until I became dizzy I nearly fell over, but caught myself, thinking out loud, as I often do, “Don’t mess up your dress already! You have to stay clean until the, surprise party.” “Who are you talking to?” Angie asked, as she walked outside. “I’m talking to the birds and the grass.” I said as I pulled out the bottom of the dress and twirled around again. “Letting them know, it’s my birthday but I think they already knew, they are glowing and smiling at me.” I started walking onto the road, “Come on, let’s go for a walk and see who’s outside playing.”

As we walked towards the hill that led to the park, Angie asked, “How’s your finger? Does it hurt?” “Nope, it doesn’t hurt right now. I have to tell you about a dream I’ve been having, nothing scary so, don’t worry, this one was a happy dream.” Relieved, Angie replied, “Good! I’m glad it’s not a scary one, not on your birthday anyways.” “Ok, so in my dream, Mom and Dad gave me a Surprise Birthday Party AND this new dress!” Excited for me, Angie said, “WOW! You dreamt about the dress you’re wearing? The same one?”  “Yes! I dreamt about it 3 times! Then I got the dress today, so there has to be a surprise party later, right?”

Questioning the party, Angie said, “You think you’re having a Surprise birthday party? I didn’t know, mom didn’t tell me about a party.”  “Well, I got the dress, didn’t I? The party has to be happening. Let’s see if anyone else was invited.” I was going to get to the bottom of this mystery, before going back home.

We passed a few friends and asked them if they were going to the party. They all pretended they didn’t know about any surprise party but I insisted and invited them anyway, “Come by later this afternoon. I’ll see you at the surprise party.” I would say as I winked at them.

The shiny morning sun had turned into a hot summer day, as we turned the corner back to our house. Mom and dad were packing up their bedroom, my older sister was carrying boxes from the kitchen to the back bedrooms. Seeing us walk in the front door, she called us to help carry in the boxes. “Grab some boxes and start packing up your stuff.”

There was no more mention of the party as we began to pack for the move. With my second box full, mom walked by the bedroom and looked in to see our progress. Asking if I wanted to take a break from packing to help fix dinner, mom asked, “Sheri, want to help me cook dinner, we are having your favorite, Salisbury Steak, and then a special dessert.” Looking over at Angie, I gave a wink. Thoughts of a party and birthday cake ran through my head, “Sure, I’ll help make my birthday dinner.”

Thinking it was all a ploy to get me into the kitchen for my big surprise, I followed mom out of the room. Just as we got to the living room, someone knocked on the front door. “Wonder who that could be, we aren’t expecting anyone.” Boy, I thought, mom really is playing up this surprise bit.

Mom opened the door, much to her surprise, the twins from next door and their mother were standing there, gifts in hand, dressed for a party. “Hello Brenda, boys, what have we here?” Mom said with a surprised look on her face. I was standing just behind mom, out of sight, still in my birthday dress.

“Hi Sharon, the boys told me it was Sheri’s birthday and that there was to be a surprise party this afternoon.” With a shocked look on her face, Mom responded, “Well, looks like I am the one that is surprised. I’m so sorry Brenda, boys, it is her birthday but there isn’t any party happening today.”

“Oh, no, well, our mistake I’m sure. Please give her these gifts, the boys picked them out themselves. You take care. Say goodbye boys.” Brenda handed Mom the presents, as they said their goodbye’s.

“Goodbye Mrs. B.”

Mom closed the door and gave me such a horrible look. “What have you done? Why would you invite people over for a party that was never going to happen? How could you embarrass me like that?” She was so mad, her face was turning red. Without even letting me explain, she yelled, “Now go to your room and don’t come out until I tell you to!”

Tears running down my face as I ran into my bedroom and slammed the door behind me. I jumped on my bed and cried, thoughts running through my head, “What just happened? Why did I get the dress but not the party I saw in my dream?” I was so confused.

My sister Angie came into the room to console me, “It’s ok Sheri, Moms just upset because she was embarrassed. Don’t cry, please Sheri. Talk to me.” I busted out, “I don’t know what happened, I thought I was going to have a party, it was in my dream. Now I have messed things up.”

As I was sitting up, mom walked into the room, “I’m not sure what’s wrong with you today but go ahead and tell me what you were thinking when you invited those boys over. Is there anyone else we should be expecting to knock on the door?” Telling my mother about the dream, in between sniffling, she turned from having that mad look on her face, to one of concern for me. Wiping the tears from my face, she sat down beside me on the bed and said, “Okay, I understand now but really Sheri, you cannot make choices like that without first talking to me. You cannot live your life by your dreams. Now go into the bathroom and wash those tears from your face, then meet me in the kitchen, we still have a dinner to make.” Smiling at me, she said, “Dreams are just dreams, they aren’t real honey,” then she gave me a hug, stood up and left the room.  I looked at my sister as I was getting up from the bed and whispered, “But I am wearing the dress!”

Dinner was served without any further mention of the surprise birthday party, the dress, or my dream.

As my family sang happy birthday, my mother walked out of the kitchen carrying a birthday cake with 9 candles, lighting up the top of the cake. “Surprise, we had this German chocolate cake made specially for you. Mrs. Smith across the street decorated it with these pretty sunflowers, one of your favorites. Now blow out the candles.” I blew out the candles and thanked everyone, “Thank you all, I really like the cake and the dress.”

Later that evening, my sister and I were getting ready for bed, I told her that I still believed in my dream, “Ya know, my dream was right, I got the dress and a surprise birthday cake. It may not have been the party I thought, but then the dream didn’t show me a party, it was all about the dress and the cake! I am going to always remember that a surprise can be anything, unless the dream shows otherwise.” She just shrugged her shoulders and said, “Okay.”

“What am I doing here? How did I get in the ditch again?” Waking up in the ditch was happening more and more frequently. I climbed out of the ditch and made my way back to my house. It was dark but I could make this walk with my eyes shut. As I crawled back into the window, my sister sat up in her bed and asked, “Are you okay?” “Yes, I am fine, go back to sleep.”

But I wasn’t fine, I could not remember climbing out the window. I went back to bed wondering if I had been sleepwalking or something. My last thought before falling to sleep was, “How many times am I going to wake up in that ditch? I cannot wait to move away from this place!”

The next few days were spent packing and getting ready for the move. Once we were all loaded in the car, we said, “Goodbye Ft Huachuca! Glendale, here we come!”

To be continued…