A Celebration with a Difference

(by Anastasia Sohova)

It was two days before my best friend Maxim's birthday. Me and two of our common friends, Ann and Dan, were sitting on a big sofa in Ann's living room and trying to decide on a present for Max. There were a lot of ideas: a couple for his cat, a watch, an alarm clock (he is always late for university) and many other things. They all were good but not perfect, and we needed something really perfect as it was his last birthday with us. His parents decided to move to Austria to their relatives. So we needed something that would remind him about us. After a few hours of thinking an idea came to my mind - a surprise party! Ann and Dan agreed. We decided to share responsibilities: Ann chose cooking, I chose decorating the flat, and Dan was responsible for proper music and entertainment. 
Of course, I did my best, and so did Ann and Dan. Fortunately, Max's birthday was on Tuesday. Fortunately because on Tuesdays he used to play football so we knew he would come only after six p.m. We had enough time to get to his flat, convince his mother that we were not going to ruin it and make her go to her friend. 
Everything was ready at 17.30. There were balloons everywhere, the food was on the table in the living room and it smelled really fantastic, and the music that Dan had chosen was good. There was a big yogurt cake with 18 candles on the kitchen table. While Dan and I were checking whether everything wasperfect, Ann went to the kitchen to drink something. Suddenly we heard a scream. We ran to the kitchen. There we saw Ann almost crying and Max's cat, which was eating the cake. 
At exactly that moment we heard a key turning in the door lock. We turned off the light and hid. Then everything was as on a typical party: we danced, played funny games, devoured balloons and so on. When the party was almost over we heard a doorbell. Those were Max's parents. They were carrying a big cake with 18 candles and singing the Happy Birthday song. 
It appeared later that Ann had called Max's mother to ask her to buy a new cake. She did it, and, thanks to her, the party was not spoilt. A few months later we told Max about it. He laughed at us and said that even if we hadn't done so much, he would've never forgotten us.