Twenty-One

I just got back. It went well, more than well. Was good, more than good I guess.

Sul's 22nd birthday "celebration" today, and of course it was another SURPRISE one. Not a party though, no, not really. 10 people doesn't really constitute a party methinks, but it was rather a nice informal gathering. With cake.

Of course, someone was branded a liar for misleading the lost birthday girl, and we quiestly snuck into her home while she was in her jammies. I realise this is starting to sound like some perverted story about urban interlopers, but bear with me here.

Then there was the "Oh-my-God-I-haven't-seen-you-in-so-long-I-thought-you-fell-off-the-face-of-the-Earth" stuff and the usual jokes about a certain someone's vertical limit and someone else's singing ability (or lack thereof). Spoiling Heroes for a couple of people...

So there was cake, lots of food, lots of laughing, surveys and the finding out of something no-one knew until I asked rather carelessly in front of everyone. Good job Naz! But I won't go into that.

So why is this brilliant piece of writing entitled Twenty-One? Did I forget her real age (I did, but that's besides the point)?

When the dust cleared and we were tired of watching Will Smith on TV all of us made our way back home. Some hitched a ride from others, others waited with some as they waited for rides from family. In the end, I took a bus with an old friend of mine. We took Service No. 21.

It's been a really long time since I took that bus. I used to sit in it almost everyday, on the way home from school for two years. And on the way home from school even after I finished with school, due to my "Significant Other" commitments. Lots of good times and our share of bad ones. Silent rides, laughing rides. Smiling rides and smelly rides.

It's a wonder sometimes, time. You can remember the days when you thought you didn't have a care in the world except of how to copy your homework quick enough before the lesson begins. Then suddenly most of your friends can watch adult films in the theatre without sneaking in, and some of them are even on honeymoons.

Well, other birthdays are coming, and birthdays have a habit of doing that, no matter how hard you try. The years roll by, as the buses do, even if you're not on them.