The Wish Master
My uncle sends the same birthday text to everyone. I know this because my cousin showed me. Same words. Same punctuation. Same emoji in the same position. Sent to his wife, his children, his colleagues, his barber. Every birthday, every year, copy-pasted without a single change. Nobody has ever called him out on it. But … Read more
My phone showed three notifications before I was even fully awake. All three were birthday texts. All three said some version of “Happy Birthday! Hope you have an amazing day!” One of them had a balloon emoji. One had a cake emoji. One had both. I appreciated that people remembered. I did not feel particularly … Read more
I spent twenty minutes choosing the perfect birthday photo to send my sister. Found a beautiful one — warm lighting, cake with candles, exactly the aesthetic she loves. Downloaded it. Opened WhatsApp. Stared at the blank caption field for another ten minutes. The image was perfect. I had absolutely nothing to say with it. That … Read more