The day's strange events had left me confused. Just seconds ago, I was in the arms of my parents. A group of well-dressed women and men were gathered around me, giggling at every word I said - or at least, tried to say. They passed me around like they passed around the 'red wine, please', yet they did not seem to make such a fuss out of it. But of course, the red wine, please was not having a birthday party.
"Blow the candle!" someone said. Everyone laughed as I clumsily spat on the cake and tried to inhale the smoke like I had seen some man do with a white stick. "C-gah-rat," I believed it was called. All around me, the unfamiliar faces were filled with smiles. Until, of course, that word was said. It may not have been as bad as what some people called a 'swear word', but it never ceased to cause everyone to frown. My parents spelled it out for me some time ago.
"B-R-E-A-K-E-R-S. Now, don't go around saying that word unless you are looking for trouble."
Unfortunately, the word was yelled, thus resulting in frenzied screams, lights being flicked on and off as if the switch couldn't stop blinking, and my parents were nowhere to be seen.
"Go! Run! They are here!"
All around me was a whirlwind of chaos, confusion, and the creaks of the old house as terrified crowds rushed about. I did not know what was happening. After all, I was only three. However, I could sense the fear, the urgency. I scrambled amidst the tangle of legs, trying to find a way out. A thick aura of anxiety clouded my mind, but there was something else. Was it curiosity? The desire to see what was actually happening, to see the faces of those who could scare that emotionless uncle and that old lady that picked a fight with everyone she could.
I climbed onto the nearest table, hoping to get a better sense of what was going on. At first, I could only see many guests running all around, but then I saw them. They were clothed head to toe in silver, and carried bubblers with them. It was just like all the bad guys in the bedtime stories my parents told me about. However, everything I thought I knew was about to be questioned.
They did not come to steal, nor did they come to kill. Instead, they were searching for a single object. I watched as their frustration grew. Whatever it was wasn't under the table. It was not behind the door. It seemed that they were not very good at hide and seek.
"Spread out, search the house, she insists that the grandchild be found."
"Come on, Ben, you know this is the only room the toddler will be in. No parents would leave their child in a completely different room."
"But then again, the parents were not with the child. On a side note, try to remember NOT to say my name."
The other guy shrugs. "Not like anyone here knows you. Now, where is that child-"
Then they saw me. From the way their eyes lit up, I could tell that I was exactly what - or rather who - they were looking for. In that second, I made a decision. When I stared in the face of danger, there was only one thing to do.