Dear Noah,
Happy 17th birthday! It's June 20th. I mean, obviously. How could you forget your own birthday...?
I'm pretty sure Mom, Dad, Harper, Alexa, and Ben are planning a surprise party for me. Ben and Alexa showed up at the front door at like, 1 PM, and told me we were going out to lunch and we'd just hang out. I'm laughing at the fact that they believe they're not planning or plotting anything. First we went to the nice restaurant in town and got some food. We each ordered and Ben paid for all of our meals after we finished eating. We all got in Ben's gray Ford Explorer and drove to that little ice cream shop, the one I always tell you about. I got Chocolate Fudge in a waffle cone, like I always do, Ben got Cookies n' Cream in a bowl, and Alexa got Rocky Road in a waffle cone. This time, Alexa paid. Yeah, something is definitely being planned.
Even though I suspected a party, I still asked Ben and Alexa about it. They just said, "Oh, we just wanted to hang out with you." I smiled, even though I was sure there was more to the story.
A little bit later (like, 2 hours later) Ben and Alexa whispered something to each other after Lex looked at her phone. Ben looked at me and said that we could go back now. "Ok." I said. We got into the car and drove back home. When I opened the car door, Ben and Alexa stuttered, "Your parents- uh, they wanted us to... uh, check on the plants real quick. You- you go inside, ok? We'll go in the back." Umm, weird much? Noah, I bet you would have laughed and said you'd go back with them too. They bolted to the backyard and I slowly walked onto the front porch. I opened the door, looked inside, and the lights looked normal, except no one was there. Or so it seemed. DUN DUN DUNNN.
All of a sudden, everyone- and I mean EVERYONE- jumped out from their hiding places and yelled, "SURPRISE!!" I jumped even though I expected it. Mom and Dad walked towards me with a cake that had blue frosting, daisies, and 17 was written in blue. "Happy birthday, Nat." They said. And I whispered, "And Noah." before blowing out the candles in the cake. They looked sad. But they also looked happy.
I miss you, Noah. But I know you're here in my mind and my heart. :)
Love, Nat <3
My twin brother, Noah Brown, died a few days after we were born. It was a rough time for my parents, but we still made it! We made it all the way to my 17th birthday. That's today. My parents don't show it, but I know they really miss Noah. It shows a bit more on birthdays than on usual days. But, Noah is definitely here, in our minds and our hearts. I sound so solemn when I say that... anyways. Sure, I only 'knew' him for a few days, when I wasn't even a week old, but still, I miss him. Having him here, next to me, on our 17th birthday, would be so special. But I know he's not physically here and if he were, my life would be so, so different. I wouldn't mind. Actually, I probably would mind. If Noah was here then Alexa might not be my best friend and Ben might not be my boyfriend. And Alexa and Ben have survived this long with me. If they were gone I don't know what I would do.
So, today. Back to my birthday. I'm- we're- turning 17 today. And Ben and Alexa have been acting oddly suspicious for the time I've been with them today. They showed up at 1 PM and told me we were going out for lunch and ice cream.
I think Mom and Dad are planning a birthday party for me (if you read the letter to Noah, you'd know that...) but I'm not 100% sure. Harp was acting normal- which was weird- and Mom and Dad were acting weird- which was weird. Anyways. After we finished all of our things, we were done by about 3:00, and we drove back home. Alexa and Ben told me they had to go check on plants or something and went around to the backyard. I slowly walked up to the porch and opened the door. Everything looked normal- the lights were still on too. All of a sudden I walked forward, and boom, everyone was shouting "SURPRISE!!" and screaming. Mom and Dad walked towards me with a blue frosted cake and said, "Happy birthday, Nat." "And Noah." I whispered.
Mom's eyes got teary. I smiled at her and looked around to see who all was here. Mom, Dad, Harper, Alexa, Ben, some cousins, Grammy and Papa, some aunts and uncles, and a few other friends and family friends. I blew out the candles on my blue cake.
"Did you make a wish?" Harper asked. Her friend, Katelyn (who's like a little sister to me), was standing next to Harp.
"Um, duh." I said, grinning at Kate and Harper. They grinned back.
Now it's Grammy and Papa's turn to talk to me. They hobbled over to me and each gave me a hug. "I can't believe you're getting so old like me!" Grammy joked. Papa laughed and said, "Yeah, stop growing, Nat!" Papa said. "I personally think that Grammy looks young though, don't you?" Papa whispered.
I nodded, playing along. "She does indeed." I looked over to the pile of presents on the fold up table that always topples.
Dad noticed me looking. "Birthday magic? It stayed up the first time." He said to me, then, to everyone else: "Cake, then presents?" Everyone cheered in agreement. We cut into the cake. It was vanilla cake and we had birthday cake ice cream and chocolate ice cream. After everyone finished their desserts, I sat next to the magic folding table. I picked up a pink bag with light purple tissue paper in it, and Katelyn told me that that was from her. I opened it to find a Pura Vida bracelet, Tree Hut sugar scrub, canvas that Kate had painted a sunrise on, and a card from Katelyn and her family. "Thank you!" I said to her and gave her a hug. I set the gifts in a pile and looked at the table. Harper gave me the next present. It was another bag but it was a little smaller than the one Kate gave me. I opened it to find a disposable camera, a big bag of M&M's, and a... pair of LuLuLemon leggings? "I saved up for them by myself!" Harper said proudly. "Wow. Thank you, Harpy." She blushed and made a face at me. Mom and Dad smiled at us. I went through and opened all of my presents. "Thank you everyone!" I said. I took Kate, Alexa, Harper, and Ben down to the lake where the sun was still up and bright and awake. When Katelyn and Harper rushed to the docks to race, Ben, Alexa, and I stayed a little farther behind them.
"See, I knew you guys were plotting something." I said with a smile.
"How could you tell?" Ben laughed.
"Hey, you guys want to make a TikTok?" Alexa asked. "Oops, sorry for interrupting your 'Batalie' moment. Or is it 'Naten'? 'Nata-Ben'-"
"Okay, we get it." I laughed. "But sure." We learned the dance in a quick five minutes and recorded it a few times before Alexa decided it was good enough for her. Within minutes the video had more than 20 likes since Alexa was pretty much amateur-TikTok-famous. Basically really popular but not famous. Anyways. My phone buzzed with a notification from her posting the video, since I was following Alexa on TikTok. I watched it and liked it before turning my phone off. Before I knew it, it was almost 5:00. "Hey guys?" I called out to Kate and Harper so they could hear me. "We should probably head home." I said.
"Okay!" They ran back to our house where it looked like everyone was slowly getting ready to go. I gave everyone hugs. "Bye! Thank you for coming. Love you too!" was said many times. The only people who stayed were Alexa, Ben, my parents (duh), Harper (also duh), and Katelyn, who, if I didn't state before, is our next door neighbor along with basically being my little sister and being Harper's best friend. Anyways. I was assuming that Kate would stay over at our house for a sleepover, and Alexa and Ben could leave anytime they wanted. Alexa was also probably sleeping over. A little bit later, we had dinner of spaghetti and meatballs with breadsticks. After that, Ben said that he would leave soon.
"Bye, Ben!" Everyone said to him. I walked outside with him to his car. "Love you, Nat. Happy birthday." He kissed my cheek and I waved to him as he left our driveway. I went back inside and everyone was chatting with each other while my dad turned football on on the TV. I sat down next to Alexa and listened to her talk to Kate about something. Even though I had just sat down I got up again and looked at my pile of presents. I had some jewelry, clothes, makeup, room decor... I got a lot of stuff. But partially because there was a lot of people there. I bet there would have been more people if Noah was there. If Noah was alive.
author's note: hi guys! I know I'm kind of biting off more than I can chew with all of these stories, but dear noah might actually be successful!
here's the characters:
- Natalie, (Nat) , 17 years old
- Noah, twin of Natalie (not alive)
- Harper, Natalie's sister, 13 years old
- Katelyn (Kate), kind of like a sister to Natalie, Harper's best friend, 13 years old
- Alexa, Natalie's best friend, 17 years old
- Ben, Natalie's boyfriend, 17 years old
word count: 1695 words (!!!)