“Miss, It’s my HAPPY birthday”
“How will I do this!”- eleven-year-old me thinks to herself.
The inner voices jump in.
…
*The planner takes the lead*
Okay Faryal, here’s the plan!
As soon as the lesson ends,
You will go up to her and offer her some candy.
She will take one,
…
*The persuader interrupts*
Wait Faryal! Don’t you think you’ll have to offer her more if she takes only one?
Of course, you want her to take a few more.
Remember? It’s ‘Miss. S’,
Your favorite teacher!
…
*The planner contradicts*
Well, that’s not wrong,
But let me tell you,
Not only will it add up to the number of words you have to say to her already,
But it’s also too risky.
Like what if she says,
“No, I’m good, thank you.”
It will embarrass you a little,
Also, how will you respond to it?
…
*The persuader snaps*
You’ll say, “Okay”
DUH!
…
*The planner suggests*
Just an, okay?
Like you will just accept it?
…
*The persuader retorts*
Do you have a better idea?
HUH?
…
*The planner takes over*
Um, I think you should just stick to the original plan.
It’s simple and risk-free.
She will take one,
Wish you a “happy birthday”,
Maybe smile at you,
You’ll say, “Thank you”
Smile back,
And then come back to your seat.
…
*The persuader reluctantly agrees*
Yeah right!
Stick to the simple plan, I guess.
…
*Both in unison*
You’ve got this Faryal!
Now, I wish I could say that the conversation went exactly how I planned in my head.
But as you know, the reality is usually far from imagination!
Care to know what actually happened?
Well, my friends.
Here you go!
So, after replaying the scenario a couple more times in my head.
I finally plucked up the courage to go and talk to Miss. S.
But do you remember offering the candy part?
Uh, poorly planned!
I just stood in front of her with my stupid bag of candy, somehow expecting her to just take one and wish me a happy birthday!
Now, in my defense, any other teacher would have just assumed that it was my birthday candy, take one, wished me, and gotten over with it.
I mean, everyone at the school knew that it was the only reason a kid would shove a bag of candy in a teacher’s face!
But Miss. S, she was different.
She cared!
So, she smilingly asked, “What is it for?”
And I repeat!
No other teacher would have asked this question.
Now, she probably expected me to say something like,
“Well, miss it’s my birthday, here have some candy!”
You know, happily communicate to her about the reason like a normal kid so she could return my energy.
Well, guess what my awkward unprepared self said in return?
“Miss, It’s my HAPPY birthday”
Now at that moment, my friends!
Believe me when I say it,
I felt my soul leaving my body!
Imagine!
You finally get a chance to go up and talk to your let’s say celebrity crush.
And you literally “crush” it. (Not in a good way)
Yeah! that’s what I pretty much did!
You have no idea how big of a deal it was for me!
Like, the teacher in question was not just any other teacher.
She was
“Grace,”
personified!
An “Icon!”
A “Legend!”
To sum it up,
She was everything that young me wanted to be!
And it was not just me.
Everyone at school was intimidated by how perfect she was!
Beauty?
Brains?
Personality?
You name it?
She had it!
I mean, she was the kind of person you would not want to disappoint ever.
Not because you’re scared of them, but because of your immense respect for them.
Here’s a fun fact:
‘Miss. S’ name in our native language translates to ‘beloved’ in English. Do I have to say anything more?
Now one particular thing about Miss. S was that we rarely saw her laugh.
Like, she would smile often but not laugh.
Until…
Guess what?
Your girl changed that!
So, after hearing my stupid answer,
Miss. S exclaimed, “So, it’s your Happy birthday, huh?” and burst out laughing.
Now obviously seeing her so adorably laugh made me laugh very hard.
And I kid you not!
Before I knew it, that brief interaction spread like wildfire and every single kid in the class started laughing.
Why?
Well, not to brag, but I was ‘the kid who made Miss. S laugh so hard.’
Now, I am not going to lie.
Even though I felt a little embarrassed at first, later I realized that it all worked out!
Not only did I make ‘The Miss. S’ laugh out loud but I also made all of my classmates laugh.
Everyone loved it.
It was a win!
…
Now that I think about it, that particular birthday indeed ended up being,
“a very Happy birthday.”
And,
There you have it!
My friends,
The most embarrassing yet cherished birthday memory of mine.
P.S. Even though I can’t participate in the MPP, I’m not gonna let that bring me down. And you know why? Because I have the support of you guys!
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