Writing Prompt
Pier 21 Prompts
Third Prompt: Birthday
Today is my 28th birthday. It’s a nice, even number and there’s still a two year buffer between me and 30.
It’s 9:30 pm as I’m writing this from our little Airbnb on a farm in a rural part of the Netherlands. This morning, I woke up to the sound of bleating sheep and opened the window to see our hosts’ lovely farmhouse, covered by a thick, thatched roof.
We took two buses to get to Giethoorn — a sweet little village that I had come across on Instagram a couple of times. I was enthralled by the idea of renting a boat and cruising past the lovely homes and gardens with the Shire theme running through my mind, but equally wary that there might be too many tourists. The compromise? Going in the off season! My partner and I had the canals almost completely to ourselves. It was a bit cold at 11 degrees Celsius, but the man we rented the boat from kindly provided us with blankets.
My partner and I took turns playing captain and photographer. I hoped for a nautical adventure for my birthday and I got it.
Afterwards, we headed to a café to warm up with some hot chocolate and the waiter serenaded me with a joyous rendition of “Happy birthday.” He treated me to a massive slice of stroopwaffel cake and gifted me a wooden tulip, saying,
