Chapter 3: Happy Birthday To Me

Written from Daragon’s perspective

Tuesday, July 12th 3000 11:32PM

“Your brother is dead.” My heart dropped.

I stood still for a few seconds. What was this man saying? Draken is supposed to come back for my birthday tomorrow. Oh. He always liked to pull pranks on my birthday, pretending he didn’t know.

“Haha, very funny. Where’s Draken?” I asked.

“Sir… Draken is dead. He got caught up in a-”

“Hey. Joke’s over. This isn’t funny anymore.”

“We have papers.” The other man said while the first fumbled his bag for some papers.

I snatched the papers and read them. I then tore it up and walked away.

“Very official. Tell Draken I’m not playing his games.” I ran upstairs to my room. Stupid Draken. Trying to play games on me. This must have been his revenge for being mean to him before. This joke wasn’t funny anymore.

“It’s not funny.” I curled up into a ball and whimpered. Then I remembered something. I took out my watch Draken gave for an early birthday present. “I’ll just find his location.”

I booted it up and swapped tabs to Draken.

“Draken

Heart Rate: —

Latitude: —

Longitude: —

Direction: —

Status: —”

That was weird. Did Draken cut off the connection? He really was going far for a joke.

Drip.

A drop of water fell onto my watch. More droplets fell on the screen. I stared until the screen shut down on its own. All that was left was a reflection of myself. Something in my eyes.

“Daragon!” I heard a voice cry out. It was Aisha. She had watery eyes.

I got up on my legs but dropped to my knees when she rushed over to hug me.

“Aisha… Draken…” I muttered.

“Shhh. It’s going to be alright.” Her voice croaked. Her eyes watered more.

“Draken. Draken. Draken…” I embraced her as I slowly said Draken’s name louder. I didn’t mean what I said to him before. I didn’t mean to say I hope he was gone. I didn’t-

“It’s going to be alright, Daragon.” She grabbed my head and pulled me closer. I could hear the snot running from her nose. Or maybe it was mine. My cries grew louder. We continued our embrace for what seemed to be an eternity.

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Saturday, 12th July 2992 7.30AM

“Draken! Stop!” I shouted as Draken shook my bed in the air. I strapped myself on my bed.

“Nope. Not until you get down.” He said. Draken only had patches of white hair instead of a full head of white hair.

“I’m not leaving!” I barked at him. “Not unless Daniel gets me out of this bed.”

Daniel. He was our butler. Well, ever since he married his wife and had kids, he moved away to Kedah.

“It’s already been a week. Plus you have to meet Tom.” Draken tried reasoning.

“Bleh.” I blew my tongue at him. “Nobody can replace Daniel!”

Draken finally put my bed down. I tucked myself in bed before he pulled my blanket, causing me to fall to the ground.

“That hurt!” I cried.

“No it didn’t. Now let’s go.”

“Fine.” I grunted.

We made our way downstairs where I saw curry puffs. My eyes lit up in excitement. Curry puffs were one of the few things Daniel cooked for me whenever I was feeling bad. However, his curry puffs only had egg in them since I didn’t like curry. He called it Epok Epok Telur.

“Is Daniel here?” I asked Draken before taking a bite. However, this was not the Epok Epok Telur I knew.

“No.” He answered before a blonde man walked in. “This is Tom. From today onwards, he’s the new butler.”

“Hello, young master Daragon.” He bowed before one of the curry puffs flew to his head.

“I don’t want a new butler!” I yelled while running upstairs. I could hear Draken sigh from a distance.

I barged into my room to see Aisha folding my clothes.

“What’s wrong, Daragon?” She asked softly.

“Stupid Draken got another butler. I want Daniel!” I pouted.

“Come on Daragon. Daniel has his own family now. You can see him but people move on.” She stopped folding clothes to pat me on my head. “How about we do something more fun?”

“Oh! I have an experiment to do. But I need a rope.”

“We have some ropes-”

“No no. I need an Angelona rope.”

“Oh! You’re doing that experiment!” Aisha understood.

Angelona Rope is used mostly for experiments because of how dangerous it is. It’s always contained and protected and the one sold for experiments is a heavily saturated one.

“I’ll see if I can get some. You stay here.” She spoke softly.

“Okay!”

I waited on my bed and heard a knock on the door. That was fast? It definitely couldn’t be Aisha since she wouldn’t knock. The only option left was…

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“Draken?” I asked in response.

“No…” Tom looked down.

“Yeah… I figured.”

“Hey, isn’t it your birthday?” Tom tried changing topics.

“What time is it?” I asked, ignoring his question.

“3.10 in the afternoon. But hey, are you alright? I heard from Aisha that you cried all night.”

“Aisha and her exaggerations. I’m fine.” I chuckled weakly. “Seriously.”

“Alright then.” Tom gave me a cold bottle of water and ice. “Please take care of yourself though.”

He walked away. I drank the water down as I put the ice under my eyes. Draken always told me after crying a lot people need to put ice near their eyes and to drink lots. I miss him.

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

I got ready for the reception and went to the backyard. A tombstone next to my parents. It read

‘Here Lies Draken Eccel’

It sank my heart. How real all of this was. Part of me still hoped that this was all some kind of elaborate prank set up by Draken. But now, he’s gone. Forever. All the words I yelled at him. All the arguments we’ve had. I couldn’t take back anything. In his final moments, he probably thought his little brother hated him. And that-

“Daragon.” Aisha nudged me, pushing me out of my train of thought. “It’s your turn to give some words.”

I walked up to the podium. I felt everyone’s eyes on me. Their stares felt like daggers. “Draken…”

I fell silent after saying his name. Tears fell on my hand. I heard whispers. They were judging me.

“Draken was…” I said weakly. My voice trembled as my knees lost strength. “He… This is so stupid!”

I couldn’t take it anymore. I dashed from the podium into the forest. That was when I was reminded of the tree house. I saw my name etched into the tree bark with the first A crossed out. I climbed up.

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“What do you want?” I asked Tom, annoyed.

“I overheard your conversation with Aisha.” He said, presenting me with a briefcase. After opening it, he revealed Angelona rope. “It’s the real thing so be careful.”

“Really? I heard the experiment is better with the real one. Like some observations you can only see. Thanks!” Overjoyed, I snatched the briefcase and hugged him. I then opened my eyes and stepped back before coughing. “This doesn’t mean I’ll accept you or anything!”

Tom simply gave a warm smile before leaving. I opened the briefcase again to examine the rope. To tell the difference between genuine Angelona Rope and the consumer one all you had to do was dip it in water. The consumer one is less reactive so it won’t react. I tore a piece of it and carefully placed it in a cup of water and sure enough, it exploded! The shards of glass flew and one went straight to my face.

I started crying. What else could an 8 year old like me do? Aisha rushed into the room with some rope and quickly tended to my wounds. Luckily I only scraped my cheek. She put a bandaid on gently and embraced me.

“Daragon, what happened?”

“I- i- wahhhh” I started crying again. Honestly, I’m embarrassed of my past self. I always tried not to cry in front of others but when I’m around Aisha it’s different.

“It’s okay. It’s just a scratch. How about I cook you some noodles for lunch. Do you want Mee Goreng? I know it’s your favourite.”

I nodded my head while still trying to hold back my tears. Aisha couldn’t really cook much. Most of the dishes were cooked by Daniel anyway, but I always enjoyed her cooking. I knew how much effort she put in for my sake so I never complained.

I soon forgot all about the pain as I dined on the instant noodles. To give her credit where credit is due, she did cook the chicken and egg by herself.

“Hey Aisha. Where is Tom from?” I asked bluntly.

“I don’t know actually. He apparently knows your father and Draken for a long time.”

“Hmmmm. Alright then. Oh yeah, did Draken get me anything for my birthday tomorrow?” I asked.

“I don’t know. But Draken has to go on your birthday. He was called in.” Aisha looked down, avoiding my gaze.

“But… It’s my birthday.”

“It’s okay, Daragon. We’ll just celebrate your birthday together. I can bake a large cake for you.” Aisha continued to avoid my gaze while covering her mouth.

“Uh. I don’t need a cake.” I suddenly felt flashbacks overwhelm me. Sure Aisha’s cooking was fine but she was a terrible baker. I felt like vomiting as soon as she offered to bake me a cake.

“I’ve gotten much better! Trust me!”

“Ok ok.” I reluctantly agreed before Draken entered the room. Aisha quickly got up and left with a basket of clothes, putting her hand over her mouth. I went to hug his leg. “Bro!”

“Hey Daragon. I heard a loud sound.” Draken said softly and patted my head.

“Are you really not going to be at my birthday?” I asked him while looking up. He shifted his gaze onto the bandaid on my face.

“Are you okay first?” Draken asked concerningly.

“Yeah… Aisha said it’d be fine.” I released my grip from his leg and rubbed my cheek.

“Well, have you made up with Tom?”

“I don’t know.”

“What do you mean- you know what, forget what I said.” He sighed. “Why do you not like Tom?”

“It’s not that I don’t like him… but if I do then I’d be betraying Daniel. It’s like I’m replacing Daniel.” I tried to reason. Draken simply smiled.

“You’re not betraying anyone. And nobody is getting replaced. People move on and you have to get over it someday.”

“But I’m also scared.”

“Of what?”

“Of you.”

“Huh? Hey Daragon I know I knocked you out of bed a lot but I didn’t mean to hurt you, It’s not like I was intentionally causing harm, I might be a bit mean but-” Draken released a flurry of words. Not stopping for a second. He really cared about what his little brother thought of him. To be feared or hated by his brother would devastate him…

“Not like that big bro.” I snickered before continuing. “What if you also move on? Daniel started a family and has never come to visit. I don’t want you to leave me too. You’re even too busy to go to my birthday…”

Draken hugged me before falling silent. I could hear some tears as he told me, “I will never end up like Daniel. So don’t worry about it.”

“Then can you get me a birthday present before you go tomorrow?” I asked excitedly.

“Sure. What do you want?”

“I want somewhere I can show off to my friends!” I said. “My friend bragged about a man cave his dad had and it had a bunch of stuff!”

After that, Draken left. I remember that interaction vividly.

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I could see the worry in his eyes when I said I was scared of him. Even as a misunderstanding. If I told him I hated him… in his last moments. I couldn’t stomach it. It was just so unfair.

I sat in the corner of the treehouse. Time went by so fast as I thought about everything and nothing. Everything felt so unreal but it wasn’t. Draken had died. That was when I heard someone climbing the ladder. I didn’t move. I already knew who it was. The man soon climbed and entered the treehouse.

“Daragon.” Tom said. “I know it must be tough on you-”

“Shut up.” I whispered softly so he didn’t hear it.

“Pardon?”

“I said shut up!” I shouted. “Tough on me? Me? If anything it should be tough on you guys! You’ve known him longer than I have yet I don’t see you being miserable! You guys got over it so fucking quickly!” I was enraged.

“Daragon-”

“Don’t you fucking Daragon me. I’m sick and tired of this bullshit! Draken has always been there for me. I can’t just move on. I can’t just forget about him! Maybe you wouldn’t understand that since you’re not family like us!” I snapped and said something I shouldn’t have. “Tom. I-”

Tom turned around so I couldn’t see his gaze. “It’s okay, Daragon. I understand how you feel. I’ll leave you alone.”

I could hear sniffs from him. I felt immense sadness from him. He left as I sat there to wallow in my shame. Just looking at this treehouse makes me guilty.

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“Surprise!” Aisha yelled, taking off my blindfold. Tom and Draken stood next to a table and cake, smiling.

I was confused and began to look around. There was a banner saying ‘happy birthday.’ That’s when I realised that this place had some of my old stuff inside mixed with new ones. A lot of different games and even a working refrigerator. I looked at the window to see us high above the ground. It was a treehouse!

“Wait. Draken, I thought you couldn’t come?” I asked, turning around.

“Did you really think I’d miss your birthday? You were so funny too. Aisha almost blew the whole operation by laughing.”

“It’s not my fault! Daragon was just too cute missing his brother.” Aisha objected.

“Yeah. Were you really that sad? ‘But… it’s my birthday’.” Draken mocked me as he laughed.

I was so embarrassed I started frantically hitting Draken with my tiny arms. The three of them laughed while I was still flustered.

“Wait. When did you build the treehouse?” I asked.

“Tom and I made it. Aisha decorated the interior. Tom really didn’t know what to get you and I thought it’d be better if we worked on this together.” Draken answered. “You want some cake?”

“Who made it?” I asked.

“Me of course!” Aisha proudly exclaimed.

I quickly shook my head as Draken came closer with a spoonful of cake. They wrestled me until I reluctantly chewed it. I was so ready to spit it out before I actually tasted it. My eyes glowed up.

“Amazing right?” Aisha said while folding her arms.

“This cake is decent!” I shouted in disbelief. Aisha felt defeated after her cake was called decent.

“That’s a pretty good compliment Aisha.” Tom said. “After all, when you asked me to learn how to bake, you weren’t near the level of ‘decent’.”

Aisha felt even more stabbed. That’s when I saw some bandaids on Aisha’s fingers. I smiled.

“This cake is actually really good after eating more of it!” I said, trying to lift her spirits.

“Oh yeah, Daragon, here’s your birthday card.” Draken gave Daragon his birthday card.

“Are you going to give me an actual present on top of this?”

“Maybe, now eat your cake.”

“Wait, aren’t you supposed to sing before handing the cake over?” Tom questioned.

“This is because of Draken.” Aisha commented.

“How about we start singing instead of blaming me?” Draken suggested as he put 8 candles on the cake which one slice was missing. “[Fire Spell, Pyro Finger].”

His finger had a small flame as he used it to light up the candles. They soon sang. I couldn’t be any happier.

“Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to Dara,” They had a short pause.

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“Happy birthday…” I told myself as I sat there, knees to my chest. My voice cracked. “To me.”