I woke up in a cold sweat. The terrible dream had returned. It felt so real, I couldn’t shake it. Standing there alone in the room, fairy outfit on, wand in hand but alone and sobbing. My little angel, my darling Angela. All she had wanted was an ice skating party. I had got it all right, well nearly all. I’d organised everything from the venue hire, Melbourne has an excellent ice rink, to the food and even the party bags. The one thing that slipped my mind, sending the invitations.
Angela, alone and inconsolable, could barely look at me. I had ruined her fifth birthday and she would never forgive me. Luckily it was just a dream. When the day finally arrived I let out of a sigh of relief when the entirety of Mrs. Brown’s prep class turned up raring to skate. Angela had nothing but a smile and some smeared chocolate brownie on her face.
I never did tell Angela about my dream. I had experienced the same nightmare before her third and fourth birthdays. I feared it was my subconscious preparing me for a major parental failure in the years to come. I felt I had struck lucky this time. The party was a hit, a full turnout in fact and I did not want to tempt fate by trying to one up myself. Of all the birthday venues Melbourne has to offer I had really hit the jackpot; Food, entertainment, cheap parking and all within reach of the city. In the years to come we celebrated Angela’s birthday on the ice. The venue never changed and the crowd only grew. The invitations were consistently sent and fun was always had.
Angela is now 15 and organising her own birthday parties. Today is the eve of her sweet sixteenth, a major milestone in her adolescence. As I lay awake thinking of this landmark event I hear a scream. It’s Ang. She had the nightmare. No one turned up, she hadn’t sent the invites. Who knew nightmares could be hereditary.