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It’s quite a drop, you decide as you peer over the railing of your deck to the steep hill below you. Plus it’s dark, and you’re barefoot, and who knows what kind of wild animals are out there – it wasn’t that long ago that the guy up the lane from you found his poodle ripped to bits. “I think we’ll be safer staying here for now,” you say, praying that the others will agree.

All five of you look back up at the house that has now lit the night sky around it. The flames seem content with the house, and haven’t tried to make their way down the hill to you yet, so you all decide that you’re going to wait it out unless it becomes critical to make the leap down the mountain.

After only a couple minutes you hear sirens approach, but it still takes a good ten minutes before anyone hears your collective screaming. The relief you feel when you see flashlights headed through the trees coming for you is unlike any relief you’ve ever known. You feel so much better when they get there, that despite the fact that your favorite house and all of its contents are going up in smoke, the climb down the latter and being carried back up the hill by firemen is actually kind of neat. Then, you, Kevin, AJ, Brian, and Nick sit against one of the fire trucks, each wrapped in a standard issue emergency blanket and watch the most amazing sight of firemen hard at work battling the beast like it’s better than any movie you’ve ever seen.

It’s not until the fire is squelched and things are much quieter that the reality of your situation begins to sink in. You just burned down your house because you were horsing around with the guys. You walk up to what’s left of your home and cast your eyes around the ashes that are still smoldering. “Leigh’s gonna kill me,” you breath to yourself, but you can’t help but laugh like a half crazed madman. It may not have turned out as originally planned, but you can’t remember when you’ve had more fun on your birthday. “This birthday will definitely be one to remember.”

“Very true,” Kevin agrees, throwing a shoulder around you.

Soon all of the guys are huddled on either side of you trying to hold back their smirks. “Happy birthday,” they all laugh in unison and then Brian clears his voice and hums a pitch.

Without a single spoken word AJ, Nick, Kevin, and Brian burst into a harmonious version of the happy birthday song.

You listen to the voices you’ve grown to know better than your own, and look around at the four men who mean as much to you as brothers. You can’t help feeling sentimental. “Thanks for coming today, guys,” you say kind of bashfully. It’s clear that you’ve become a little choked up.

“It’s your party, Howie,” Kevin teases lightly with underlining sincerity, “you can cry if you want to.”

“Cry if you want to, cry if you want to!” Nick echoes in his best falsetto.

You can hear a round of snickers, and then all together you can’t help but burst into one last song. “You would cry too, if it happened to you!”

The End.