A Birthday Most Disasterously Whiny

Adventures with Calamine

Gibberish: Flash Fiction Friday - Blood and Water

April 18, 2025

Scoot’s Assignment: Write a short story about a celebration, including rivers like veins, a character with connections, and the sentence, “I forgot.”

Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash

A Birthday Most Disasterously Whiny

I was not happy. I hated the woods and all the creepy crawlies just waiting around to suck my blood. But it was Charlie’s birthday, so he got to choose. And of course he chose to have his party in the State Park. He loved all that outdoorsy stuff. I didn't want to go, but Mom lectured me about the importance of family connections and Charlie was my cousin, so we were going... and that was that!

We got to the camp site late in the morning. The sun was shining, but a fresh cool breeze was blowing, and even I had to admit that it wasn’t so bad... in fact it was kind of pleasant. But when dusk began to fall, and the peepers began their deafening cacophony, I heard the worst sound of all: The whine of mosquitoes waking up and seeking out a celebratory feast of their own.

I soon realized that a kerfuffle was brewing between my parents, which suddenly blasted wide open when Mom screeched, “What do you mean there’s no insect repellent? We’re out in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by rivers flowing like veins, and now we’re being eaten alive by mosquitoes!” I thought the ‘vein’ reference was a little over the top, but we all knew better than to argue with Mom when she was in that kind of mood. Especially Dad.

He gave in instantly, as he sheepishly admitted, “I’m sorry, I forgot.”

Mom glared at him for a few seconds and abruptly began packing up the camping gear. “Sorry, Charlie, we’re going home.”

The rest of the evening actually wasn’t too bad. After liberal libations of calamine, we all snuggled into our sleeping bags, eating popcorn and pizza and telling ghost stories in the living room. Even I was happy - Charlie knew some great stories!