The Birthday Surprise

Julia wanted Tom’s birthday surprise to be simple: a chocolate cake, blue balloons, and one big candle with the number eight. She checked everything in the afternoon, but she did not open the candle box.

Ten minutes before Tom came home, Julia discovered the problem. The big number eight was missing. In the box, there were only two small candles, a six and a two.

For a moment, Julia thought the cake looked wrong. Then her older brother, Ben, said, “Six plus two is eight.” Julia laughed and placed both candles in the middle of the cake.

When Tom entered the kitchen, everyone shouted, “Happy birthday!” He looked at the candles and began to laugh. “Six and two!” he said. “That makes eight!”

After dinner, Ben took a photo of the cake, and Julia kept the empty candle box as a reminder. When she looked at the photo later, she smiled at the two strange birthday candles.