Birthday Dinner Under the Candle Lights

In the 1933, there is the Great Depression. Many people work hard everyday to earn a living for their themselves and families. And there is a young lady, who is from the middle class society. She is a hard working girl in her age, never miss a day to go to the textile factory with her friends, even though her job is not easy.

It’s her everyday routine, she gets up from bed, brushes her perfect, white teeth, combs her hair and picks an outfit to wear to work. She chooses a beautiful full-lengthed, puffed red sleeves dress, with some red buttons and a waist-bend. The girl doesn’t usually wear a dress to her workplace, but today is her birthday, she decides to look her very best for just one day. What’s special about the dress is not only its puffed sleeves, but the buttons down the front. The buttons are in round shapes. On the buttons, they have unique designs that looks like two small seashells, divided by a vase-liked shape.

The owner of this particular dress is a young, elegant woman, who is turning twenty years old, and is going to have a birthday dinner with her boyfriend. She’s a well-mannered and kind-hearted lady, who doesn’t often get angry and slow to anger to other; also, she is rarely known to gossip. She has beautiful brown hair that glistens in the sun, which many girls admired.

When she leaves her house for work, the weather is perfect and perfect for a perfect birthday. On her way to work, neighbours and people from the streets waved ‘hello’, ‘good morning’, and even ‘happy birthday’ to her. Everybody likes her very much because of her good personality and behaviors. And that’s why her fiancee adores and loves her in all his heart. When she arrives the factory, her friends come up to her with gifts and congratulate her for turning into adulthood, then they all go back to their stations, including the girl. Nothing in particular happens during her shift, only the ordinary process, making buttons in all types of style and colours, like oval, orange, square, black, and other kinds of buttons. However, she made the red buttons that is on her dress, and they represent the her style in fashion.

Time passes quickly, and it’s almost seven o’clock. The time for date is at seven thirty, which means she has thirty minutes to get to the restaurant, Loyaly Day. Before she leaves the factory, she goes to the washroom to clean and tidy herself up, so she doesn’t look all beat-up. After a few minutes, she called a cab and leaves right away. When arrives at the five-starred restaurant, a waiter guides her to her boyfriend’s reserved cabin. The place is well-decorated in fancy chairs and tables, and some fine rugs on the floor. Everything seems splendid, and her boyfriend is smiling warmly at her when she walks in the room. The waiter gives them each a menu to decide what they want for the night. The girl ordered a pasta with a glass of red wine. As for the young gentleman, he ordered a grilled chicken with some vegetable and also a glass of red wine.

There is an awkward but comfortable silence at the same time, in the cabin because the young couple don’t know what to say to each other at that moment. It happens to them many times, but they’re getting better and better whenever they are on a date. Finally, when the food are served and the candles are lit, the atmosphere turned from awkward to warm and cozy. The food is delicious and the place is beautiful like what she imagined before she came here. Suddenly, the boy coughs and catches her attention. He stands up from his seat and walks toward her. In his hands, there is a small box, which is the size that can only fits for a small-sized necklace. He hands the box to the girl, and she accepted then asks him ‘what is this?’ As she glances down at the box, on top of it says “Happy Birthday, my Sweetheart!”. Her boyfriend tells her to open up and find out herself. She opens the lid and reveals a sparkling, golden heart locket with her name carved on the surface; it also has some elaborated rose designed carving all around the surface. She is already surprised by the expensive gift, but what comes after is even more surprising. The young man whispers ‘I love you. Will you marry me and stay with me forever?”

Inside the girl’s heart, she is elated that her boyfriend has finally proposed to her. But because she is too shocked to trust her voice, she could only nod and kisses her fiance on his lips. He kisses her in return and take the kiss as a yes. Their love aura surrounds them in the room, and the candle lights on the table beam like any other stars in the cloudless sky.