Sky Log #19: Happy Birthday

Note: Since my Sky kid's birthday is different from mine, the birthday this log is referring to mine since mine is on January while my kid's birthday is on July. I just made it so that this log is specifically posted on my kid's birthday month.

I have known for a while that my Sky family would celebrate my birthday. I have been expecting it for a while since… everyone celebrates each other's birthday when the time comes.

My birthdays have always been tricky for me.

It's within the start of the year. And where I live, my birthday often falls on the day when school starts. I used to buy sweets to hand it out to my classmates, I used to have very good friends who gifted me presents but then… we grew older and drifted away. Then, my new friends weren't close enough for me to celebrate it with them. Or… they never thought it would be a great idea to celebrate it with me because I seemed cold and hard to approach. And probably I looked like the type that hates it when people celebrates it with me.

My birthdays eventually became a box of messages with common "happy birthdays". It's thoughtful of them to remember it and send me a text.

I often wondered why friends apart from my family never thought to whip out a cake and say "Happy birthday!" to me. Is it because I never said that I wanted it? I actually do.

I would like a birthday celebration with my closest friends and no pranks that involved destroying a perfectly edible cake. I guess I was too much of a coward to raise it up to my friends. I thought if I raised it up, I would be like seeking attention and troubling everyone with it.

I don't want to be a burden.

So, with my Sky family, I attended a few birthday celebrations and utilizing a bit of my talents and interests to make them a gift, often in a form of a self-made video, stories or a postcard with memories of us together. With each birthday, I grew a little more expectant.

I wonder what they will do for me on my birthday?

Will it be videos? Or some adorable drawings? Will it be held in some place in Sky where everyone throw some confetti and scream "Happy birthday, Winnie"? (Winnie is the nickname for Winter)

I couldn't help it.

I just wanted to know how it feels like when everyone is appreciative of that one day where you were born and everyone is just glad to meet you. Even a taste of it is just enough for me. I didn't want to be a selfish prick but here I am, acting like birthdays ought to be the best day on earth. That there should be something more to a birthday, then just wishes.

I wanted to feel it.

The pleasant surprise, the happiness and the gratefulness.

I remembered when Asmo told me about his birthday. I felt incredibly sad that he didn't like his birthday. He had to resort to drinking on the day of his birth. When he told me all of that, I really wanted to spoil the surprise for him and told him… that everyone is waiting for that day to celebrate with him. To tell him that they are glad to have met him, that he was born and hope to spend many more birthdays with him. So, don't get drunk on that day and look forward to it…

Of course, not all plans worked out (log 7). Well, that was life. It never plays fair to you when you wanted it to.

However, I never expected that when the new year started, Mo came back. He didn't come back completely because of some real-world issues but I see his star getting emptied and lighting up occasionally. I felt like this year was turning out great. And maybe so will my birthday.

And it did.

Val, Shaz and Anna took me to the Village of Dreams in Sky. It was just newly opened and there were many problems coming out because all of us were having problems accessing the memories of the spirits or completing the guide's missions. So, we fooled around there before we attempted oob-ing under the place. Under the village, it was just invisible water and soft fluffy clouds keeping the village afloat so there wasn't much to see. Yet, they knew where or what to look for.

Lo and behold.

We found a structure that looked like a pig(?) or a goat(?) or a dog(?).

And we planned to eat it. >:))

So, I placed my Christmas table underneath it. My 3 candles would be sufficient enough to cook it, or so I hope. The mystery animal was far too large for 3 candles to cook it. Its hide was tough and none of us could move it. Worse of all, the 3 candles could not be lighted due to the hindering invisible water. It was a sad day for us for we could not taste its meat.

Regardless, the girls still wished me a "happy birthday" with fireworks and confettis.

But, that was not the end of my birthday.

We had a birthday party on discord where everyone will give me their gifts. And I was really looking forward to what these goofballs would gift me. And how they see me in their eyes through their gifts.

I was really surprised when they made a video dedicated to this log and the Lone Traveler. It was really funny because they made the most out of it by making different travelers with different themes surrounding them. A traveler that guides lost moths, a traveler that fools around in the butterfly fields, a traveler that courageously plays music for the krills and a traveler that introduces their wares. I was really touched that they followed the progress of my story.

Then, they gifted me self-made postcards of our memories together and their wishes to me. Each person has their own unique flair to it.

Erikku made a really heart-warming message that rhymes as you read it and he decorated it with stickers of Sky kids.

Shaz used a picture of us getting head-butted by crabs as we stole them out from the cave in forest (probably revenge for putting them near the lanterns) while Anna made this bubbly filter over this one picture where we looked at each other with our ridiculous outfit in Valley. She was an old man with a muffler and a pumpkin hat while I was a pretty boi with a pumpkin hat.

Val made this really cute drawing of me on a frosted birthday cake decorated with flowers and David used this picture of us doing a butterfly emote and filtered the background with Aurora Borealis shimmering around.

Then, there were two more postcards which I never expect to receive from; Jil and Mo.

I was really touched.

I remember shedding a tear or two out of happiness when I received them. I never expect them to go above and beyond. Like Mike, Anna's friend, to make a cover for this book. It was the perfect cover for this diary. Val even made this Lone Traveler watermark that I can use it over my posts and videos.

I really loved these gifts. And I find it very sweet of them to take the time out to make them. When everything was over, when my day was gone and over with, I was brimming with so much happiness that I couldn't fall asleep even when I tried to.

I didn't want the day to end.

After so many things that happened over the time I was with them, I felt that this was one of my happiest days in Sky. However, all days have to end eventually, even the good ones. But one thing that I know is that there will be more good days ahead. As long as we hold on tight to this bond, the good and fun days will come.

Thank you guys so much for celebrating my birthday.