Bob was exactly where he wanted to be, doing exactly what he wanted to be doing with exactly the people he wanted to be doing it with. He couldn’t believe his luck. He was on a boat with his family on his favorite lake.
When Bob organized the day, he figured all the annoyances would be there. His neighbors, the Soliz, would come to find him on the dock and insist on following his boat around the lake. His daughter Connie would bring her new husband Dell, who was duller than a slug. One of Bob’s grandchildren would bail at the last minute. Maybe the weather wouldn’t cooperate, and they’d have to eat at the lake house diner.
Instead, everything was perfect. Bob couldn’t believe it all worked out—no Soliz’s, no son-in-law Dell, perfect weather. How many times in your life do you get to have a day like this? And on his birthday, no less.
Bob was sitting at the boat’s controls, looking out at the lake, when he heard it—the blare of a boat horn. It was the Soliz’s and three other boats streaming towards him. The boats had balloons, streamers and many of his least favorite people. Leading the charge, on the front of the Soliz’s boat, was his son-in-law Dell.
“Surprise!” His daughter Connie yelled as everyone cheered. “Happy Birthday! This was all Dell’s idea!”
Bob tried to smile. If he threw a fit, they wouldn’t come back on the boat again. However, his grandson Matthew summed up his mood. Matthew collapsed on the boat floor and started to cry. “I don’t want a surprise, I was having a nice time!”