Chapter Five

It was Cassian's birthday today, and Gabriel's two days ago.

Terrence had not forgotten about his brothers' anniversary celebrations, he had simply been too absorbed in his own daily dealings to have found time to properly compile a meaningful gift for either of them. Until today. He already had in mind what he was going to buy for them, so the trip to the mall was quick and efficient, like a mouse who had already memorized the route through the maze to get to the cheese. A light green jacket for Gabriel, a belt and some boxers for Cassian - he felt confident that these would be to their liking.

But the presents were the easy part. The hard part was that he had to attach his birthday wishes to these presents. He had wanted to make it meaningful, and it was in his own experience that anything meaningful takes at least 2 hours to write. He had also neglected to buy a birthday card at the mall, and thus had to make do with a piece of lined paper. He spent the next half hour thinking up excuses to justify the scrappy presentation.

Dear Gabriel and Cassian,

Happy Birthday! I apologize for the meagre substitute that I have used in place of an actual birthday card, but environmental conservation has become such a prominent public issue now that I felt compelled to participate towards a solution. Besides, all the packing for my anticipated move back to Hong Kong has left me accessible to few useful instruments of writing, of which fortunately included a black pen and a piece of lined paper. However, history is full of examples of greater writings being documented on lesser parchments, Fermat's Last Theorem for instance, so I feel that this marginal arrangement should not detract from the sincerity with which I bid the best of wishes to both of you for your 18th and 21st birthdays. Both of these ages represent a legal transition into adulthood (depending on the jurisdiction, of course) and I hope that it will bring about increased opportunities and liberties for you...

The letter then proceeded to address Gabriel and Cassian individually on some more private matters, and concluded with a final reiteration of the birthday wishes. The letter took longer to write than Terrence had anticipated, and by the time he had finished the post office had already closed for the day.