Well here I am reporting for work on the haunted house project, it’s the day after my birthday and I am not in the best frames of mind. If you read the first installment you will remember that none of my so-called friends would honour any of my requests for a ride home.

This despite the fact that anytime anyone of them needed a ride I responded without hesitation. I was so angry that I left the house and I walked. I got caught in the rain and then hitchhiked the rest of the way. 

Upon my arrival, my female counterpart tried to strike up a conversation with me and my responses were measured and guarded. I reminded her tactfully that anytime she needed an escort to an event, no matter how boring it promised to be, all she had to do was call and I would show up. When the other volunteers attempted to engage me in conversation about the previous night they did not receive any of the civility I showed her they got sarcastic responses.

Many could not believe that I had walked that far. I reminded them that although I was five to ten years older than they were it did not make me an invalid. Others could not believe that I had hitchhiked. I had done this many times over the years. A few said they went looking for me to give me a ride after it was discovered that I had left. I reminded them that they probably followed the route they take when driving which and again I pointed out that their actions were after the fact.

They finally gave up on addressing that topic and the work commenced. As dinnertime approached I was making plans to escape to a local restaurant and I was told not to go. It seems Bunny's mom had cooked up a very large batch of spaghetti and meatballs, and since that was preferable to a burger and fries I agreed to stay put. Dinner break finally arrived. As I was about to head into the house to eat when one of the teenage female volunteers stopped me. She asked if she could talk to me as she had a problem.

It was just another of my many functions. It seems I was always approached with questions or concerns from both male and female teens, for reasons unknown, they sought my counsel. So I listened to her as she prefaced her problem when one of the male volunteers approached my car.

It seemed one of the girls was trying to carry the large vat of spaghetti inside and lost their footing, the contents and her crashed down onto the floor, and it was a mess. Cursing silently I hurried inside and up to the room where the accident occurred. Upon entering the Mummy's Tomb I discovered it had been decorated with balloons and streamers.

There were cards and gifts on the table and a large banner that read HAPPY BIRTHDAY was strung across the wall and as I entered the whole crew yelled "Surprise".

It seems they had planned to do that yesterday, but my unforeseen departure had ruined it. That's when one of the bikers grabbed me and held me in a bear hug while I was given my birthday spanking by everyone in attendance. It was an excellent repast of pasta, salad, soft drinks and birthday cake.

I later spoke to my counterpart and said she could have told me and I would have acted surprised. She informed me that she was following the wishes of the crew who swore her to secrecy because they knew we shared all the information. I thanked everyone but I did not apologize for my actions.

I still provided rides to the teens that were in need and occasionally one of the adults if circumstances required a quick response.

But to this day I still will not go anywhere unless I drive. Some things never change.