Chocolate birthday cake

Lucy Donovan is the perfect FBI agent. She barely has a life.

Once a year, she ponders upon her relationship with her little sister. That’s all she does on her sister’s birthday.

This year, she wrote a happy birthday card to her sister who lives on the other side of the planet.

Dear sister,

I remember when you were born. You were very small. You didn’t play.

Your favourite activity was crying and perhaps eating baby food.

I sometimes ate your baby food.

With time, you grew up. You became wise. You became my friend.

Today is the day I celebrate with joy your existence.

And, like when you were a baby, I am eating your birthday cake.

Happy Birthday! Remember, it's important to have fun.

With love, from your favourite sister

***

Short. Simple. Right to the point. That's how Lucy's brain works. It must be because as an undercover agent she barely has time to waste.

"I need to send Mia something for her birthday. It can't be big. It can't be heavy. It has to be small, light, and useful. Something that Mia would find difficult to throw away or give it away to that cleaner she has. What's her name? I never remember her name. Whatever."

Lucy, lost in her own thinking, pulls out a scarlet red envelope from her new favourite travel bag. The bag, beige and the perfect size for carrying her equipment and a change of clothing, has a tiny CCTV streaming to the FBI’s headquarters when Lucy is deployed in eastern Europe. She swears that's all she needs when she has to leave the house fast when her team travels across Europe.

In the dark red envelope there is a simple, plain red card with a dark heart on it matching the colour of the envelope.

“This is going to be the perfect birthday card for Mia! She’ll love it.”

Lucy was excited. It was not common for her to send birthday cards, let alone to write something emotional that could reveal any sign of vulnerability.

Who would have thought back then --when Lucy was five years old and showing signs of a potential serial killer-- that she would become one fighting crime instead? Perhaps when she suggested to her mother that they should put her newly born baby sister in the oven because she didn't play, it was not alarming enough. After all, Lucy was a sweet little girl herself who rescued insects from the garage to make them her pets.

***

As years went by, Lucy grew up pretty much in her own distant world. She was a typical introvert at times. Yet, her sarcastic sense of humour and ability to communicate with strangers became assets in her career.

As long as Lucy didn’t get emotionally too close everything worked fine. She was like an oyster, sometimes impossible to open but other times you would find a surprising treasure inside.

“Where was I? I need a pen. So many gadgets in my bag and I can’t find a damn pen. If I use a yellow marker it will look super fun on red, that’s for sure. That’s the point of all this after all. It has to be fun.”

“Dear sister …” Lucy says aloud as she starts writing on the red card. She pauses for a moment and looks through the window. A baby squirrel climbing from the roof of the house to the tree caught her attention. The fluffy tail of the squirrel was almost larger than its body. Lucy smiles. Her eyes follow the baby squirrel to one of the top branches. “So small.”

“I remember when you were born. You were very small.”

Lucy continues writing to her sister, now a grown up, now not just a sister but a friend.