The end had come and gone.
The game was done.
The curtains had fallen, the end of SBURB.
It was a bittersweet feeling, in all reality. Four friends playing a silly computer game turned into saving their world from impending doom. To others, they were heroes. But to each other, they were still just ordinary teens. Bound by that "red string of fate" kind of thing, all of them destined to meet.
Now, on the thirteenth of April. An alarm clock going off. Ocean blue eyes opened. A groggy hand reached out for glasses sitting on a bedside table. John Egbert sat up in his bed, looking around. His pesterchum window was flashing on the computer. He hopped up out of his bed, taking his glasses with him as he sat himself down in his computer chair. He opened the chat client, where four messages greeted him.
TG: happy birthday Egbert
GG: Happy birthday John!
TT: Happy birthday
CG: UH. HAPPY WRIGGLING DAY. I GUESS.
John smiled, sitting back and staring at the messages from his friends. His friends… Those who fought by his side, stayed with him through it all. They won the game: together. His mind went to the trolls, back on the meteor. He wondered how they were doing.
Something wet ran down his cheeks, and he realized belatedly that he was crying. They were alive. Everyone was alive. "Happy birthday to me," he whispered, letting his tears flow freely.
But it was the best birthday gift he'd ever received.