Surprise Party:
A TMNT FanFic
By Kirsten D. Atwood
Dedicated to Kay Haugen
The turtles crept stealthily through the sewer tunnels, trying their hardest to keep quiet. Mikey giggled a bit, and was immediately shushed by his brothers.
The darkness around them lightened, and the four ninja turtles quickened their pace, excitement building in them as they approached their goal. A circle of bright light appeared in the distance, marking the exit.
One by one, they sneaked out of the round opening and onto the street, sticking to the shadows as they'd been taught.
The house was only a few yards away now, and their eagerness was now apparent. The house was dark, all the lights turned out, the occupants asleep. The brothers gathered in the shadows beneath one window, a second-story window that had been left open, the curtains fluttering out into the cool night-time breeze. Carefully, they agilely leapt up and through the window, landing silently in the room.
It was a bedroom, cluttered with stuffed toys and books, among other things, and the four turtles huddled around the single bed in the room, eying the occupant's sleeping form. They leaned in closer, and suddenly—
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY, KAY!"
The sleeping girl was sleeping no more, and she shot up out of bed with a scream. Spotting the four dark figures in her room, she quickly grabbed hold of the first weapon she laid hands on—unfortunately, a slightly warn Togepi doll—and flicked on a light.
Her eyes widened as she saw that the four figures, whom she had erroneously assumed to be murderers or some such, come to slay her in the night, were actually none other than her favorite childhood cartoon characters, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. And they seemed extremely glad to see her.
"My GOD!" she exclaimed. "You're—you're—you're—REAL!" Kay leaped completely out of her bed and threw herself into the arms of her very favorite turtle, Leonardo.
Leo laughed. "Of course we are, Kay!" he said. "And we came to wish you a happy eighteenth birthday!"
"How did you know it was my birthday? How did you know where I lived? How do you exist?"
This time, Michelangelo answered. "Your friend Kirsten told us! She said that you were turning eighteen, and that, since you're such a big fan of ours—" here he batted his eyes at her, seeming rather girlish—"that the best way to wish you a happy birthday was for us to come and throw you a surprise party!"
Kay laughed aloud. "Wow, awesome! I haven't thought you guys were real for years now! So, where are my presents?"
The room was silent for a moment. Then Donatello asked, in a sheepish voice, "Uh…presents?"
Kay nodded. "Yeah. You said you were throwing me a surprise party, right? For my birthday? And birthday parties mean presents!" She threw her arms around Leo's neck.
The turtles glanced at each other. "Er…" said Leo.
"Umm…" said Mikey.
And suddenly, Kay found herself sitting back on her bed, as the four turtles leaped out the window once more, dashing back to the sewer from whence they'd come. She sat there for a moment, trying to comprehend what had just happened, and then she grinned. She lay back in bed and drew the covers back over herself, flicking out the light once more. When she woke up in the morning, she would still have this happy memory of a dream, a dream where the turtles she'd loved as a child had wished her a happy birthday on the day she'd become an adult.
Sometime later, as Kay drifted once more on the clouds of Dreamland, a shadowy figure had crept back in through the window and planted a tender kiss on her forehead.
"Happy birthday, Kay," Leonardo had whispered, slipping once more into the darkness he had always inhabited.
And Kay had smiled in her sleep.