Eric did his best to pay attention to his friends singing him happy birthday, staring at the candles while his mind was elsewhere.
"Make a wish!" one of them said.
He realized they were talking to him, and blew out the candles.
"What did you wish for?" another asked.
He hadn't thought about this. He started to try to think of something to answer, when a third friend saved him the trouble.
"You know he's not supposed to tell us!"
"Oh, right," the other sighed.
Eric looked out at the moonlit ocean, then remembered to be polite.
"Thank you, guys!"