The words echoed around my head like they would in a cave. What do you want for your birthday? What you want for your birthday? What do you want for your birthday...

I had answered the question already. Officially, my answer was, "A gift is given from the heart. Not because I need it. And not because I want it. But because you want me to have it." But in my head, I had a different answer for you each echo. Sometimes it was sex, sometimes it was food, sometimes it was simple, sometimes lavish. But each time, it was a request. Something I wanted. Not something that she could give me because she wanted me to have it.

I hated my birthday. Not as much as xmas, but almost. It, like every other holiday, was a reminder of the years passing. The loneliness I felt inside. The years wasted not having someone special to share them with. Just me, myself and I, and all 3 of us were getting tired of the same old crap. Dinner, alone. Movie, alone. Maybe a few beers, alone. It got so bad that I now push people away instead of asking them over. I craved the empty house. The whole couch to spread out on. The large pizza all to myself. A 6 pack that would last 2 weeks, not 4 hours.

Now, this upstart of a woman; this invader of my loneliness, this shatterer of my routine proposed I do something. With HER. My mind almost couldn't handle the possibilities. Or, for that matter, her motivation. I was a selfish, self centered, egotistical, loner who liked to get his way. People did what I told them to or I whined till they did. And this upstart broke that routine. She wouldn't listen and wouldn't leave me alone. I didn't want her to go, but that was beside the point. Here she was, forcing me to be sociable again. To revive old skills. Skills put away and forgotten long ago. Skills I had believed not useful anymore.

It was exciting and scary at the same time. I had not been a very good friend "back in the day". I had always been selfish. Never thought about my friends. Never really been interested in what was going on in their lives.

Yet now, here was this woman that barged into my serene life and mixed the soup without asking. She through rocks into my pond and muddied the water. Yet I desperately wanted to make a good impression on her. She was my wake up call from fate. She was a reason for me to be what I had so long ago neglected. Life had given me a second chance.

I would not waste it.

This was my mind set when she asked me that fateful question.

"What would you like for your birthday?", the phone screen said. Oh it said lots more, but those were the words I was most interested with at that moment.

I looked up and tried to concentrate on my driving. A big truck doesn't steer it's self yet and a lot of crap can happen when you're not looking. I glanced at the screen several more times before I quickly tapped out my message, "A request isn't a gift. A gift is something I neither request nor need, but something you want me to have."

I hit "Send" and put the phone down to concentrate on my driving. What did I want? My birthday was in less than 2 weeks. I hadn't considered getting anything in years. So the question hung there like an elephant.

I tried to forget it and move on.

My birthday came, and went quietly like it always does. Like I prefer it actually. No fanfare, no big to do. Just me, myself, I and my brother. We all had a couple beers and some burgers and then went to bed.

But this upstart if a woman, god bless her heart, wouldn't let it pass without letting me know how she felt about me. I already knew. She told me every day. Not a day would pass, usually, that she didn't tell me. And I told her too. Felt it too. This old body actually responded. Heh, who'd have thought it.

It was a Fri. I was really tired and was just getting home from work. My brother had gone out with his date again and, I expected, wouldn't be home till very late. Again. I never pried into what they did and what little he told me sounded benign enough, but I'd bet my week's income that they weren't just having dinner, or sitting around talking.

Anyway, I opened the door and dropped my shoes off on the rack before going to the table and depositing my motorcycle helmet. After dropping my lunch container by the sink, I shuffled slowly to the bedroom. I flicked on the light and began to remove my shirt when a female voice cut through my tired, foggy brain:

"I've been a bad girl daddy. I think I need to be spanked."

My head whipped around so fast my eyes needed a second to catch up. What they saw caused my old heart to skip a beat(which actually hurts, a lot) and my eyebrows to climb into my hairline (which I'd also a feat because if how long my forehead is now).

There, on the bed, was Anna. She was naked, tied sort of spreadeagled with one hand at each top corner of the bed. Her feet were pulled up so that her knees were at her chest and there they were bound. Her hips were securely fastened to each side of the bed so she couldn't have moved if she had wanted to.