You’re only turn 21 once, but you can have your party whenever you want.

The air had energy that day, I could sense it as I peered out the drive thru window at McDonalds, before hurriedly closing it as the rain figured out a way to slant diagonally under the eaves of the roof and wet me. So energy-full was the air that the rain was cunning and in cahoots with the wind. It was a good thing though; the day had a feeling about it. The stresses of my poorly organised 21^st celebration were fading and I began to look forward to the evening ahead.

I raced home after my shift and remembered that people like food. So I drove to the shops and picked up various bags of chips. Then I remembered that people also like alcohol. So I chose what I thought was enough of the most commonly favoured type of alcohol (other than beer) from the land of liquor called Liquorland. I knew I shouldn’t have looked at my watch but I did, and it was less than an hour until people would start arriving at my house. My stress hadn’t completely subsided after all, either that or it just got tired for a little and had mustered up some more energy – it was just my luck that my stress had regenerative capabilities . I drove home wishing I had Dad’s Enya CD with me.

Got home, got organised, had my brother straighten my hair (because I thought it was customary...), received my guests, and felt a conquering wave of relaxation as drink slid down throats and those who didn’t know each other mingled fantastically. I could almost see the vibrations of energy in the air around us. Or there was some imbalance of chemicals in my brain... Nevertheless I soaked up the atmosphere; it wasn’t often that I had large groups of people at my house. I had been kind of paranoid that if I ever did everyone would get bored, leave and never want to come back. Not sure where that stemmed from.

The maxi-taxi arrived and we clambered in. The driver was an enthusiastic Asian (I think Thai) man with good English and knowledge of the city. We did sit at the first set of traffic lights we got to for a few cycles (he made a late decision to turn and wasn’t triggering the sensor to let the traffic lights know we were there) but after that there were no problems. He was nice enough to stop the meter upon getting hasty instructions to pull over as some of us relieved ourselves.

The Elephant & Wheelbarrow was written across the side of a pub-looking building so we de-taxied. It was 9.30, and it was relatively busy. There were no other familiar faces awaiting us, and I was glad that I hadn’t forced anyone to wait around. I’d never been to the place before, so I quickly sussed it out. Typical pub: booths, stools, bar, TV’s, music. Stairs... The stairs went up to a fairly large dancefloor, stage, and second bar (I think – didn’t spend that much time up there. Well, that and my memory is a little fuzzy!) The second floor added that element that I was after. It was there for the people who didn’t feel like listening to traditional pub music.

As the other people who had been invited started to arrive, the crowd thankfully began to get a bit younger. The inter-group mingling amongst my friends continued and I was very happy to see it. I never ran out of drinks and was very thankful to see that. I felt a warmth (no not from the alcohol) of being surrounded by all the people who gift me with their friendship. That they made the effort to be there and celebrate with me, that they were doing their utmost to make sure I was having a great time... It was just an incredible feeling. I hope each of them know how grateful I am.

I remember a woman, probably 30, coming over to a group of three of us sitting at a table proffering her success and the business opportunities at her company. I wondered how stupid/drunk we looked if she even thought she had a chance of getting us to jump at her “opportunity”. To her credit she quoted a website, and I thought that was quite a clever little detail. Who knows, maybe she was legit. Maybe right now I could be pretentiously nibbling on caviar and then turning away so no one would see me cringe with disgust. Somehow I doubt it.

More importantly I remember someone’s behaviour being an attraction within itself, I remember being so happy that someone in particular was there with me, I remember smiles, I remember abandoning a kindly-bought beer, I remember some really interesting grammar stories, I remember someone being a saviour, I remember laughing, and I remember not having a care in the world.

Eventually, people began to have their fill of dancing/drinking/talking and started heading home. I endeavoured to say a decent goodbye to all of them. When the time came that I left, I couldn’t have been more content with the evening. It took two months and one day longer than expected for my 21^st party to happen, but it couldn’t have turned out any better.

Dale.