My mother was having a big party, inviting a lot of her friends. Her friends. Not mine.

So to compensate for the loss, my mother got two of my friends (Kev and his little brother) to come and play. I decided it would work and I was told they would come at 6:30 in the afternoon.

At 6:15, I set up everything needed to have fun: computers, wireless Internet, and I downloaded some games in case Kev’s brother was bored.

6:30 arrived, and one of my mom’s friends came. They busied themselves with the dinner. There was no sign of any of my friends.

6:45 came. A friend of my mom who had hosted a big performance with had arrived. Still no sign of my friends.

Curious, I asked my mom when they were coming. “7 o’ clock,” she answered briskly. I gawked. What had happened to 6:30? “Oh, they decided not to come that early,” was the reply.

So once again I sat around and waited.

7:00 came slower than ever. I watched two news reports during the time, and listened to the reporters talk about the stock market. They still didn’t come.

I asked my mother when they would come. “They are on their way,” she said.

I sat down gleefully. It was only a few minutes from their house to mine. They would come any moment. I situated myself next to the window and contented myself by waiting.

Ten minutes passed. It was now 7:15. There was no sign of them. “I thought you said they were on their way!” I told my mom angrily.

“Well, they could be packing their stuff up,” she told me. That was really on the way, I snorted.

Finally, after checking my email eight times, reading some random junk, sitting there, laying on the bed, playing with my dog, chatting with some visitors, cleaning my room, counting my savings, and playing with my dog a few more times, I saw them.

At 7:45. An hour and fifteen minutes later than scheduled.

Oh well, I thought. At least they were here.