It seemed like every other day, spent alone at home, when John got the letter from the alien. It slipped softly through the letterbox. He opened it like any other letter, then read the words in the centre: ‘Prepare to party.'

Light flashed in his eyes, and he dematerialised.

***

John opened his eyes. He found himself sitting at the head of a table that stretched out beneath a twinkling night sky. The table was full of plates, and at the centre, a cake. Beneath his feet lay orange rock. At the head of the table was a tall, glowing figure, with transparent skin, showing what looked like a swirling microcosmos of stars beneath.

He tried not to freak out.

“Welcome John. Glad you could make it.” said the alien, although since they had no mouth, it was hard to see where their voice came from.

John slowly got himself up from the table, turned, and ran. The being merely made a noise that was not indistinguishable – to a sigh.

John ran for what seemed like miles in an empty orange desert. Eventually, he stopped, falling beneath the weight of his fear. The rock dust, although alien, tasted like any other dust. That, at least, was some sort of comfort.

“So, I guess you don’t want any cake now?”

John breathed heavily, then slowly stood up. Across from him was the table and the alien.

“How?”

“I am quite handy at transport materialisations, hence why you found yourself here in the first place, my dear boy,” their voice was soothing, resonant and light.

“Now are you going to take a seat?”

John slowly approached the table and sat down.

“Piece of cake?” asked the alien.

John nodded.

A slice of cake was cut and placed on a plate in front of him. “Enjoy.”

John did not touch it. Instead, he asked the alien, “What’s going on?”

“Well, we’re having a party, aren’t we?”

John nodded, almost accepting the answer. But, like the cake – to which he was chasing a piece round his plate with a fork – he found it hard to swallow.

“A birthday party?” John asked.

The alien nodded.

“If this is a birthday party, then how old are you?”

A strange, guttural noise came from the alien, and what looked like the small swirling stars within the alien began to swirl.

“My dear, I am ageless. Hence my name, the Ageless. I don’t count the years. What would be the point?”

“But how?”

They sighed. “Another mystery I have not been able to collect. Along with, ‘What are my origins?’ ‘How did I end up here?’ ‘Where are others am I kind?’ ‘How did I acquire my intelligence?’ And, of course, ‘Why am I so good at making cakes?’”

John looked down at the cake. It seemed another mystery to him why a creature who didn’t have a mouth or even a discernible face, would have any interest in baking. A cold shadow of a thought ran over him – what does the alien eat?

“Of course, the cake is for you. My own nourishment is taken by a sort of photosynthesis, although I can take mine from multiple stars, no matter how far away. So you see, I will linger on until the last star stops burning.” He created a steeple with his fingers. “So a while yet, a mustn’t wonder.”

John nodded, still baffled.

“Now I think, the birthday boy should eat his cake.”

“What do you –?”

“Oops. I meant birthday man. You are getting quite old, are you not?

John shrugged, “It’s just another day.”

“For me, it isn’t. As an ageless, there is no need to celebrate my birth. I’m not even sure I was born, in any conventional way of course. So I like to celebrate another’s birthday. I can’t have a birthday, but someone can have a birthday for me. A birthday for the Ageless. Specifically, your birthday.”

“Why me?”

The Ageless shrugged. “Another mystery I guess. Or maybe it was just random.”

John looked at his cake.

“Are you having a good time?” the Ageless asked.

No reply.

“Maybe I should have had candles on the cake.”

“Have I been here…before?”

“Oh yes. Every year after your twentieth.”

“I don’t recall.”

“Well, yes. That’s my fault of course. I capture your memories. It is my present for you. So you shall return to your life on earth with your sanity intact. Well…mostly all there.”

John looked at all the empty chairs between them, a lack of presence that filled his

stomach.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t bring any of your friends along. I could only materialise one sentient being.”

“Forget it.” John slowly started to eat the cake.

“How is it?”

“It’s chocolate.”

“Is that a bad thing?”

“It looks like it should be vanilla.”

The Ageless's head turned downward. “I always seem to get material things wrong.”

“Can I go home now?”

The Ageless tilted their head, “Don’t you want your present?”

***

After the short walk, they made it to the cave. It looked dark and hungry, like it wanted to swallow John whole.

The Ageless beckoned forward.

John went in — shafts of blue light shot through the dark from the ceiling. There was the sound of trickling water. Then from the shards of light, burst out moving images of himself.

“John,” said the Ageless behind him, making him jump, “These are the best moments of your life I have collected from others who shared them. I couldn’t bring them to your party, but this is the way you have imprinted on their minds.”

“But I’m just John. Nothing else.” John muttered, mouth agape.

The lights within the Ageless swirled and sparked, “See, these seemingly small moments are the fingerprints of your legacy, and as the years go on, I know you will continue to collect these. In that way, you are ageless.”

John wiped his wettened face, and then asked, “Can I have another slice of cake?”