On what should have been an ordinary night, a young waitress finds herself on the cusp of an unexpected encounter in Birthday Girl, a quietly spellbinding short story from the internationally acclaimed Haruki Murakami.

It is her twentieth birthday, but there are no grand celebrations—just another routine shift at the restaurant where she works. However, when an unforeseen request leads her to the reclusive and enigmatic owner of the establishment, her night takes a strange and fateful turn. What follows is a cryptic conversation, one that leaves her with a rare and tantalizing opportunity: a single wish, granted by a man who seems to exist outside the normal flow of time.

As she reflects on the moment years later, questions linger. Did she make the right choice? Did the wish truly change her life? And what, ultimately, do we wish for when we are given the chance?

Laced with Murakami’s signature blend of surrealism, quiet melancholy, and existential wonder, Birthday Girl is a mesmerizing meditation on time, fate, and the delicate threads that shape our lives. First published to commemorate Murakami’s seventieth birthday, this exquisite tale lingers in the mind long after the final page is turned.