Each time around he wished for one thing. Each year it occurred to him. And so over and over he closed his eyes and blew the candles out. Tom never told anyone what he wished for. There was the promise of keeping secret one's wish and in compensation for keeping mum the wish would come true.
Loose lips sink ships.
He closed his lips and never let it out. Though there came a time a boy named Bobby Faye jumped him and threatened to beat it out of him. Tom was eleven and not about to tell anyone. No matter how much it hurt. There was his sister Kate who asked what he wished for.