Mary's Sweet Sixteen

Mary awoke with a start, and remembered it was her sweet sixteen. She jumped out of bed and ran to her closet, excitement bubbling up inside of her. She slid the doors open and put on her favorite dress. The dress was light blue with a darker blue ribbon pulled around her waist. Mary pulled on her only pair of white high heels and burst out of the door. 

Mary whipped her head back and forth, no one was in the hallway, she rushed to the stairs. No one was smiling back at her, because no one was there. Mary yelled, “Hey everybody I am awake!” Again no one and no response. Mary began to worry, she ran back into her room and checked the time. The clock blinked ten thirty. 

Mary went to her parents’ room and opened the door, the sheets were flipped back and no sign of her parents. She checked her little brother’s room, Caleb was not in his bed either.

Mary took a deep breath, and focused on the railing of the staircase. After several minutes, she went into the bathroom and brushed her teeth and hair. She felt more awake and focused after she cleaned herself up. 

She tried to be as loud as she could, going down the stairs. At the bottom of the stairs, Mary peered at the living room. The curtains were drawn back, letting the sun filter through the glass, casting shadows across the carpet. The bed, of Zephyr their dog, was empty and his chew toys were neatly in the basket where they should be. 

Mary shuffled through the hallway into the kitchen. The counter was cleaned off, except for one plate of pancakes with a bottle of syrup next to it. Mary spotted a fluffy black thing crouching over the pancakes. She crept closer to the figure, and realized it was just their cat, Mazzie. “Get away from those pancakes!” Mary scolded the cat. Mazzie winced and jumped off the counter. Mary rolled her eyes and looked down at the cat. Mazzie looked up at her with big sincere eyes. “Aw okay.” Mary leaned down to scratch Mazzie’s chin. “Hey, Mazzie do you know where Mom, Dad or Caleb are?” Mary asked the cat. Mazzie closed her eyes, letting Mary know she hit the sweet spot. 

Mary lifted her hand from the cat. She looked around the kitchen, nothing but the cat’s purring made a noise. Mary grunted as she stood back up. Mazzie rubbed against her legs as saying, "Come on, pet me, I am soft and pretty! Purr." Mary shook her head at the cat. “No, I need to find Caleb, Mom, and Dad.”

Mary looked away from Mazzie and peered at the sliding doors in the living room. The curtains were shut tightly and Mazzie rubbed against the curtains to show a bright blue color. Mary crept closer to the doors. Mazzie meowed urgently, and Mary pushed the curtains away to reveal a huge sweet sixteen party for her.

Mary shoved the doors away and ran outside smiling. There were no people, but the party was set up for her. Balloons were stuck in every place they could and there was a table set up with presents toppling over each other.

“Surprise!” 

“Happy Birthday!” 

“Surprise!” 

Mary turned around in surprise. Her family and all of her friends jumped out of bushes, crevasses, and any hiding spots. She couldn’t keep from smiling and laughing. Caleb ran to her and gave her a big hug, soon her Mom and Dad joined in. Her friends laughed and added themselves to the hug. Finally Mary’s best friend, Clara, pulled away from the pile, “Let’s open presents!” She yelled running over to the table. 

Everyone else was already at the table as Mary began to walk. She went to lift up her left leg, but it would not lift. She looked down. Caleb was wrapped around her leg, squeezing it tight. “Come on Caleb, get off.” Mary said in a soft tone. “He shook his head back and forth. Mary rolled her eyes, “Would if I let you sit in my seat with me?” When he shook his head again, Mary whispered, “Fine, you can help me blow out my candles.” At this Caleb looked up smiling and let go of her leg and raced over to the table. 

As Mary finally got to the table, the bush behind the table rustled. “Well I guess my present will go first.” Her Dad said. Mary laughed and then the whole table burst into laughter. Mary’s Dad disappeared into the bushes and returned with a zebra trailing behind him. “A zebra!” Mary asked, astonished. “No,” her Dad said, still smiling, “A zebra-corn!” Mary laughed and laughed, almost ending up on the ground. 

She laughed all the way through the present opening, and through the cake and ice cream. When Mary finally settled down, her brother, threw cake at her. Mary ducked and it hit Jessica, square in the nose. Jessica gasped, “Oh that is it, little chump!” Jessica wiped the cake from her face and took a big handful of ice cream from her plate. 

Jessica was the star player in their school’s softball team. She launched the ice cream at Caleb. He ran around Mary and ducked behind Mary’s Dad. He smiled an evil smile and shouted, “FOOD FIGHT!” Mary started to laugh, food flying around the deck. She grabbed her huge serving of ice cream and flung it randomly in the air. She watched it as it landed on Clara. Mary gasped and ran away from Clara’s view. 

The zebra-corn, was rearing and whining. Cameron, Mary’s boyfriend, ran over to the zebra-corn and took the horn off, trying to calm the horse down. “Well now it’s just a zebra.” Mary said to herself. She raced over to Cameron, “Hey your not in the food fight, right?” She said. Cameron shook his head, “Nah, let's find a safe spot where we can watch. 

Mary and Cameron climbed up on the roof with big plates full of food. “They can’t get us up here!” He said laughing. Mary looked at him and flung a chip at him, “I can.” She said, smiling. He rolled his eyes and threw a piece at Caleb. 

“This is the best sweet sixteen ever.”