Freya the Chocolate Rabbit girl’s birthday was coming up.
Ralph the Walnut Squirrel boy and Lyra the Persian Cat girl were talking excitedly about what to give her.
“It needs to be something really special!” said Ralph.
“I wonder why her party invitation said we have to wear or bring something red, though,” added Lyra.
Ralph and Lyra were baffled.
“Wait and see!” replied Mr. Brightfield, the Goat father, with a twinkle in his eye.
Before long, Freya’s birthday arrived. All her friends from around the village arrived in her yard.
Ralph and Lyra couldn’t believe their eyes when they arrived. There were red things here, there and everywhere!
Freya’s decorations were the talk of the party.
“Those decorations look wonderful,” said Pauline the Husky girl as she gave Freya her present.
“They’re just your style,” added Piers the Bear boy.
“It was Dad’s idea!” replied Freya, smiling. “My favorite dress is red, so he decided to make everything match it!”
“So that’s what it was!” said Ralph.
Then Lyra had another idea.
“I know what would make this party even better,” she said. “Some of those raspberries from the forest. Those are red!”
“Let’s get some!” agreed Ralph. “Freya will love them!”
Off they went, making sure no one saw them. But they didn’t see the clouds growing in the sky.
All of a sudden, it began to rain! Ralph and Lyra dashed back to the party.
“You’d better go home before you get wet,” Freya was saying. “Thank you all for coming!”
“We’d better get home too,” said Ralph, and the two turned to go.
“Wait!” cried Lyra just then. “We haven’t given Freya her present yet!”
The two children thought about what to do.
“I know!” said Ralph. “How about this?”
That night, the rain stopped and the moon was bright.
“I hope it stays that way,” said Freya to herself as she looked out the window. “We didn’t get to play outside much today. Now we can play outside twice as much tomorrow!”
Just then, something bumped against the window.
“What could that be?” thought Freya, opening the window.
It was a red balloon with a basket!
Inside the basket was a drawing set and some raspberries.
“They remembered something red!” thought Freya happily. “But who sent these?”
She looked down at the ground below and there stood Ralph and Lyra, waving to her.
“Happy birthday, Freya!” called Ralph.
“We picked the raspberries during the party but it started raining before we could give you the raspberries or the drawing set we brought for you,” explained Lyra. “So I made a balloon to deliver them to you!”
“Wow!” cried Freya. “Thank you so much!”
What a wonderful end to an (almost) perfect birthday!
The End
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