| abstract | - "And so for eleven long years, the whereabouts of the princess remained a mystery, while deep in the forest, in a woodcutter's cottage, the Three Female Animals carried out their well-laid plan. Living like mortals, they had reared the mouseling as their own and called her Flower." Looking out the window, Flower hummed a lovely tune called "I Wonder," attracting many bluebirds. For eleven years, her ears had grown larger, and her tail and eyelashes longer, though she still had her peach skin, black fur, and black nose. She was still wearing her white gloves. Resting on top of her head was a big blue bow that complemented her outfit - a blue dress with short, puffy sleeves and a skirt that touched her feet - which went well with the yellow slippers covering her feet. She was indeed beautiful. As she hummed a tune, she closed the shutters to her window and walked away. "On this her eleventh birthday, the Three Female Animals had planned a party and something extra special for her surprise." Vixey, Marie, and Sandy were downstairs looking over a book of dresses, picking something out to make for Flower, who is actually Minnie Mouse. By the time the day is over, they can finally tell her that she was a princess. "Well, now about this one?" asked Sandy, as they look over the book. And they found the perfect one. "This is the one I picked." said Vixey. "Oh, she'll look beautiful in that!" Marie smiled. "Now I thought of a few changes here..." said Vixey. "Uh-huh." said Sandy. In the book, the Three Female Animals found a pink dress similar to Princess Peach's dress. "Don't forget a pretty brooch." said Marie. "Yes, and we'll make the sleeves short and puff them up." said Vixey. "We'll make it purple." said Sandy. Vixey giggled. "Oh no, silly, orange." "But..." Sandy began. "How about blue?" suggested Marie. "Of course, we'll need a pair of shoes, silk gloves, and bloomers to match..." said Vixey. "Yes, but how are we going to get her out of the house?" asked Sandy. "Oh, I'll think of something." said Vixey. Of course, they didn't know that Flower walked down the stairs and into the living room and heard them. "Well!" Flower smiled. Vixey, Marie, and Sandy hid the book from the mouse's eyes as she walked towards them. "And what are you three dears up to?" "Up to?" repeated Sandy. "Up to?" repeated Marie. "Up to?" repeated Vixey. "Eh, eh, eh, we, we, well, we, we ..." stuttered Vixey, as she tried to say something. Flower continued to stare at the chipette and girls with a lovely smile. And she doesn't know that she was a princess and her real name was Minnie. As Vixey tried to think of something, Sandy spoke for her. "Want you to pick some berries." she finished. "That's it, berries!" said Vixey, as she handed Flower a sky-blue cloak with a hood attached to it and a decorative button at the neck and showed her to the door in a quick manner, leaving her confused about what was going on. "Berries?" said a confused Flower, as she put the cloak around her shoulders, buttoned it up, and put up the hood. "Lots of berries!" said Marie, as she, Vixey, and Sandy escorted her out the door. "But I only picked berries yesterday." said Flower. "Oh, we need more, dear." said Vixey. "Lots, lots, more!" added Marie. "Yes!" said Vixey. Then the fox, kitten, and squirrel pushed Flower out of the cottage through the front door. She looked back with a suspicious look and smile on her face. Something's not right with them. "Now hurry back, dear." said Vixey. "And don't go too far." said Sandy. "And don't speak to strangers." added Vixey. "Goodbye, dear!" called Marie. "Goodbye!" called Sandy. "Goodbye!" called Vixey. "Goodbye!" said Flower, as she waved goodbye and walked off deep into the forest, carrying the basket in her hand. Then the fox, kitten, and squirrel closed the door and got back inside. "I wonder if she suspects." said Sandy thoughtfully. "Of course not, come on. Will she be surprised!" said Vixey, as they went around the room, gathering things. Vixey went to the trunk and took out multiple orange fabrics and sheets as Marie went into the kitchen to find ingredients to make the birthday cake. All three are very excited. "A real birthday party!" said Sandy. "With a real birthday cake!" said Marie. "Yes, and a dress a princess can be proud of!" said Vixey. "I'll get the wands." said Sandy, as she headed up the stairs. "Yes, you...the wands?" said Vixey. But she was startled when Sandy mentioned the wands and closed the trunk quickly. "Oh no!" gasped Marie, who was also startled. "No wands, Sandy!" Vixey warned. "But the eleven years are almost over" Sandy protested. "We're taking no chances." said Vixey, as she handed Sandy the fabrics for making the dress. "But, I've never baked a fancy cake." said Sandy. "Oh, you won't have to, dear." said Vixey "I'm going to bake the cake!" Marie called from the next room. "You?" asked Sandy, who was kind of surprised. "She's always wanted to, dear, and this is her last chance." said Vixey. "Well,..." said Sandy, who was not so sure about Marie cooking. "I'm going to make it ten layers with blue and yellow, periwinkles, daffodils..." said Marie, as she thought about what to put on the cake. "And I'm making the dress." said Vixey. "But you can't sew, and she's never cooked!" said Sandy. "Oh, it's simple." chuckled Vixey. "All you do is follow the book." said Marie. Vixey pulled out a small stool and directed Sandy to stand on it. "Up here, dear. You can be the dummy." she said. "Well, I still say we ought to use magic." said Sandy. Then Vixey threw a sheet of orange cloth over Sandy and began cutting with a pair of scissors. Then Marie laid all the ingredients for the cake before her. She looked into the book and read the ingredient instructions. "Flour, three cups." said Marie, as she searched for them, muttering, "Cups, cups, cups, cups, cups..." At that moment, Marie realized that the three cups of different sizes were already on the table and used them to pour flour into the bowl. "One, two, three." Vixey cut a circular hole into the sheet. "What's that for?" asked Sandy. "Well, it's got to have a hole in the bottom." replied Vixey. "That's for the feet to go through." added Marie. Then Vixey tossed the sheet over Sandy again, and Sandy noticed there was something wrong with the sheet. "It's orange!" said Sandy. "Oh, lovely shade, isn't it?" Vixey smiled. "But I wanted it purple!" complained Sandy. "Now, dear, we decided orange was her color." said Vixey, flatteringly. "You decided?" asked Sandy. Vixey giggled to herself as she left Sandy inside the sheet and went over to get tape measure. Sandy mumbled incoherently until Vixey came back with the tape measure and wrapped some around the waist. "Two eggs, fold in gently." said Marie, reading from the book. But she didn't understand what fold in meant. "Fold? Oh well." Marie shrugged, and she just put two eggs into the bowl and folded them in. She pressed down on the batter, and she heard the shells cracking, causing the batter to overflow from the bowl. Now Sandy was completely covered in the orange cloth from head to toe. "I can't breathe!" she called, whose voice was muffled under the sheets. Vixey cut the cloth open at the top, and Sandy popped her head and arms out and took a look at the dress from the inside. "It looks awful!" Sandy complained. "That's because it's on you, dear." said Vixey, cutting the remaining cloth from the right side. "Now yeast, one tsp. Tsp?" said Marie, looking into the book. This time, she didn't understand what the word Tsp meant. "One teaspoon!" Sandy corrected her. "One teaspoon, of course!" Marie giggled sheepishly. She put the yeast on the teaspoon and finished adding the rest of the ingredients to the batter. Then Vixey measured the size of the dress. "Oh, gracious how the child has grown!' she exclaimed. "Oh, it seems only yesterday we brought her here!" said Sandy, remembering the old days. "Just a tiny baby!" said Marie, remembering as well. Then all of a sudden, Sandy sniffled and wiped a tear from her eye. Vixey and Marie saw that. "Why, Sandy!" said Vixey. "Whatever is the matter, dear?" asked Marie. "After today, she'll be a princess. And we won't have our little Flower!" Sandy sobbed tearfully. "Oh, Vixey!" said Marie, who began to cry about Flower as well. "Now, now, now, now, we...we...we...we all knew this day had to come." said Vixey, shedding a tear and wiping it from her eye as well. It had been eleven years, and they began to think of Flower as their own child that they never had. "But why did it have to come so soon?" Tears slid down Marie's cheeks. "After all, we've had her for eleven years." said Vixey. "Eleven wonderful years!" Sandy said dreamily. Then there was a moment of silence as they thought about the wonderful years they had with the child. They fed her, bathe her, and helped her go to sleep. Sandy sniffled and wiped another tear from her eye again. Then suddenly, Vixey changed her expression. "Good gracious, We're acting like a lot of ninnies! Come on, she'll be back before we get started." said Vixey. And they all resumed their work.
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