| abstract
| - "And so for eighteen long years, the whereabouts of the princess remained a mystery, while deep in the forest, in a woodcutter's cottage, the Three Girl Mice carried out their well-laid plan. Living like mortals, they had reared the girl as their own and called her Cupcake." Looking out the window, Cupcake hummed a lovely tune called "I Wonder," attracting many bluebirds. For eighteen years, her hair had grown 70 feet long, and her eyes became a bright green color, though she still had her peach skin. She wore a purple dress with long, frilly baby pink sleeves, puffy lavender sleeves with purple hairlines, and a lavender bodice with a pink ribbon and stitches without any shoes. She was indeed beautiful. As she hummed a tune, she closed the shutters to her window and walked away. "On this her eighteenth birthday, the Three Girl Mice had planned a party and something extra special for her surprise." Mrs. Brisby, Olivia, and Tanya were downstairs looking over a book of dresses, picking something out to make for Cupcake, who is actually Rapunzel. By the time the day is over, they can finally tell her that she was a princess. "Well, now about this one?" asked Tanya, as they look over the book. And they found the perfect one. "This is the one I picked." said Mrs. Brisby. "Oh, she'll look beautiful in that!" Olivia smiled. "Now I thought of a few changes here..." said Mrs. Brisby. "Uh-huh." said Tanya. In the book, the Three Girl Mice found a purple dress similar to Queen Aurelia's dress. "Don't forget a pretty design." said Olivia. "Yes, and we'll lace the shoulder line." said Mrs. Brisby. "We'll make it orange." said Tanya. Mrs. Brisby giggled. "Oh no, silly, red." "But..." Tanya began. "How about purple?" suggested Olivia. "Of course, we'll need a pair of shoes, silk gloves, and bloomers to match..." said Mrs. Brisby. "Yes, but how are we going to get her out of the house?" asked Tanya. "Oh, I'll think of something." said Mrs. Brisby. Of course, they didn't know that Cupcake walked down the stairs and into the living room and heard them. "Well!" Cupcake smiled. Mrs. Brisby, Olivia, and Tanya hid the book from the girl's eyes as she walked towards them. "And what are you three dears up to?" "Up to?" repeated Tanya. "Up to?" repeated Olivia. "Up to?" repeated Mrs. Brisby. "Eh, eh, eh, we, we, well, we, we ..." stuttered Mrs. Brisby, as she tried to say something. Cupcake continued to stare at the mice with a lovely smile. And she doesn't know that she was a princess and her real name was Rapunzel. As Mrs. Brisby tried to think of something, Tanya spoke for her. "Want you to pick some berries." she finished. "That's it, berries!" said Mrs. Brisby, as she handed Cupcake a purple cloak with a hood 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 Cupcake, as she put on the cloak, buttoned it up, and put up the hood. "Lots of berries!" said Olivia, as she, Mrs. Brisby, and Tanya escorted her out the door. "But I only picked berries yesterday." said Cupcake. "Oh, we need more, dear." said Mrs. Brisby. "Lot, lots, more!" added Olivia. "Yes!" said Mrs. Brisby. Then the mice pushed Cupcake 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 Mrs. Brisby. "And don't go too far." said Tanya. "And don't speak to strangers." added Mrs. Brisby. "Goodbye, dear!" called Olivia. "Goodbye!" called Tanya. "Goodbye!" called Mrs. Brisby. "Goodbye!" said Cupcake, as she waved goodbye and walked off deep into the forest, carrying the basket in her hand. Then the mice closed the door and got back inside. "I wonder if she suspects." said Tanya thoughtfully. "Of course not, come on. Will she be surprised!" said Mrs. Brisby, as they went around the room, gathering things. Mrs. Brisby went to the trunk and took out multiple red fabrics and sheets as Olivia went into the kitchen to find ingredients to make the birthday cake. All three are very excited. "A real birthday party!" said Tanya. "With a real birthday cake!" said Olivia. "Yes, and a dress a princess can be proud of!" said Mrs. Brisby. "I'll get the wands." said Tanya, as she headed up the stairs. "Yes, you...the wands?" said Mrs. Brisby. But she was startled when Tanya mentioned the wands and closed the trunk quickly. "Oh no!" gasped Olivia, who was also startled. "No wands, Tanya!" Mrs. Brisby warned. "But the eighteen years are almost over" Tanya protested. "We're taking no chances." said Mrs. Brisby, as she handed Tanya the fabrics for making the dress. "But, I've never baked a fancy cake." said Tanya. "Oh, you won't have to, dear." said Mrs. Brisby. "I'm going to bake the cake!" Olivia called from the next room. "You?" asked Tanya, who was kind of surprised. "She's always wanted to, dear, and this is her last chance." said Mrs. Brisby. "Well,..." said Tanya, who was not so sure about Olivia cooking. "I'm going to make it seventeen layers with pink and purple, fuchsias, lavenders, violets..." said Olivia, as she thought about what to put on the cake. "And I'm making the dress." said Mrs. Brisby. "But you can't sew, and she's never cooked!" said Tanya. "Oh, it's simple." chuckled Mrs. Brisby. "All you do is follow the book." said Olivia. Mrs. Brisby pulled out a small stool and directed Tanya to stand on it. "Up here, dear. You can be the dummy." she said. "Well, I still say we ought to use magic." said Tanya. Then Mrs. Brisby threw a sheet of red cloth over Tanya and began cutting with a pair of scissors. Then Olivia laid all the ingredients for the cake before her. She looked into the book and read the ingredient instructions. "Flour, three cups." said Olivia, as she searched for them, muttering, "Cups, cups, cups, cups, cups..." At that moment, Olivia 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." Mrs. Brisby cut a circular hole into the sheet. "What's that for?" asked Tanya. "Well, it's got to have a hole in the bottom." replied Mrs. Brisby. "That's for the feet to go through." added Olivia. Then Mrs. Brisby tossed the sheet over Tanya again, and Tanya noticed there was something wrong with the sheet. "It's red!" said Tanya. "Oh, lovely shade, isn't it?" Mrs. Brisby smiled. "But I wanted it orange!" complained Tanya. "Now, dear, we decided red was her color." said Mrs. Brisby, flatteringly. "You decided?" asked Tanya. Mrs. Brisby giggled to herself as she left Tanya inside the sheet and went over to get tape measure. Tanya mumbled incoherently until Mrs. Brisby came back with the tape measure and wrapped some around the waist. "Two eggs, fold in gently." said Olivia, reading from the book. But she didn't understand what fold in meant. "Fold? Oh well." Olivia 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 Tanya was completely covered in the red cloth from head to toe. "I can't breathe!" she called, whose voice was muffled under the sheets. Mrs. Brisby cut the cloth open at the top, and Tanya popped her head and arms out and took a look at the dress from the inside. "It looks awful!" Tanya complained. "That's because it's on you, dear." said Mrs. Brisby, cutting the remaining cloth from the right side. "Now yeast, one tsp. Tsp?" said Olivia, looking into the book. This time, she didn't understand what the word Tsp meant. "One teaspoon!" Tanya corrected her. "One teaspoon, of course!" Olivia giggled sheepishly. She put the yeast on the teaspoon and finished adding the rest of the ingredients to the batter. Then Mrs. Brisby 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 Tanya, remembering the old days. "Just a tiny baby!" said Olivia, remembering as well. Then all of a sudden, Tanya sniffled and wiped a tear from her eye. Mrs. Brisby and Olivia saw that. "Why, Tanya!" said Mrs. Brisby. "Whatever is the matter, dear?" asked Olivia. "After today, she'll be a princess. And we won't have our little Cupcake!" Tanya sobbed tearfully. "Oh, Mrs. Brisby!" said Olivia, who began to cry about Cupcake as well. "Now, now, now, now, we...we...we...we all knew this day had to come." said Mrs. Brisby, shedding a tear and wiping it from her eye as well. It had been eighteen years, and they began to think of Cupcake as their own child that they never had. "But why did it have to come so soon?" Tears slid down Olivia's cheeks. "After all, we've had her for eighteen years." said Mrs. Brisby. "Eighteen wonderful years!" Tanya 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. Tanya sniffled and wiped another tear from her eye again. Then suddenly, Mrs. Brisby changed her expression. "Good gracious, We're acting like a lot of ninnies! Come on, she'll be back before we get started." said Mrs. Brisby. And they all resumed their work.
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