Iced

If you've ever read Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card you know what being iced is, and you know that it is bad.
Now I wonder quite often what it would be like to be iced, to be sent away forever and ultimately rejected as a failure.
I think that there have been many failures in the past two hundred years, and many of them were caused by the government.
I feel that perhaps the resistance movement is the end to all the failures carried out during my slumber.
But anyway.
Tomorrow is my birthday, and I found a dress on my bed this afternoon. It was beautiful, pink and blue flower print with blue ribbons. There was a small square of paper resting on the dress, a note perhaps.
I picked it up, curious. The paper read, Ruthie - this is a dress my mother made for you, she would like you to wear it on your birthday. - Reuben.
I grinned. My birthday would not be a failure.
At dinner I smiled the whole time and Reuben asked, Did you get my present?
I nodded enthusiastically.
When Reuben tucked me in that night I could barely contain my excitement. Through the whole night I slept peacefully and for the first time in months I didn't have nightmares about the fire people. I was happy.
When Reuben woke me this morning the grin on his face was all I needed to remember that today's my birthday.
I hurriedly climbed out of bed and changed into my new dress before brushing my teeth and braiding my hair. Then I ran down to Reuben's room and told him to hurry up.
A minute later he emerged from his room with his roommates and I dragged him down the hall to where we ate. He laughed and followed me groggily, Zack and Brett not far behind.
At breakfast we had waffles and since it was a Thursday I didn't have classes to teach, so we played cards all morning.
At lunch we had the best homemade pizza I'd ever tasted. Afterward Goya served an amazing cake with chocolate frosting and red icing that read Happy 10th Birthday Ruthie!
I smiled at the number and wished as I blew out the candles that not all icing would be a symbol of failure.

Ruthie's Dress