Chapter 7
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ARIELLE
It was mid-March near Arielle's fourth birthday, and she was very excited about having a party. Josh and Marcia told her that she could chose what kind of cake she wanted and they would order it from a bakery.
Arielle gave the matter much thought, but she had trouble making up her mind. "I want a chocolate cake with chocolate frosting and a train on top," she said when first asked. "No, a white cake with white frosting and a ballerina on top," she said later on. "What I really want is little pink cupcakes," she said another time. "What I really, really want is all of them," she finally admitted.
"How am I supposed to place the order when she can't make up her mind," Marcia complained to Josh.
"Choose something," insisted Josh to Arielle. "Or we'll have to choose for you."
"No, I want to choose," insisted Arielle, but she still couldn't make up her mind.
As usual, Griselda came to the rescue.
"Leave it to me," she told them. "I want you to have an early breakfast, and after that, everyone clear out. I need the kitchen to myself."
"But what are you going to do, Griselda?" Arielle asked.
"That's for me to know and you to find out," answered Griselda firmly. "Now don't worry. You'll love it."
The next morning, Griselda shooed the family out of the kitchen, right after breakfast. She worked busily all morning, measuring and sifting, pouring and mixing, baking and frosting.
Soon it was time for the guests to arrive. "Hurry up, Griselda," Arielle told her, as she went up stairs to change into her party dress.
Then the door bell began ringing and the guests began arriving. In came Elana, J.J, Danny, and all her other friends. They each handed her a present, and said, "Happy Birthday, Arielle." When the last guest arrived, Griselda appeared from the kitchen. Her clothes and face were dotted with cake flour and bits of frosting.
"Are you ready for the cake now," she asked.
"YES!" everyone cried in unison.
When Griselda brought in the cake, everyone gasped with delight and amazement. It was bigger than any cake the children had ever seen. It was even bigger than Josh and Marcia's wedding cake had been. It had seven layers, each a different flavor, and each with a different frosting, and decoration.
Everyone gathered around to admire it. The bottom layer was chocolate with mocha frosting, and it had a train running around it. The next was yellow with orange frosting. Then angel food with strawberry frosting, strawberry with white frosting, marble with chocolate frosting, white with striped frosting, and finally a little cupcake of chocolate mousse with apricot frosting. Each layer had a different decoration on it too. It was the most beautiful cake anyone had ever seen.
Everyone got to chose the flavor he or she wanted. Not surprisingly, Arielle had trouble choosing again. "Remember, there will be plenty of cake left over," Griselda reminded her. "You'll get to try all the flavors, each night for bed time snack."
Arielle, finally chose a piece of marble cake with chocolate frosting and flowers on it. "Dee-licious," she said, when she had taken the first bite. Everyone agreed.
After everyone had eaten their cake, it was time to open the presents. This was Arielle's favorite part. She got lots of wonderful things: a doll, a book, some markers, some play doh, a card game, a circus train with animals, and a music box. When she had opened all these, she noticed that there was one more present. It wasn't shaped like a box like all the other packages had been. It was thin and came up to her shoulder. Arielle opened it and saw that it was a little toy broom.
"Griselda, is this from you? It looks just like your broom, only smaller?" she asked.
"Yes," said Griselda. "It's for you to play witch with.
After the party was over and all the children had left, Arielle was playing with her new toys. "Griselda," she asked hopefully. "Is my little broom magic like yours?"
"It's a little broom so it has a little magic," Griselda answered. "Come upstairs and let me show you some of the things it can do."
Arielle and Griselda went upstairs to her room. "How would you like this broom to clean up your room?" Griselda asked.
"All by itself?" asked Arielle in amazement.
"All by itself," answered Griselda. "All you have to do is look at the broom and say in a nice loud voice:
Zippity Zappaty Zuppity Zoom.
Magic Broom, Clean my room.
Arielle did as she was told, and all of a sudden, the broom rose from the floor and began picking up toys and books and putting them on shelves, taking dirty clothes out to the laundry room, making the bed, and finally, sweeping. Arielle watched, fascinated by all the activity. When the broom was done, it landed at Arielle's feet.
Arielle loved her new broom like a pet. She even gave it a name: 'Broomclean' and hugged it tightly while she watched TV. "Will I be able to fly Broomclean?" Arielle asked.
"Only in your own room," said Griselda. "But I can fix it so that you can fly outside as long as I'm nearby. Tomorrow, I'll take you and Broomclean outside to learn to fly."
The next day, Griselda took Arielle and Broomclean to the Tufts athletic field for flight practice. It was a good day to be outside: breezy but sunny, and the ground was beginning to thaw. "We'll start flying low," Griselda explained to her. "When you learn how to do that, we'll go higher."
Griselda showed Arielle the proper way to sit on the broom and to hold on, so she wouldn't fall off. "The junior model comes with a seat belt," she said, and she showed Arielle how to buckle up.
"You can make the broom fly by using your voice and pointing it where you want to go," Griselda continued. "This broom has horse styling. You tell it 'Gidyap' when you want it to go and 'Whoa' when you want it to stop. You can turn it by pointing it the way you want to go."
"Gidyap," Arielle said, and the broom started with a jerk. It flew slowly a few feet above the ground. Arielle let it fly in a straight line until Griselda instructed her, "Make it turn back towards me." Arielle turned the broom around and flew towards Griselda. "Stop it, stop it," Griselda ordered, as Arielle was about to fly right into her. Arielle said, "Whoa," and Broomclean stopped.
"What do you think?" Griselda asked.
"I love it,' Arielle said, her eyes sparkling. "I want to go again."
"O.K, this time, follow me," Griselda said as she hopped onto her own broom and flew slowly, just above the ground. Sometimes Griselda flew straight, sometimes, she made turns, other times she flew in zig zags. Arielle followed her carefully on her own little broom.
When Griselda decided that Arielle had mastered the basics of flying, she taught her how to go up and down. "It's simple," she said. "All you have to do is point the broom up and say the word 'up'. To go down again, you point the broom down and say 'down'. Follow me."
Arielle followed Griselda flying high over the athletic field. This was a little trickier and scarier than flying low had been, but soon she got the hang of it and was loving it.
"Can I fly by myself?" Arielle asked after a while. "O.K," said Griselda, "But stay where I can see you over the field."
Arielle flew up just above the tree tops and circled around a few times. A bird flew by her and she decided to follow it. This seemed to make the bird nervous, so Griselda called her away.
Then she noticed someone flying a kite at the other end of the field. She flew towards it, with Griselda following on her own broom just a few feet above the ground.
The kite was a beauty - a blue one with a big rainbow across it. Arielle flew in close for a good look, but just then, a sudden change in the wind caused the kite to dart right at her. Arielle pointed her broom down just in time to avoid being hit.
"Don't get too close," Griselda called out from below, but it was too late. The kite whipped around towards Arielle and this time she got tangled in the kite string. This tipped Arielle and the broom upside down and she and the broom began to fall down. But suddenly, a parachute opened up from the broom and they began to drift down slowly. Arielle landed on the ground as gently as a leaf that had just fallen from a tree. She wasn't hurt a bit.
"Are you alright," asked Griselda rushing over and hugging her. "I'm ok," said Arielle. "But I think I need a break."
"That's ok. It's supper time," said Griselda. "We'll try again tomorrow."
After that, Arielle always had a clean room, because her broom would clean it for her every day. The only problem was that Broomclean refused to clean while Arielle was watching TV, insisting on watching with her. Arielle practiced flying Broomclean in the house every day and quickly became an excellent flyer.
Every week Griselda took Arielle on a trip outside. One day they flew to Boston and flew around the sky scrapers. Another time they flew at night and watched the lights from high in the sky. Griselda promised that when Arielle got bigger, she would take her on a long trip - maybe even to New York.