Ratzo had not cleaned out the back of his home cave in at least six years and since he had decided to remodel, well, he just felt it was time to throw a few things away. This was very hard for the old rat since he was a packrat by nature.
As he scooted the roll-top desk to another wall several papers were left lying in disarray on the dust-bunnied floor. The bright primary colors on the front of the card caught his eye just as he was about to scoop them all to the trash.
It was a card. A birthday card as a matter of fact. The front had two mice wearing baby blue jackets and scarlet shoes waving and waving small yellow flags.
Inside. He opened the card carefully so as not to break the fold. And inside. Inside were more mice running with flags gleefully flitting in the breeze. Letters on each flag spelled out H A P P Y B I R T H D A Y ! The greeting's poem had several words underlined. The signature was practically indistinguishable. And then he saw it. In one corner was written a year. It was 1986. Over it was another year and below 1986 was a line. It had been subtracted from the other. This time he had difficulty reading the numbers because they had been smeared, looked like cake or cake frosting.
Ratzo peered a little closer. It didn't make sense, but the top year seemed to 2008, this year. And under the line, well, it looked very much like a 22.
It confused Ratzo. Hmmm, he thought, 22 years. He noticed that the underlined words said "You are terrific!" and "Have a Great Day!"
At that point Ratzo began to chuckle. Not only was he having a Great Day, but he had had a Great Twenty-Two Years and today was turning into a Really Great Day.
Hmmm, he pondered, I guess birthday wishes really do come true, particularly when the wishes are wished for you with love.
