The Birthday Girl Aaron Castrejon Litrus art editor The little girl was seated before a large crowd. They were all familiar faces—faces she trusted—and they were now fixed upon her intently with an extreme charisma. A mania even. They all towered over her and they spoke and yelled with an elevated tone. They adorned themselves in their usual garb, but now they wore strange hats and on the wall hung large pieces of paper with markings drawn across them. There were also strange spherical objects that seemed to float in the air. The girl wondered why these faces, which she trusted and loved, were suddenly yelling at her. She could not understand why or what they were saying. They spoke in a foreign tongue.

The girl felt a sense of fear as, slowly but surely, the group circled around her. What were they about to do to her she thought? One of the individuals gently grabbed the girl's head and adorned it with one of those hats. They then raised strange objects to their faces and suddenly bright flashes appeared. They practically blinded her. All of a sudden, the ambient light disappeared and day turned into night. The only source of light came from a brightly colored object that was brought before the girl. It had one single column of light. After the group spoke briefly in agreement, they then began to perform a ritual song. The only word she recognized was one the people used when addressing the girl, "Brenda." After the 30-second rendition, the flame was extinguished and night turned into day.

Colorful boxes were then brought to her one by one. They were opened and revealed playthings: stuffed animals, puzzles and other objects. The girl tried to remember as hard as she could, but this is the only time she could remember this happening. This ritual would occur annually for many more years to come.