The Jewel Thief

An Unexpected Visitor

The following Tuesday morning, I wake up at 6:45, grinning. For a millisecond, I don't know why I'm so excited. Then it comes back to me.

It's my thirteenth birthday.

"Happy birthday, Elizabeth!!!"

Maddie (who has clearly been awake for quite a while, waiting for me to wake up) hurries over to my bed and tugs on my arm.

"Get up, get up, get up! Uncle's making you a special breakfast!" She squeals.

I almost spring out of bed. "A special breakfast?"

"Yes!" Maddie tells me excitedly. "He says that you get to choose what we have!"

"Really?" I hastily pull on my slippers and catapult downstairs, Maddie following.

Uncle emerges from the kitchen. "Happy birthday, Elizabeth! You're a teenager now!"

I hadn't yet thought of that. Yes, I was now a teenager. Thirteen. My grin widens.

"Thank you, Uncle."

"I assume Maddie has told you that you get to select our breakfast menu for today?" He smiles.

"Yes, she has," I tell him excitedly.

Uncle chuckles. "It'll have to be something I can whip up in twenty minutes. Middle school doesn't just stop happening on birthdays, you know." Maddie rolls her eyes, grinning.

"Er – can we just have bacon and eggs? I simply adore bacon."

"Absolutely. One large platter of bacon and eggs for the birthday girl, coming right up!" He grins once more and hurries back into the kitchen. He pauses on the threshold and turns back around.

"While I'm cooking, you two should get dressed."

"All right," I call after him. He goes back into the kitchen. Maddie and I dash back upstairs and get dressed. As soon as I've put on my favorite purple dress and combed my hair to celebrate what is to me the best day of the year, I race back downstairs and sit down at the table.

"Tuck your napkin into your front," Uncle reminds me. "I don't want you to get egg yolk on that nice dress. But you do look beautiful." I grudgingly tuck in my napkin like I am told, even though I look like I'm about four.

Maddie joins us, wearing a nice red dress to celebrate with me, just before Uncle serves the bacon and eggs. I listen to the inviting sound of the sizzling bacon in the pan as Uncle prods it occasionally, waiting for it to cook all the way. I notice that he doesn't tell Maddie to tuck her napkin into her front, and she doesn't do it herself. She simply puts it on her lap. I sigh. He clearly trusts Maddie to not spill more than he trusts me.

"Breakfast is served!" Uncle calls, brandishing a large plate covered in the aforesaid. He lays it down on the table. Maddie goes and collects forks and knives for everyone.

I begin by plunging my fork into the egg yolk, watching it seep into the bacon and egg white, which Uncle says is called the "albumen". I cut a small portion of the albumen, now covered in the yolk, and eat it. Then I pick up the bacon with my fingers. Uncle usually tells me to use a knife and fork to eat bacon, which is more difficult because bacon is hard to cut, but he doesn't. I suppose it's because today is my birthday. I try to conceal a small smile and crunch into the bacon, savoring that delightful, salty taste that I love so much.

"Have a wonderful day, girls," Uncle tells us later as he ushers us out the door. "And do try to keep those dresses clean," he adds. I pull on my favorite black coat that Uncle got me last year, swing my backpack strap over my shoulder, fix the laces on my shoes (I may be wearing a dress, but I'm still going to wear trainers, and that's that), and march out to the car.