Months had passed since she discovered her ability and things around the military base took the natural course expected by Rosie. A few days ago, she had celebrated her tenth birthday and the blonde-haired girl took them outside and brought her a pink cake which she shared with Ben on a beautiful spring afternoon. She had made a decoration made with her own hands: she made the grass grow greener and brighter in the parched areas, created some discreet bushes with small white flowers and grew some logs to use them as chairs and tables and there, they put the cake and a chess set. That day was the best day of her life. Ben was extremely good to her, meaning, not throwing any of his bad temper when she beat him at chess. He didn't even break the board or rip the head off her queen.
"Happy Birthday Rose," Dr. Lang had approached the children who were enjoying the cake and were the only ones outside: the soldiers on the other side of the fence were in combat and there were only a few left and, on this day, she didn't see them around. It was like a miracle for Rosie.
"I brought you a present," the young man, who Rosie didn't think was more than twenty-one years old, handed her a book. "I'm sure you'll like it, it's a collection of fairy tales by the Brothers Grimm. Do you know who they are?"
Rosie accepted the gift with delight, it was the first gift she had ever received in her life. As soon as she had it in her hands, she didn't mind not being a fan of books, she already wanted to go back to her room and read until she fell asleep. She would take care of the gift as she took care of the first rose she made. She answered the doctor's question by shyly denying and running her fingertips over the golden relief of the title
"Why didn't I get a present on my tenth birthday and she did?" Ben exclaimed, breaking with the good behavior. Rosie saw him clench his fists and his tone of voice become demanding and loud, causing Rosie to pull back out of caution. At any moment she would blow up the board and pieces. "I deserve a gift more than she does, my skill is more useful than growing plants and flowers. What good is it to soldiers? I'm going to be a soldier! The best of them all! I deserve a gift".
The doctor squatted down to be at the same height as the boy who, seeing what he did, he got even angrier. Ben hated being treated like a child, he wanted to be treated like one of the soldiers. Rosie pressed the gift to her chest and prepared to run off in case Ben threw a tantrum.
"Hey son, complaining about a gift is not appropriate of a soldier. Every uniformed boy you see doesn't even get a happy birthday, let alone a cake. Women love presents, that's how you keep them happy and Rose one day will be a beautiful woman.
