I had no wish to do that to their birthday.

It was plastic.

It made a noise when it struck something.

Leo had dropped it because there were strawberries and a horse that needed room.

The old papers remained preserved where they belonged.

Whatever the legal process required would be handled through the people responsible for it.

No guest needed an account of every unresolved question before offering my children cake.

I steadied Luna’s crown again and watched Leo carry his horse toward the shade.

The plastic gavel lay in the grass beside two fallen strawberries.

I left it there.