Anne and Saskia - part 4

Anne's Birthday
Anne wakes up. "Yes", she thinks. "It’s my birthday."
Her mother and father enter the room.
"Congratulations with your 12th birthday, An!"
They present Anne with a very cool cd-player and a cd.
At school she is allowed to hand out sweets to her classmates. That’s fun.
Accompanied by Saskia she makes a tour along all classes, to give every teacher a piece of chocolate.
In the afternoon Saskia comes visiting.
Anne’s family is also there.
It is a big party.
Next Saturday Anne is playing at Saskia’s.
Anne has brought her new cd along and they put it on.
"Hé!", Saskia’s mother enters Saskia’s room.
"Don’t stamp your feet so much, even the lamp downstairs is swinging".
"Sorry, mum, but that’s the way this dance goes."
"O well, just do it a little more quiet then."
"Alright".
Saskia’s mother goes downstairs again.
"I asked my parents for a dog", Anne says.
"And you didn’t get one", Saskia says.
"No, unfortunately not."
"You know, a dog is not a birthday present. Especially not for you, by the way. You would need to have a calm and quiet dog, wouldn’t you. And so you would have to be there to pick one."
"Yes, but I could have done that on my birthday".
"That’s true, but when did you tell them that you loved to have a dog?
"About a month before my birthday. Besides, long before that I already said so many times that it would be rather nice."
"Would be rather nice, yes. Did you really think that your parents could decide within a month if they would like to have a dog, which dog, where to buy it and all those things? Did you really believe that?"
"You are right."
"Here’s what you should do. Talk it over calmly with your parents. That way they can also tell you what they want."
"Thanks. You always have good suggestions."
"Oh, well."
"Once, when I asked my mother about a dog, she said to me: "You know that your father…" And when I asked her what she meant to say, she quickly changed the subject and asked me did I want to eat anything. That’s strange, don’t you think? Would you know what she meant by that?"
"No, how on Earth should I know?"
"I don’t know. You could just have an idea, couldn’t you?"
"Yes I could have, but I haven’t. It’s is a bit strange indeed. But then, parents are strange sometimes."
They smile and put on the cd again.