OK, next chapter. Thanks for reviewing, Warner Kids Fan, frumouttamimind, damonika2009, and KaylaMicael!

Even though I was only a kid on my 23rd birthday, we still celebrated it. I didn't really expect it. I mean, there was that clown episode where it was Wakko's birthday, but that was "Animaniacs". But the 28th of April came, and from the moment I woke up, it seemed natural that it wouldn't be an ordinary day.

I was woken up by whispers, which, for a start, should have hinted that something out of the ordinary was going to happen today. I didn't even register that it was my birthday, only registering the hushed voices around the tower.

"OK, where should I put these?"

"Shh! She's a much lighter sleeper than any of us. You'll wake her up if you're not careful."

"You would know. Now be quiet. We decided on seven thirty."

I cautiously opened one eye to look at the clock. It was five minutes before seven thirty, so I decided to wait and see what was happening. In fact, I went straight back to sleep, without wondering much about what was going on.

And precisely five minutes later, I was shocked awake by three voices yelling "Happy birthday!"

My eyes popped open, and three familiar faces grinned back at me. I still wasn't properly awake, and was a little bit disorientated. "What?" I mumbled.

"How could you forget something like that?" Dot exclaimed. "It's your birthday? Your twenty-third!"

That woke me up a bit more. "Even though I'm not even the right age?"

"Who cares?" Wakko said. "We're still celebrating!"

"OK, OK!" I protested. "Give me some time to get dressed and ready for this celebration."

All three of them backed out of my "room" (since the tower was one huge space, we hung curtains over sections to substitute for doors and create rooms), with one last warning of "Thirty minutes, and that's it."

I got dressed and showered within ten minutes, then I ate two pieces of toast (with Vegemite instead of my teenage favoured Nutella). Since we were all kids, I never really bothered to wear makeup (how many under-twelves wear that, plus I have fur), so once I'd done everything essential, I was pretty much ready.

I peeked out from behind my curtain, but without even looking up, all three of them yelled "Not ready!"

"OK, OK," I said. "I won't come out until you say, if that's what you want. But more than five minutes after eight and my statement is null and void."

But by eight o'clock, I was out, and they were ready. I looked around the main part of the tower. All of it was decorated in sunny yellow, my favourite colour, and three presents, wrapped in pink paper (my second favourite colour) were on the sofa. I could continue to describe it, but then this would get totally boring.

I loved it. But then I blurted out the first thought that came to my mind. "Why did you do all this? Not that I don't love it – you three are amazing – but you've never taken this much trouble for any previous birthdays! There wasn't any need to do it now, really." Not mine, ever. I'd never witnessed a birthday when any of the others had this much trouble taken for their birthdays. Well, the twenty-firsts of mine and the boys' were more elaborate than usual, and Dot's thirteenth was pretty big, since she was the youngest and the last one to become a teenager, but this wasn't a really important birthday.

"We've noticed you've been down recently." Dot said simply.

"So we wanted to cheer you up." Wakko continued.

Yakko slung an arm around my shoulders. "You said last week that things were getting meaningless. This should provide a much-needed trip to Planet It Matters."

I laughed. "So then, what are we waiting for?"

"For you to ask for the cards."

I usually wanted to read the cards before opening presents, mostly cause it was interesting to see what cards people had chosen. I usually got cards from people around the studio, but no prizes for guessing which ones were the most quirky and crazy and fun – that was except for the time Dot put a miniature version of her pet in the card. But for some reason, I hadn't thought about it this time.

As birthdays usually were, the day was fun, but somehow, things weren't as fun as usual for me. I didn't feel much happiness. I guessed that it was because of the stressful time I'd been having recently. Also, the day seemed a lot longer than usual.

In the evening, I suggested playing karaoke on the karaoke machine that we'd bought ages ago, back when we were much younger (well, not younger, but you know what I mean), since we didn't have to sing anything until next week, when we recorded our next show. So all four of us picked out a bunch of songs. I was trying to work out a way to bring back my energy and zest for life.

"Hey, Alex, remember that time on holiday that we all sang songs from musicals?" Yakko remembered.

I dredged up a smile, and said, "Yeah, I remember. I got so mad at you that one time. Speaking of which -" I turned towards Dot. "Do we have 'Omigod You Guys' on this? I miss that song."

So that was one of the songs we had on it. Soon enough, I was trying to have fun, singing "Omigod, omigod you guys,

All this week I've had butterflies

Every time he looks at me it's totally proposal eyes, omigod you guys!"

I didn't think about the implications of this song until much later. The problem I was occupied with was that nothing seemed to be bringing back my sense of fun. I usually loved singing, but this time, it really wasn't working.

When I went to sleep that night, I wondered what was wrong with me. But soon enough, I fell asleep, and this time, I slept like the dead.

Does anyone have an idea why Alex isn't having fun and is feeling so lifeless? Please review!