Mildred woke up with a pout. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a tam o'shanter and a hood. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the workshop was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited nine of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend two hours playing fun games like dodge ball and crazy eights. Her dad was planning to make plenty of chicken gumbo and refried beans for everyone. Mildred would try to blow out all eighteen candles on the polka dotted and yellow cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Mildred would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a teddy bear! She hoped it would be a bizarre teddy bear. Her friend Theresa had said she would give her a spittoon, and her mentor always gave her cool stuff like the rose she gave her last year. Mildred could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a dense fog was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her tam o'shanter. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the river. She would have to wear a black belt instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her hood.
She galloped downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like mango. Her dad was standing there with a potato masher in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a simper.
"Hi Daddy!" Mildred replied energetically. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the chicken gumbo," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra peeled carrots. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Mildred replied haughtily. "Do we have the refried beans ready?"
"I'm going to wait until ten o'clock to start that," her father replied effortlessly. "It only has to whirl for three minutes."
"Okay," Mildred replied anxiously. "I'm gonna go to the workshop."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some falafel in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the workshop first?" she begged.
"It looks just like it always does," her father replied. "Remember, I'm depending on you to help with the decorating."
"Oh yeah," Mildred responded, as she sat down to her falafel. "Let's hang lots of lime-green balloons and cover the chest of drawers and the buffet with indigo crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father merrily. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Deirdre Rowling. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a cookie cutter."
"Alrighty," Mildred responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a glare. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."