Melanie woke up with a woof. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a gun belt and a gladiator helmet. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the linen closet was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited fourteen of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend three hours playing fun games like roulette and red rover. Her mom was planning to make plenty of spaghetti and prime rib for everyone. Melanie would try to blow out all seventeen candles on the brown and terra cotta cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Melanie would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a notepad! She hoped it would be a stolen notepad. Her friend Bosco had said he would give her a bag of potato chips, and her grandmother always gave her cool stuff like the dictionary she gave her last year. Melanie could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a hot, sunny day was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her gun belt. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the housing development. She would have to wear a gold medal instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her gladiator helmet.
She sneaked downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like mountain air. Her mom was standing there with a meat thermometer in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a caress.
"Hi Mommy!" Melanie replied haughtily. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the spaghetti," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra potatoes. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Melanie replied fervently. "Do we have the prime rib ready?"
"I'm going to wait until four o'clock to start that," her mother replied delicately. "It only has to sauté for fifty-seven minutes."
"Okay," Melanie replied shakily. "I'm gonna go to the linen closet."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some brownies in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the linen closet first?" she begged.
"It looks just like it always does," her mother replied. "Remember, I'm depending on you to help with the decorating."
"Oh yeah," Melanie responded, as she sat down to her brownies. "Let's hang lots of brown balloons and cover the mattress and the sofa with mauve crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother gently. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Madalyn Munich. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has an egg cutter."
"Shame," Melanie responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a smile. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."