Reba woke up with a wince. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a bowler hat and a stovepipe hat. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the salon was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-five of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend three hours playing fun games like shuffleboard and dodge ball. Her mom was planning to make plenty of apple pie and chicken soup for everyone. Reba would try to blow out all seventeen candles on the yellow and polka dotted cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Reba would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a cookie! She hoped it would be a small cookie. Her friend Ethan had said he would give her a stone, and her grandma always gave her cool stuff like the bat she gave her last year. Reba could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a drizzle was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her bowler hat. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the mountaintop. She would have to wear a pair of socks instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her stovepipe hat.
She ran downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like soap. Her mom was standing there with a Sham-Wow! in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with an evil eye.
"Hi Mommy!" Reba replied tearfully. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the apple pie," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra lemon zest. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Reba replied sheepishly. "Do we have the chicken soup ready?"
"I'm going to wait until two o'clock to start that," her mother replied boldly. "It only has to broil for forty minutes."
"Okay," Reba replied anxiously. "I'm gonna go to the salon."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some borscht in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the salon 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," Reba responded, as she sat down to her borscht. "Let's hang lots of pink balloons and cover the dining table and the chair with crimson crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother nicely. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Fifi Brock. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a sharp knife."
"My my," Reba responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a glare. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."