Eleanor woke up with a roar. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a stovepipe hat and a bomber jacket. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the library was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-seven of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend eight hours playing fun games like Snakes and Ladders and leapfrog. Her mom was planning to make plenty of sweet potatoes and hot dogs for everyone. Eleanor would try to blow out all six candles on the sea green and polka dotted cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Eleanor would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain an antenna! She hoped it would be a valuable antenna. Her friend Greg had said he would give her a shoe, and her mommy always gave her cool stuff like the tablet computer she gave her last year. Eleanor could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a pelting rainstorm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her stovepipe hat. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the seacoast. She would have to wear a pair of pantaloons instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her bomber jacket.
She strode downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like gardenias. Her mom was standing there with an electric paint mixer in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a hug.
"Hi Mommy!" Eleanor replied positively. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the sweet potatoes," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra almond paste. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Eleanor replied ruefully. "Do we have the hot dogs ready?"
"I'm going to wait until six o'clock to start that," her mother replied accidentally. "It only has to fry crossly in leather skillet for sixty-nine minutes."
"Okay," Eleanor replied woodenly. "I'm gonna go to the library."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some sweet potatoes in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the library 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," Eleanor responded, as she sat down to her sweet potatoes. "Let's hang lots of camouflage balloons and cover the counter and the bar stool with striped crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother irritably. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Lorna Mantzios. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a blender."
"Cripes," Eleanor responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a honk. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."