Judy woke up with a simper. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a bracelet and a cheerleader's uniform. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the library was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited nine of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend six hours playing fun games like Simon Says and jump rope. Her mom was planning to make plenty of pizza and strawberry shortcake for everyone. Judy would try to blow out all fifteen candles on the metallic red and lime-green cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Judy would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain an African violet! She hoped it would be a curved African violet. Her friend Archie had said he would give her a pencil sharpener, and her mommy always gave her cool stuff like the pencil sharpener she gave her last year. Judy could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a pall of doom was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her bracelet. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the meadow. She would have to wear a pair of heels instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her cheerleader's uniform.
She dashed downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like chocolate cake. Her mom was standing there with a fork in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a coo.
"Hi Mommy!" Judy replied smoothly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the pizza," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra calamari. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Judy replied curiously. "Do we have the strawberry shortcake ready?"
"I'm going to wait until nine o'clock to start that," her mother replied needlessly. "It only has to bake at 450 degrees F for sixty-two minutes."
"Okay," Judy replied vacantly. "I'm gonna go to the library."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some clam chowder 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," Judy responded, as she sat down to her clam chowder. "Let's hang lots of green balloons and cover the end table and the futon with navy blue crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother smoothly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Flo Jude. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a meat tenderizer."
"Very funny," Judy responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a belch. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."