Tonya woke up with a bound. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a flour sack and a parka. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the cage was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited ten of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend eight hours playing fun games like Mother May I and checkers. Her mom was planning to make plenty of pizza and candy for everyone. Tonya would try to blow out all twenty-nine candles on the grey and golden cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Tonya would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a doily! She hoped it would be a nice doily. Her friend Fabien had said he would give her a comic book, and her mommy always gave her cool stuff like the napkin she gave her last year. Tonya could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a blizzard was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her flour sack. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the pasture. She would have to wear a class ring instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her parka.
She sallied forth downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like a chocolate factory. Her mom was standing there with a melon baller in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a kiss.
"Hi Mommy!" Tonya replied strangely. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the pizza," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra celery seed. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Tonya replied warmly. "Do we have the candy ready?"
"I'm going to wait until six o'clock to start that," her mother replied ruefully. "It only has to melt for forty-three minutes."
"Okay," Tonya replied pitifully. "I'm gonna go to the cage."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some crab rangoon in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the cage 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," Tonya responded, as she sat down to her crab rangoon. "Let's hang lots of azure balloons and cover the billiard table and the china hutch with crimson crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother automatically. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Magnolia Wayman. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a ladle."
"Knock me over with a feather," Tonya responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a laugh. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."