Mama woke up with a backward glance. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a Hawaiian shirt and a Superman costume. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the kitchen was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited four of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend two hours playing fun games like Scrabble and badminton. Her dad was planning to make plenty of dirty rice and cotton candy for everyone. Mama would try to blow out all twenty-two candles on the rose and carrot-orange cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Mama would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a pair of fuzzy dice! She hoped it would be a fuzzy pair of fuzzy dice. Her friend Celeste had said she would give her a pair of headphones, and her grandmother always gave her cool stuff like the napkin she gave her last year. Mama could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a gale was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her Hawaiian shirt. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the battlefield. She would have to wear a bomber jacket instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her Superman costume.
She tramped downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like sea mist. Her dad was standing there with a basting brush in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a bound.
"Hi Daddy!" Mama replied cruelly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the dirty rice," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra ketchup. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Mama replied sweetly. "Do we have the cotton candy ready?"
"I'm going to wait until eleven o'clock to start that," her father replied sagely. "It only has to microwave for three minutes."
"Okay," Mama replied effortlessly. "I'm gonna go to the kitchen."
"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 kitchen first?" she begged.
"It looks just like it always does," her father replied. "Remember, I'm depending on you to help with the decorating."
"Oh yeah," Mama responded, as she sat down to her clam chowder. "Let's hang lots of yellow balloons and cover the dishwasher and the bunk bed with pea green crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father primly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Annalouise Barducci. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a ladle."
"Yipes," Mama responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a giggle. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."