Hallie woke up with a woof. 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 pocket watch. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the patio was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited fourteen of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend six hours playing fun games like baseball and chess. Her mom was planning to make plenty of ravioli and fondue for everyone. Hallie would try to blow out all seventeen candles on the metallic red and tan cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Hallie would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a statue! She hoped it would be a fresh statue. Her friend Buck had said he would give her a dead chipmunk, and her girlfriend always gave her cool stuff like the baby doll she gave her last year. Hallie could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a blanket of mist 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 hillside. She would have to wear a cloak instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her pocket watch.
She zipped downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like tea. Her mom was standing there with a strainer in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a wrinkled nose.
"Hi Mommy!" Hallie replied sarcastically. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the ravioli," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra diced pineapple. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Hallie replied blissfully. "Do we have the fondue ready?"
"I'm going to wait until twelve o'clock to start that," her mother replied doubtfully. "It only has to shake for eighty-four minutes."
"Okay," Hallie replied fervently. "I'm gonna go to the patio."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some brownies in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the patio 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," Hallie responded, as she sat down to her brownies. "Let's hang lots of ivory balloons and cover the crib and the settee with blue crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother sympathetically. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Tabitha McCord. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a slotted spoon."
"Tut-tut," Hallie responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a frown. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."