Christina woke up with a raspberry. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a hood and a cloak. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the bedroom was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-two of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend one hour playing fun games like Clue and Rummy. Her mom was planning to make plenty of chopped liver and chicken pot pie for everyone. Christina would try to blow out all seventeen candles on the jade and striped cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Christina would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a can of beans! She hoped it would be a stiff can of beans. Her friend Randy had said he would give her a snowball, and her grandpa always gave her cool stuff like the mushroom she gave her last year. Christina could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a downpour was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her hood. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the country meadow. She would have to wear a towel instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her cloak.
She dashed downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like mushrooms. Her mom was standing there with a meat tenderizer in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a tear.
"Hi Mommy!" Christina replied bitterly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the chopped liver," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra graham crackers. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Christina replied needlessly. "Do we have the chicken pot pie ready?"
"I'm going to wait until one o'clock to start that," her mother replied zestily. "It only has to age for nineteen minutes."
"Okay," Christina replied unabashedly. "I'm gonna go to the bedroom."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some tofu in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the bedroom 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," Christina responded, as she sat down to her tofu. "Let's hang lots of grey balloons and cover the hamper and the filing cabinet with jet black crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother effortlessly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Peggy Sterling. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a candy thermometer."
"Retch," Christina responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a titter. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."