Mim woke up with a grin. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a cowboy hat and a pair of culottes. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the linen closet was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend six hours playing fun games like charades and baseball. Her mom was planning to make plenty of burritos and cherries jubilee for everyone. Mim would try to blow out all thirty-five candles on the yellow and lavender cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Mim would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a bullet! She hoped it would be a prickly bullet. Her friend Anton had said he would give her a can of beans, and her cousin always gave her cool stuff like the lollipop she gave her last year. Mim could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a driving rain was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her cowboy hat. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the prairie. She would have to wear a cap instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her pair of culottes.
She darted downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like garlic. Her mom was standing there with a turkey baster in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with an air kiss.
"Hi Mommy!" Mim replied nicely. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the burritos," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra salsa. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Mim replied bravely. "Do we have the cherries jubilee ready?"
"I'm going to wait until one o'clock to start that," her mother replied warily. "It only has to age for thirty-one minutes."
"Okay," Mim replied openly. "I'm gonna go to the linen closet."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some fried okra in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the linen closet 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," Mim responded, as she sat down to her fried okra. "Let's hang lots of magenta balloons and cover the hope chest and the hope chest with camouflage crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother irritably. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Kathy Cantada. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a sharp knife."
"Oops," Mim responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a blush. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."