Gretchen woke up with a clenched fist. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a wizard's hat and a uniform. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the cage was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited three of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend seven hours playing fun games like dodge ball and croquet. Her mom was planning to make plenty of cornbread and refried beans for everyone. Gretchen would try to blow out all twenty candles on the hot pink and brown cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Gretchen would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a blanket! She hoped it would be a hard blanket. Her friend Alexei had said he would give her a clarinet, and her mentor always gave her cool stuff like the hair dryer she gave her last year. Gretchen could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a rainbow was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her wizard's hat. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the butte. She would have to wear a pair of khakis instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her uniform.
She blundered downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like sautéed onions. Her mom was standing there with a meat tenderizer in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a snicker.
"Hi Mommy!" Gretchen replied impatiently. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the cornbread," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra ham. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Gretchen replied brashly. "Do we have the refried beans ready?"
"I'm going to wait until seven o'clock to start that," her mother replied vigorously. "It only has to fry for thirty minutes."
"Okay," Gretchen replied gently. "I'm gonna go to the cage."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some mushroom quiche 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," Gretchen responded, as she sat down to her mushroom quiche. "Let's hang lots of yellow balloons and cover the pool table and the four-poster bed with pink crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother warmly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Sadie Brontsky. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a slotted spoon."
"Wild," Gretchen responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a kiss. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."