Shelley woke up with a giggle. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a bowler hat and a jerkin. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the game room was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited seventeen of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend two hours playing fun games like Parcheesi and treasure hunt. Her mom was planning to make plenty of pretzels and tortillas for everyone. Shelley would try to blow out all thirty-four candles on the crimson and maroon cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Shelley would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a Band-aid! She hoped it would be an art deco Band-aid. Her friend Dennis had said he would give her a skull, and her girlfriend always gave her cool stuff like the stick of gum she gave her last year. Shelley 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 bowler hat. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the gully. She would have to wear a cummerbund instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her jerkin.
She scooted downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like rubbing alcohol. Her mom was standing there with a candy thermometer in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a wince.
"Hi Mommy!" Shelley replied fearfully. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the pretzels," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra mustard seed. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Shelley replied noisily. "Do we have the tortillas ready?"
"I'm going to wait until seven o'clock to start that," her mother replied quickly. "It only has to poach lightly for three minutes."
"Okay," Shelley replied excitedly. "I'm gonna go to the game room."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some blueberry pie in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the game room 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," Shelley responded, as she sat down to her blueberry pie. "Let's hang lots of salmon balloons and cover the canopy bed and the pool table with carrot-orange crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother slyly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Judith Broderick. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a food processor."
"Goodness me," Shelley responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with an air kiss. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."