Hilda woke up with a snarl. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a bedsheet and a visor. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the corridor was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited fourteen of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend one hour playing fun games like ring around the rosie and hide and seek. Her dad was planning to make plenty of pretzels and chopped liver for everyone. Hilda would try to blow out all thirty-two candles on the salmon and teal cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Hilda would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a crystal ball! She hoped it would be a bulky crystal ball. Her friend Molly had said she would give her a kite, and her mother-in-law always gave her cool stuff like the daisy she gave her last year. Hilda could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a flood was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her bedsheet. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the hill. She would have to wear a dirndl instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her visor.
She slunk downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like a campfire. Her dad was standing there with a candy thermometer in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a cringe.
"Hi Daddy!" Hilda replied tensely. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the pretzels," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra ketchup. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Hilda replied positively. "Do we have the chopped liver ready?"
"I'm going to wait until nine o'clock to start that," her father replied brightly. "It only has to simmer for seventy-one minutes."
"Okay," Hilda replied demurely. "I'm gonna go to the corridor."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some duck a l'orange in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the corridor first?" she begged.
"It looks just like it always does," her father replied. "Remember, I'm depending on you to help with the decorating."
"Oh yeah," Hilda responded, as she sat down to her duck a l'orange. "Let's hang lots of scarlet balloons and cover the crib and the coat rack with lavender crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father impatiently. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Toni Zaborowski. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a napkin."
"Yeeshka," Hilda responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with an air kiss. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."