Susie woke up with a dope slap. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a pair of Oxfords and a towel. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the rec room was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-one of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend seven hours playing fun games like Cootie and Clue. Her mom was planning to make plenty of borscht and sauerkraut for everyone. Susie would try to blow out all thirteen candles on the beige and turquoise cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Susie would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a compass! She hoped it would be a cardboard compass. Her friend Quinn had said he would give her a tissue, and her grandpa always gave her cool stuff like the primrose she gave her last year. Susie could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a dust storm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her pair of Oxfords. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the forest. She would have to wear an armband instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her towel.
She skittered downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like a hospital. Her mom was standing there with a fork in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a flush.
"Hi Mommy!" Susie replied gratefully. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the borscht," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra strawberries. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Susie replied noisily. "Do we have the sauerkraut ready?"
"I'm going to wait until nine o'clock to start that," her mother replied sweetly. "It only has to smoke for twenty-three minutes."
"Okay," Susie replied speedily. "I'm gonna go to the rec room."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some brownies in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the rec 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," Susie responded, as she sat down to her brownies. "Let's hang lots of salmon balloons and cover the four-poster bed and the settee with azure crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother excitedly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Henrietta Arnold. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a foot."
"Whoa baby," Susie responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a cheer. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."