Huong woke up with a pound of the chest. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a towel and a pair of knickers. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the parlor was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-two of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend seven hours playing fun games like Simon Says and backgammon. Her mom was planning to make plenty of egg rolls and borscht for everyone. Huong would try to blow out all thirty-three candles on the mauve and rose cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Huong would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a magazine! She hoped it would be a hand-made magazine. Her friend Tim had said he would give her a spinning wheel, and her sister always gave her cool stuff like the bag of popcorn she gave her last year. Huong could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a windstorm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her towel. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the valley. She would have to wear a skeleton costume instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her pair of knickers.
She swung downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like oregano. Her mom was standing there with a dish cloth in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a squint.
"Hi Mommy!" Huong replied busily. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the egg rolls," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra hot water. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Huong replied despondently. "Do we have the borscht ready?"
"I'm going to wait until two o'clock to start that," her mother replied woefully. "It only has to freeze for fifty-three minutes."
"Okay," Huong replied lightly. "I'm gonna go to the parlor."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some dry toast in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the parlor 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," Huong responded, as she sat down to her dry toast. "Let's hang lots of azure balloons and cover the ottoman and the TV with navy blue crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother fiercely. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Alberta Barry. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a spoon."
"Jiminy crickets," Huong responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a shout. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."