Edie woke up with a beam. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a corsage and a mask. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the boiler room was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited five of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend two hours playing fun games like ring around the rosie and solitaire. Her mom was planning to make plenty of applesauce and scrambled eggs for everyone. Edie would try to blow out all eighteen candles on the terra cotta and amber cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Edie would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a crate! She hoped it would be a colossal crate. Her friend Tex had said he would give her a cookbook, and her grandpa always gave her cool stuff like the camera she gave her last year. Edie could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a hailstorm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her corsage. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the oasis. She would have to wear a pair of sweatpants instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her mask.
She went downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like a bakery. Her mom was standing there with a Sham-Wow! in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a fist bump.
"Hi Mommy!" Edie replied crankily. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the applesauce," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra peeled carrots. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Edie replied hungrily. "Do we have the scrambled eggs ready?"
"I'm going to wait until seven o'clock to start that," her mother replied anxiously. "It only has to press for forty-nine minutes."
"Okay," Edie replied gruffly. "I'm gonna go to the boiler room."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some crumb cake in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the boiler 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," Edie responded, as she sat down to her crumb cake. "Let's hang lots of sea green balloons and cover the file cabinet and the dishwasher with magenta crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother sternly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Heather Tiller. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a candy thermometer."
"Gadzooks," Edie responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a grimace. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."