Hephzibah woke up with a raspberry. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a pacifier and a party hat. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the boiler room was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited one of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend six hours playing fun games like treasure hunt and baseball. Her mom was planning to make plenty of pizza and pie a la mode for everyone. Hephzibah would try to blow out all eighteen candles on the white and periwinkle cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Hephzibah would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a Band-aid! She hoped it would be a brittle Band-aid. Her friend Tony had said he would give her a key ring, and her grandma always gave her cool stuff like the fork she gave her last year. Hephzibah 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 pacifier. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the plain. She would have to wear a sport coat instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her party hat.
She stalked downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like garlic. Her mom was standing there with a fork in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a pound of the chest.
"Hi Mommy!" Hephzibah replied suspiciously. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the pizza," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra diced pineapple. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Hephzibah replied madly. "Do we have the pie a la mode ready?"
"I'm going to wait until three o'clock to start that," her mother replied briskly. "It only has to microwave for twenty-nine minutes."
"Okay," Hephzibah replied swiftly. "I'm gonna go to the boiler room."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some beans 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," Hephzibah responded, as she sat down to her beans. "Let's hang lots of aquamarine balloons and cover the credenza and the desk with sea green crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother strangely. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Nora Lombardi. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has an electric mixer."
"Nope," Hephzibah responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a raspberry. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."