Ethel woke up with a caress. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a lab coat and a false beard. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the kitchen was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited fifteen of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend one hour playing fun games like jacks and Clue. Her mom was planning to make plenty of refried beans and succotash for everyone. Ethel would try to blow out all five candles on the terra cotta and metallic red cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Ethel would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a key ring! She hoped it would be an important key ring. Her friend Maximilian had said he would give her a Bible, and her sister always gave her cool stuff like the bag of popcorn she gave her last year. Ethel could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a gale was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her lab coat. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the butte. She would have to wear a dunce cap instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her false beard.
She lumbered downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like Listerine. Her mom was standing there with a melon baller in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a hoot.
"Hi Mommy!" Ethel replied clumsily. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the refried beans," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra salmon. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Ethel replied fiercely. "Do we have the succotash ready?"
"I'm going to wait until nine o'clock to start that," her mother replied doubtfully. "It only has to steam for twenty-five minutes."
"Okay," Ethel replied tearfully. "I'm gonna go to the kitchen."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some scrambled eggs in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the kitchen 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," Ethel responded, as she sat down to her scrambled eggs. "Let's hang lots of crimson balloons and cover the dining table and the piano with indigo crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother deftly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Alisa Bratt. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a pair of chopsticks."
"Woof," Ethel responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a snuffle. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."