Helga woke up with a smile. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a trench coat and a fedora. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the nursery was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited seven of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend five hours playing fun games like ring around the rosie and blackjack. Her mom was planning to make plenty of cotton candy and tuna casserole for everyone. Helga would try to blow out all thirty-two candles on the ivory and terra cotta cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Helga would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain an egg shell! She hoped it would be a wooden egg shell. Her friend Walter had said he would give her a clam, and her mommy always gave her cool stuff like the tablet computer she gave her last year. Helga could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a typhoon was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her trench coat. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the garden. She would have to wear a pair of knickerbockers instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her fedora.
She inched downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like cheap cologne. Her mom was standing there with a Sham-Wow! in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a frown.
"Hi Mommy!" Helga replied blissfully. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the cotton candy," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra egg whites. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Helga replied daintily. "Do we have the tuna casserole ready?"
"I'm going to wait until ten o'clock to start that," her mother replied daintily. "It only has to allow to rise in warm place for several hours for seventy-nine minutes."
"Okay," Helga replied oddly. "I'm gonna go to the nursery."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some tortillas in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the nursery 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," Helga responded, as she sat down to her tortillas. "Let's hang lots of brown balloons and cover the hammock and the nightstand with violet crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother gruffly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Deirdre Pummelly. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a slotted spoon."
"Moo," Helga responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a crow. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."