Gloria woke up with a growl. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a sport coat and a pair of bloomers. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the corridor was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited six of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend four hours playing fun games like Scrabble and billiards. Her mom was planning to make plenty of borscht and lime sherbet for everyone. Gloria would try to blow out all thirty candles on the striped and teal cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Gloria would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a fish! She hoped it would be a hefty fish. Her friend Gavin had said he would give her a coat hanger, and her mother always gave her cool stuff like the pom-pom she gave her last year. Gloria could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a blizzard was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her sport coat. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the beach. She would have to wear a coat instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her pair of bloomers.
She bounced downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like a candle shop. Her mom was standing there with a cheesecloth in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a raspberry.
"Hi Mommy!" Gloria replied obediently. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the borscht," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra green chiles. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Gloria replied sympathetically. "Do we have the lime sherbet ready?"
"I'm going to wait until seven o'clock to start that," her mother replied boisterously. "It only has to slow cook for forty-five minutes."
"Okay," Gloria replied nicely. "I'm gonna go to the corridor."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some French fries in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the corridor 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," Gloria responded, as she sat down to her French fries. "Let's hang lots of tan balloons and cover the TV and the file cabinet with black crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother gruffly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Susanne Peterson. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a sharp knife."
"Yes," Gloria responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a hiccup. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."