Jessi woke up with a bound. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a pair of socks and a burqa. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the master bedroom was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-five of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend seven hours playing fun games like backgammon and Monopoly. Her mom was planning to make plenty of wienerschnitzel and ceviche for everyone. Jessi would try to blow out all twenty-seven candles on the aqua and lavender cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Jessi would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a feather duster! She hoped it would be an ornate feather duster. Her friend Albert had said he would give her a ball, and her mommy always gave her cool stuff like the paperweight she gave her last year. Jessi could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a sleet storm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her pair of socks. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the veld. She would have to wear a pair of tights instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her burqa.
She sneaked downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like lemons. Her mom was standing there with a pair of tongs in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a coo.
"Hi Mommy!" Jessi replied nimbly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the wienerschnitzel," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra fresh peaches. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Jessi replied boisterously. "Do we have the ceviche ready?"
"I'm going to wait until six o'clock to start that," her mother replied happily. "It only has to braise for thirty-three minutes."
"Okay," Jessi replied patiently. "I'm gonna go to the master bedroom."
"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 master bedroom 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," Jessi responded, as she sat down to her beans. "Let's hang lots of metallic red balloons and cover the cash register and the china cabinet with navy blue crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother swiftly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Gloria de Leon. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a Sham-Wow!."
"Drat," Jessi responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a smack. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."