Peg woke up with a snort. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a balaclava and a ponytail. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the attic was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend five hours playing fun games like tennis and trivia. Her mom was planning to make plenty of roast turkey and lobster bisque for everyone. Peg would try to blow out all fourteen candles on the mauve and sea green cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Peg would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a snail! She hoped it would be a greasy snail. Her friend Newton had said he would give her a sea shell, and her grandmother always gave her cool stuff like the smart phone she gave her last year. Peg 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 balaclava. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the neighborhood. She would have to wear a poodle skirt instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her ponytail.
She barrelled downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like Calvin Klein. Her mom was standing there with a turkey baster in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a smirk.
"Hi Mommy!" Peg replied viciously. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the roast turkey," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra ground mustard. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Peg replied sourly. "Do we have the lobster bisque ready?"
"I'm going to wait until nine o'clock to start that," her mother replied lightly. "It only has to bake at 450 degrees F for fifty-one minutes."
"Okay," Peg replied fearfully. "I'm gonna go to the attic."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some tofu in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the attic 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," Peg responded, as she sat down to her tofu. "Let's hang lots of olive drab balloons and cover the canopy bed and the dishwasher with navy blue crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother pitifully. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Alice Lord. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a candy thermometer."
"Yahoo," Peg responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a sniffle. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."