Mindy woke up with a sigh. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a body shirt and a name tag. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the laundry room was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited ten of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend one hour playing fun games like badminton and Snakes and Ladders. Her mom was planning to make plenty of roast Cornish game hen and ravioli for everyone. Mindy would try to blow out all twelve candles on the rose and forest green cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Mindy would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a crate! She hoped it would be a dry crate. Her friend Britt had said he would give her a joint, and her mother-in-law always gave her cool stuff like the microphone she gave her last year. Mindy could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a downpour was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her body shirt. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the butte. She would have to wear a beanie instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her name tag.
She lurched downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like hot cocoa. Her mom was standing there with an electric mixer in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a wink.
"Hi Mommy!" Mindy replied vacantly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the roast Cornish game hen," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra bread crumbs. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Mindy replied mysteriously. "Do we have the ravioli ready?"
"I'm going to wait until eleven o'clock to start that," her mother replied fiercely. "It only has to sear for eighteen minutes."
"Okay," Mindy replied arrogantly. "I'm gonna go to the laundry room."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some cotton candy in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the laundry room 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," Mindy responded, as she sat down to her cotton candy. "Let's hang lots of silver balloons and cover the coat rack and the settee with chocolate brown crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother elatedly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Alicia Dupont. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a slotted spoon."
"Godspeed," Mindy responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a pucker. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."