Madeline woke up with a stiff upper lip. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a belly button jewel and a nightgown. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the hall was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-one of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend two hours playing fun games like marbles and hopscotch. Her mom was planning to make plenty of smoked salmon and ramen noodles for everyone. Madeline would try to blow out all five candles on the green and salmon cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Madeline would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain an egg shell! She hoped it would be a thick egg shell. Her friend Arnold had said he would give her an iPad, and her friend always gave her cool stuff like the pain pill she gave her last year. Madeline 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 belly button jewel. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the neighborhood. She would have to wear a hoodie instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her nightgown.
She skittered downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like peanuts. Her mom was standing there with a corkscrew in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a snort.
"Hi Mommy!" Madeline replied carefully. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the smoked salmon," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra dill pickles. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Madeline replied smoothly. "Do we have the ramen noodles ready?"
"I'm going to wait until four o'clock to start that," her mother replied pitifully. "It only has to microwave for eleven minutes."
"Okay," Madeline replied uselessly. "I'm gonna go to the hall."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some burritos in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the hall 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," Madeline responded, as she sat down to her burritos. "Let's hang lots of turquoise balloons and cover the stool and the footstool with jade crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother gleefully. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Babs Portwine. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a slotted spoon."
"Good golly," Madeline responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a hug. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."