Samantha 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 false eyelashes and a pacifier. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the dining room was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited eleven of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend one hour playing fun games like Candy Land and tennis. Her mom was planning to make plenty of tuna casserole and ice cream for everyone. Samantha would try to blow out all twenty-three candles on the polka dotted and sparkly cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Samantha would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a baseball bat! She hoped it would be a dusty baseball bat. Her friend Lonnie had said he would give her a balloon, and her dad always gave her cool stuff like the potato she gave her last year. Samantha could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a gale was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her pair of false eyelashes. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the cornfield. She would have to wear a bow tie instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her pacifier.
She struggled downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like wood. Her mom was standing there with an ice pick in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a smirk.
"Hi Mommy!" Samantha replied steadily. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the tuna casserole," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra kiwis, peeled and sliced. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Samantha replied viciously. "Do we have the ice cream ready?"
"I'm going to wait until three o'clock to start that," her mother replied confidently. "It only has to steam for ninety minutes."
"Okay," Samantha replied carefully. "I'm gonna go to the dining room."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some clam chowder in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the dining 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," Samantha responded, as she sat down to her clam chowder. "Let's hang lots of black balloons and cover the crib and the sofa with terra cotta crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother deftly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Vivian Sandhu. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a dull knife."
"I beg your pardon," Samantha responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a giggle. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."