Rosa woke up with a grin. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a headband and a diamond necklace. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the master bathroom was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-four of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend seven hours playing fun games like trivia and red light green light. Her mom was planning to make plenty of roast Cornish game hen and cherries jubilee for everyone. Rosa would try to blow out all twenty-two candles on the chartreuse and periwinkle cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Rosa would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a baseball! She hoped it would be a hollow baseball. Her friend Charles had said he would give her a fish, and her mother always gave her cool stuff like the paper towel she gave her last year. Rosa could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a dense fog was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her headband. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the savanna. She would have to wear a party hat instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her diamond necklace.
She staggered downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like new mown hay. Her mom was standing there with a pair of chopsticks in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a hoot.
"Hi Mommy!" Rosa replied glumly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the roast Cornish game hen," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra orange peel. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Rosa replied numbly. "Do we have the cherries jubilee ready?"
"I'm going to wait until one o'clock to start that," her mother replied jokingly. "It only has to heat in microwave for sixty-six minutes."
"Okay," Rosa replied elatedly. "I'm gonna go to the master bathroom."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some pecan pie in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the master bathroom 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," Rosa responded, as she sat down to her pecan pie. "Let's hang lots of beige balloons and cover the counter and the cash register with yellow crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother grimly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Elinor Hanson. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has an oven mitt."
"Good grief," Rosa responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a laugh. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."