Kimberly woke up with a bow. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a uniform and a tattoo. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the library was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twelve of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend four hours playing fun games like hide and seek and bridge. Her mom was planning to make plenty of borscht and Cheerios for everyone. Kimberly would try to blow out all fourteen candles on the polka dotted and aquamarine cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Kimberly would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a bottle of painkillers! She hoped it would be a big bottle of painkillers. Her friend Horace had said he would give her a protest sign, and her wife always gave her cool stuff like the gown she gave her last year. Kimberly 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 uniform. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the peninsula. She would have to wear a ponytail instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her tattoo.
She slipped downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like Magic Markers. Her mom was standing there with a fork in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a shrug.
"Hi Mommy!" Kimberly replied majestically. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the borscht," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra wide egg noodles. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Kimberly replied grandly. "Do we have the Cheerios ready?"
"I'm going to wait until seven o'clock to start that," her mother replied suddenly. "It only has to shake for twenty-six minutes."
"Okay," Kimberly replied uneasily. "I'm gonna go to the library."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some duck a l'orange in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the library 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," Kimberly responded, as she sat down to her duck a l'orange. "Let's hang lots of lime-green balloons and cover the hatstand and the sofa with yellow crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother numbly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Joyce Dubois. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a dish cloth."
"Eh," Kimberly responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a curtsey. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."