Olive woke up with a wink. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in an overcoat and an evening gown. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the laundry room was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited six of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend one hour playing fun games like golf and hide and seek. Her mom was planning to make plenty of pot roast and roast beef for everyone. Olive would try to blow out all two candles on the emerald green and scarlet cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Olive would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a bowl! She hoped it would be a gigantic bowl. Her friend Cecil had said he would give her a magazine, and her mommy always gave her cool stuff like the sponge she gave her last year. Olive could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a blanket of mist was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her overcoat. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the briar patch. She would have to wear a bracelet instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her evening gown.
She trotted downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like turpentine. Her mom was standing there with a wooden spoon in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a bow.
"Hi Mommy!" Olive replied miserably. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the pot roast," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra red lentils. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Olive replied haughtily. "Do we have the roast beef ready?"
"I'm going to wait until seven o'clock to start that," her mother replied uselessly. "It only has to spoon into container for three minutes."
"Okay," Olive replied boldly. "I'm gonna go to the laundry room."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some tacos 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," Olive responded, as she sat down to her tacos. "Let's hang lots of navy blue balloons and cover the buffet and the cash register with purple crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother suspiciously. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Brenda Smith. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a bare foot."
"Durn," Olive responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a wrinkled nose. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."