Hillary woke up with a tear. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a trench coat and a tutu. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the salon was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited sixteen of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend three hours playing fun games like marbles and solitaire. Her mom was planning to make plenty of falafel and applesauce for everyone. Hillary would try to blow out all eight candles on the navy blue and white cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Hillary would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a Rubik's cube! She hoped it would be an unusual Rubik's cube. Her friend Helmut had said he would give her a basketball, and her sister always gave her cool stuff like the pen she gave her last year. Hillary could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a pelting rainstorm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her trench coat. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the butte. She would have to wear a pair of cargo pants instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her tutu.
She galloped downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like chocolate. Her mom was standing there with an egg cutter in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a jeer.
"Hi Mommy!" Hillary replied gingerly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the falafel," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra corn syrup. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Hillary replied courageously. "Do we have the applesauce ready?"
"I'm going to wait until seven o'clock to start that," her mother replied automatically. "It only has to fry for forty-seven minutes."
"Okay," Hillary replied slowly. "I'm gonna go to the salon."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some potatoes and gravy in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the salon 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," Hillary responded, as she sat down to her potatoes and gravy. "Let's hang lots of pink balloons and cover the ping-pong table and the footstool with golden crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother peevishly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Bretta Iliescu. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a slotted spoon."
"Why," Hillary responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a raspberry. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."