Ada Belle woke up with a blush. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a class ring and a sarong. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the library was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited three of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend eight hours playing fun games like Snakes and Ladders and red light green light. Her mom was planning to make plenty of chicken soup and cotton candy for everyone. Ada Belle would try to blow out all four candles on the crimson and striped cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Ada Belle would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a pizza! She hoped it would be a huge pizza. Her friend Cyrus had said he would give her a notebook, and her friend always gave her cool stuff like the telephone book she gave her last year. Ada Belle could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a drizzle was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her class ring. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the outback. She would have to wear a set of dentures instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her sarong.
She galumphed downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like an outhouse. Her mom was standing there with a meat tenderizer in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a sneer.
"Hi Mommy!" Ada Belle replied clumsily. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the chicken soup," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra bananas. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Ada Belle replied steadily. "Do we have the cotton candy ready?"
"I'm going to wait until six o'clock to start that," her mother replied ruefully. "It only has to mix carelessly for eighty-seven minutes."
"Okay," Ada Belle replied valiantly. "I'm gonna go to the library."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some pizza 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," Ada Belle responded, as she sat down to her pizza. "Let's hang lots of indigo balloons and cover the hammock and the hatstand with turquoise crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother curiously. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Julieann Suskind. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has an ice pick."
"Hang it," Ada Belle responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a cackle. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."