Shandra woke up with a sneeze. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a headscarf and a flour sack. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the master bathroom was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited eight of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend seven hours playing fun games like hide and seek and Simon Says. Her mom was planning to make plenty of prune pudding and Froot Loops for everyone. Shandra would try to blow out all thirty-two candles on the pink and aquamarine cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Shandra would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a hot potato! She hoped it would be a hefty hot potato. Her friend Muerto had said he would give her a banana, and her fiancée always gave her cool stuff like the accordion she gave her last year. Shandra could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a humid day was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her headscarf. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the peninsula. She would have to wear a pair of dungarees instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her flour sack.
She slipped downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like an ashtray. Her mom was standing there with a basting brush in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a chortle.
"Hi Mommy!" Shandra replied tearfully. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the prune pudding," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra sesame seeds. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Shandra replied valiantly. "Do we have the Froot Loops ready?"
"I'm going to wait until twelve o'clock to start that," her mother replied suddenly. "It only has to place on serving dish for sixty-one minutes."
"Okay," Shandra replied offhandedly. "I'm gonna go to the master bathroom."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some strawberry shortcake 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," Shandra responded, as she sat down to her strawberry shortcake. "Let's hang lots of navy blue balloons and cover the computer and the casket with jade crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother furiously. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Gertrude Pope. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a potato peeler."
"Roger that," Shandra responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a snicker. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."