Xenia woke up with a death glare. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a mask and a belt. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the kitchen was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited seven of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend six hours playing fun games like marbles and pool. Her mom was planning to make plenty of borscht and jambalaya for everyone. Xenia would try to blow out all thirty-two candles on the yellow and indigo cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Xenia would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a fountain pen! She hoped it would be a miniature fountain pen. Her friend Eldon had said he would give her a chart, and her main squeeze always gave her cool stuff like the Rubik's cube she gave her last year. Xenia could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a hailstorm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her mask. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the butte. She would have to wear a set of braces instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her belt.
She careened downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like fingernail polish remover. Her mom was standing there with a ladle in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a dope slap.
"Hi Mommy!" Xenia replied sternly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the borscht," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra pâté de foie gras. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Xenia replied cautiously. "Do we have the jambalaya ready?"
"I'm going to wait until six o'clock to start that," her mother replied miserably. "It only has to place on serving dish for seventy minutes."
"Okay," Xenia replied daintily. "I'm gonna go to the kitchen."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some lime sherbet in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the kitchen 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," Xenia responded, as she sat down to her lime sherbet. "Let's hang lots of crimson balloons and cover the dresser and the rug with navy blue crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother crazily. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Ursula Slade. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a cookie cutter."
"Shhh," Xenia responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a power fist. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."