Hagit woke up with a snuffle. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a visor and a poncho. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the boiler room was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-one of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend seven hours playing fun games like Clue and Simon Says. Her mom was planning to make plenty of strawberry shortcake and tuna casserole for everyone. Hagit would try to blow out all two candles on the forest green and navy blue cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Hagit would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a piece of candy! She hoped it would be a filthy piece of candy. Her friend Vernon had said he would give her a vase, and her mother always gave her cool stuff like the water bottle she gave her last year. Hagit could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a period of warm weather was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her visor. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the briar patch. She would have to wear a vest instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her poncho.
She hopped downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like a beauty salon. Her mom was standing there with a food processor in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a grin.
"Hi Mommy!" Hagit replied speedily. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the strawberry shortcake," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra chili powder. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Hagit replied primly. "Do we have the tuna casserole ready?"
"I'm going to wait until twelve o'clock to start that," her mother replied innocently. "It only has to age for seventy-five minutes."
"Okay," Hagit replied ruefully. "I'm gonna go to the boiler room."
"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 boiler 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," Hagit responded, as she sat down to her lime sherbet. "Let's hang lots of golden balloons and cover the armoire and the hatstand with silver crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother sweetly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Andrea Stetson. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a food processor."
"Retch," Hagit responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a gasp. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."