Elsie woke up with a hug. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a jumper and a nose ring. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the hall was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-two of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend seven hours playing fun games like checkers and volleyball. Her mom was planning to make plenty of cornbread and pumpkin pie for everyone. Elsie would try to blow out all nineteen candles on the forest green and salmon cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Elsie would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a bottle of painkillers! She hoped it would be a papery bottle of painkillers. Her friend Christopher had said he would give her a cage, and her grandma always gave her cool stuff like the doily she gave her last year. Elsie could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a hot, sunny day was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her jumper. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the forest. She would have to wear a rain coat instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her nose ring.
She swaggered downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like a chocolate factory. Her mom was standing there with an egg cutter in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a woof.
"Hi Mommy!" Elsie replied pitifully. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the cornbread," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra red lentils. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Elsie replied reluctantly. "Do we have the pumpkin pie ready?"
"I'm going to wait until four o'clock to start that," her mother replied sadly. "It only has to heat in microwave for nineteen minutes."
"Okay," Elsie replied arrogantly. "I'm gonna go to the hall."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some roast Cornish game hen in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the hall 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," Elsie responded, as she sat down to her roast Cornish game hen. "Let's hang lots of yellow balloons and cover the nightstand and the armoire with lavender crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother tensely. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Antonia Delgado. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a napkin."
"Now we're talking," Elsie responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a face palm. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."