Helen woke up with a pucker. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a bra and a set of scrubs. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the auditorium was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-four of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend seven hours playing fun games like dominos and golf. Her mom was planning to make plenty of cookies and borscht for everyone. Helen would try to blow out all thirty-two candles on the camouflage and mauve cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Helen would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a can of beer! She hoped it would be a shiny can of beer. Her friend Newt had said he would give her a clarinet, and her girlfriend always gave her cool stuff like the telephone book she gave her last year. Helen could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a thunderstorm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her bra. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the canyon. She would have to wear a belt instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her set of scrubs.
She pranced downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like barbeque. Her mom was standing there with a ladle in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a glare.
"Hi Mommy!" Helen replied sorrowfully. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the cookies," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra chopped pecans. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Helen replied kindly. "Do we have the borscht ready?"
"I'm going to wait until seven o'clock to start that," her mother replied victoriously. "It only has to arrange for twenty-eight minutes."
"Okay," Helen replied lovingly. "I'm gonna go to the auditorium."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some ceviche in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the auditorium 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," Helen responded, as she sat down to her ceviche. "Let's hang lots of ivory balloons and cover the wooden crate and the display case with olive green crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother blissfully. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Cindi Perry. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a food processor."
"Gosh almighty," Helen responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a beam. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."