Molly 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 set of pink foam curlers and a beanie. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the master bathroom was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited five of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend eight hours playing fun games like jacks and poker. Her mom was planning to make plenty of pizza and catfish stew for everyone. Molly would try to blow out all nineteen candles on the olive drab and ivory cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Molly would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a diamond! She hoped it would be a dirty diamond. Her friend Horace had said he would give her a crutch, and her fiancée always gave her cool stuff like the whoopee cushion she gave her last year. Molly could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a pall of doom was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her set of pink foam curlers. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the savanna. She would have to wear a pair of safety glasses instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her beanie.
She capered downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like hot cocoa. Her mom was standing there with a meat thermometer in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a guffaw.
"Hi Mommy!" Molly replied elatedly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the pizza," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra heavy cream. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Molly replied uneasily. "Do we have the catfish stew ready?"
"I'm going to wait until ten o'clock to start that," her mother replied arrogantly. "It only has to sear outside for thirteen minutes."
"Okay," Molly replied flightily. "I'm gonna go to the master bathroom."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some fried eggs 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," Molly responded, as she sat down to her fried eggs. "Let's hang lots of polka dotted balloons and cover the chest of drawers and the recliner with burgundy crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother frantically. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Bonita Greenwood. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a cookie cutter."
"Righto," Molly responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a wrinkled nose. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."