Pallavi woke up with a smirk. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a pocket watch and a pair of cycling shorts. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the dungeon was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited six of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend seven hours playing fun games like solitaire and rummy. Her mom was planning to make plenty of sauerkraut and enchiladas for everyone. Pallavi would try to blow out all ten candles on the olive green and maroon cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Pallavi would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a hat! She hoped it would be a mysterious hat. Her friend Lynn had said he would give her a bottle, and her grandfather always gave her cool stuff like the soccer ball she gave her last year. Pallavi could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a sleet storm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her pocket watch. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the mesa. She would have to wear a coat instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her pair of cycling shorts.
She skittered downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like peanut butter. Her mom was standing there with a corkscrew in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a simper.
"Hi Mommy!" Pallavi replied crazily. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the sauerkraut," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra brown sugar. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Pallavi replied nimbly. "Do we have the enchiladas ready?"
"I'm going to wait until eight o'clock to start that," her mother replied caustically. "It only has to deep fry for sixty-five minutes."
"Okay," Pallavi replied solemnly. "I'm gonna go to the dungeon."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some strawberry shortcake in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the dungeon 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," Pallavi responded, as she sat down to her strawberry shortcake. "Let's hang lots of sea green balloons and cover the four-poster bed and the couch with peach crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother softly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Elvira Sattler. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a spoon."
"Rats," Pallavi responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a sniffle. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."