Ruby woke up with a curtsey. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a fez and a hearing aid. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the study was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited thirteen of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend one hour playing fun games like marbles and poker. Her mom was planning to make plenty of chicken gumbo and beans for everyone. Ruby would try to blow out all twenty-seven candles on the green and metallic red cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Ruby would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a statue! She hoped it would be a thick statue. Her friend Lester had said he would give her a fishing rod, and her wife always gave her cool stuff like the tablet computer she gave her last year. Ruby 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 fez. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the mountain. She would have to wear an overcoat instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her hearing aid.
She bolted downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like cheese. Her mom was standing there with a Sham-Wow! in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a roar.
"Hi Mommy!" Ruby replied busily. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the chicken gumbo," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra salmon filets. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Ruby replied truculently. "Do we have the beans ready?"
"I'm going to wait until three o'clock to start that," her mother replied woefully. "It only has to mix queerly for twenty-nine minutes."
"Okay," Ruby replied deliberately. "I'm gonna go to the study."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some candy in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the study 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," Ruby responded, as she sat down to her candy. "Let's hang lots of striped balloons and cover the washstand and the filing cabinet with salmon crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother automatically. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Cassandra Hart. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a cheesecloth."
"Wild," Ruby responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a gurgle. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."