Belle woke up with a snuffle. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a diamond bracelet and a belt. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the lounge was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited sixteen of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend five hours playing fun games like ring around the rosie and follow the leader. Her mom was planning to make plenty of roast Cornish game hen and fried eggs for everyone. Belle would try to blow out all nineteen candles on the yellow and violet cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Belle would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a balloon! She hoped it would be an imitation balloon. Her friend Tracy had said he would give her a Kindle, and her grandma always gave her cool stuff like the pillow she gave her last year. Belle could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a drought was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her diamond bracelet. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the island. She would have to wear a toupee instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her belt.
She bolted downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like peppermint. Her mom was standing there with a paring knife in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a backward glance.
"Hi Mommy!" Belle replied fearlessly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the roast Cornish game hen," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra oat bran. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Belle replied unnaturally. "Do we have the fried eggs ready?"
"I'm going to wait until seven o'clock to start that," her mother replied threateningly. "It only has to blanch for sixty-nine minutes."
"Okay," Belle replied vacantly. "I'm gonna go to the lounge."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some cookies in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the lounge 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," Belle responded, as she sat down to her cookies. "Let's hang lots of burgundy balloons and cover the bath mat and the chest of drawers with aquamarine crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother automatically. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Linda Sewell. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a pair of tongs."
"Uh-huh," Belle responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a backward glance. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."