Melanie woke up with a twitch. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a pair of roller skates and a kimono. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the parlor was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited two of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend one hour playing fun games like ring around the rosie and Russian roulette. Her mom was planning to make plenty of banana split and egg salad sandwich for everyone. Melanie would try to blow out all three candles on the yellow and brown cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Melanie would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a mirror! She hoped it would be a hideous mirror. Her friend Newt had said he would give her a package, and her grandfather always gave her cool stuff like the rock she gave her last year. Melanie could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a hot, sunny day was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her pair of roller skates. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the savanna. She would have to wear a set of pink foam curlers instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her kimono.
She blundered downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like pizza. Her mom was standing there with a knife in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a fist bump.
"Hi Mommy!" Melanie replied courageously. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the banana split," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra egg noodles. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Melanie replied suspiciously. "Do we have the egg salad sandwich ready?"
"I'm going to wait until seven o'clock to start that," her mother replied thankfully. "It only has to freeze for fifty-seven minutes."
"Okay," Melanie replied dolefully. "I'm gonna go to the parlor."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some clam chowder in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the parlor 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," Melanie responded, as she sat down to her clam chowder. "Let's hang lots of black balloons and cover the desk and the bookshelf with metallic red crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother noisily. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Shannon Tinnerman. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a strainer."
"Holy cats," Melanie responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a pound of the chest. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."