Kim woke up with a glare. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a mask and a jerkin. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the library was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited two of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend five hours playing fun games like tag and Parcheesi. Her mom was planning to make plenty of pizza and tofu for everyone. Kim would try to blow out all four candles on the sparkly and chocolate brown cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Kim would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a ticket! She hoped it would be a crusty ticket. Her friend Jake had said he would give her a suitcase, and her girlfriend always gave her cool stuff like the whistle she gave her last year. Kim could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a flood was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her mask. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the wasteland. She would have to wear a gorilla suit instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her jerkin.
She galloped downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like a pot of stew. Her mom was standing there with an oven mitt in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a stiff upper lip.
"Hi Mommy!" Kim replied deliberately. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the pizza," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra garlic powder. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Kim replied merrily. "Do we have the tofu ready?"
"I'm going to wait until seven o'clock to start that," her mother replied flightily. "It only has to spread into container for sixty-eight minutes."
"Okay," Kim replied diligently. "I'm gonna go to the library."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some crumb cake in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the library 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," Kim responded, as she sat down to her crumb cake. "Let's hang lots of green balloons and cover the fainting couch and the computer with mauve crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother grudgingly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Iggy Byers. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a candy thermometer."
"I think not," Kim 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."