Bretta woke up with a pound of the chest. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a pair of bell-bottoms and a Speedo. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the basement was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-four of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend six hours playing fun games like baseball and Simon Says. Her mom was planning to make plenty of applesauce and hash for everyone. Bretta would try to blow out all thirty-three candles on the pink and salmon cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Bretta would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a bag of groceries! She hoped it would be a well worn bag of groceries. Her friend Bart had said he would give her a diary, and her mother-in-law always gave her cool stuff like the stick she gave her last year. Bretta could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a typhoon was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her pair of bell-bottoms. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the trail. She would have to wear a garland instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her Speedo.
She slipped downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like leather. Her mom was standing there with a pair of tongs in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with an evil eye.
"Hi Mommy!" Bretta replied suddenly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the applesauce," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra bananas. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Bretta replied curiously. "Do we have the hash ready?"
"I'm going to wait until four o'clock to start that," her mother replied haughtily. "It only has to boil for fourteen minutes."
"Okay," Bretta replied blissfully. "I'm gonna go to the basement."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some tacos in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the basement 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," Bretta responded, as she sat down to her tacos. "Let's hang lots of yellow balloons and cover the hatstand and the bath mat with fuchsia crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother tenderly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Isabella Tillerman. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a meat thermometer."
"Really," Bretta responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a bow. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."