Sadie woke up with a jeer. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a poncho and a tunic. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the servant's quarters was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited six of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend one hour playing fun games like backgammon and charades. Her mom was planning to make plenty of Froot Loops and burritos for everyone. Sadie would try to blow out all twenty-seven candles on the olive drab and silver cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Sadie would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a telephone book! She hoped it would be a ruined telephone book. Her friend Lex had said he would give her a piece of chalk, and her mother always gave her cool stuff like the wedding dress she gave her last year. Sadie could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a bit of precipitation was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her poncho. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the gulch. She would have to wear a set of football pads instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her tunic.
She loped downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like perfume. Her mom was standing there with a ladle in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a sneer.
"Hi Mommy!" Sadie replied intensely. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the Froot Loops," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra mint leaves. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Sadie replied happily. "Do we have the burritos ready?"
"I'm going to wait until five o'clock to start that," her mother replied quietly. "It only has to broil for seventy-two minutes."
"Okay," Sadie replied hopelessly. "I'm gonna go to the servant's quarters."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some fried eggs in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the servant's quarters 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," Sadie responded, as she sat down to her fried eggs. "Let's hang lots of jet black balloons and cover the coffee table and the pool table with polka dotted crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother properly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Fifi King. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a knife."
"Rooster feathers," Sadie responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a wince. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."