Mopsy woke up with a chortle. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a jacket and a moustache. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the conservatory was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited ten of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend three hours playing fun games like battleship and red light green light. Her dad was planning to make plenty of blueberry pie and Cheerios for everyone. Mopsy would try to blow out all two candles on the pink and white cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Mopsy would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a Helmholz resonator! She hoped it would be a tiny Helmholz resonator. Her friend Elise had said she would give her a peace pipe, and her cousin always gave her cool stuff like the Van Gogh she gave her last year. Mopsy could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a pelting rainstorm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her jacket. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the swamp. She would have to wear a stovepipe hat instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her moustache.
She galloped downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like gasoline. Her dad was standing there with a potato masher in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a coo.
"Hi Daddy!" Mopsy replied innocently. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the blueberry pie," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra powdered milk. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Mopsy replied cheerfully. "Do we have the Cheerios ready?"
"I'm going to wait until eleven o'clock to start that," her father replied defiantly. "It only has to spoon into container for seventy-five minutes."
"Okay," Mopsy replied elatedly. "I'm gonna go to the conservatory."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some egg salad sandwich in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the conservatory first?" she begged.
"It looks just like it always does," her father replied. "Remember, I'm depending on you to help with the decorating."
"Oh yeah," Mopsy responded, as she sat down to her egg salad sandwich. "Let's hang lots of olive drab balloons and cover the credenza and the hatstand with hot pink crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father steadily. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Hallie Gilmore. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a slotted spoon."
"Swell," Mopsy responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a grin. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."