Sydmo woke up with a chuckle. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a straitjacket and a cape. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the game room was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited nineteen of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend four hours playing fun games like seven-up and jacks. Her mom was planning to make plenty of cabbage and roast Cornish game hen for everyone. Sydmo would try to blow out all twenty-five candles on the turquoise and emerald green cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Sydmo would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a yardstick! She hoped it would be a queer yardstick. Her friend Mikey had said he would give her a grease gun, and her girlfriend always gave her cool stuff like the ironing board she gave her last year. Sydmo could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a thunderstorm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her straitjacket. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the plain. She would have to wear an apron instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her cape.
She sped downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like mango. Her mom was standing there with a cookie cutter in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a snarl.
"Hi Mommy!" Sydmo replied daringly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the cabbage," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra lemon zest. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Sydmo replied softly. "Do we have the roast Cornish game hen ready?"
"I'm going to wait until seven o'clock to start that," her mother replied strictly. "It only has to heat for twenty-seven minutes."
"Okay," Sydmo replied wryly. "I'm gonna go to the game room."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some tuna casserole in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the game room 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," Sydmo responded, as she sat down to her tuna casserole. "Let's hang lots of carrot-orange balloons and cover the nightstand and the cash register with yellow crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother coolly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Ling King. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a napkin."
"Poppycock," Sydmo responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a twitch. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."