Gladys woke up with a giggle. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a bustier and a flak jacket. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the patio was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited nineteen of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend eight hours playing fun games like badminton and treasure hunt. Her mom was planning to make plenty of chicken pot pie and pretzels for everyone. Gladys would try to blow out all thirty-two candles on the black and aquamarine cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Gladys would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a knitting needle! She hoped it would be a queer knitting needle. Her friend Jerry had said he would give her a pail, and her mother-in-law always gave her cool stuff like the pair of knitting needles she gave her last year. Gladys could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a blanket of mist was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her bustier. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the seashore. She would have to wear a ring instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her flak jacket.
She ambled downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like mountain air. Her mom was standing there with a cookie cutter in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a honk.
"Hi Mommy!" Gladys replied primly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the chicken pot pie," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra pretzels. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Gladys replied warily. "Do we have the pretzels ready?"
"I'm going to wait until twelve o'clock to start that," her mother replied majestically. "It only has to marinate for twelve minutes."
"Okay," Gladys replied resignedly. "I'm gonna go to the patio."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some ravioli in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the patio 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," Gladys responded, as she sat down to her ravioli. "Let's hang lots of magenta balloons and cover the hatstand and the safe with hot pink crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother grimly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Audrey Albrandt. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a basting brush."
"Blaak," Gladys responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a wag of the finger. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."