Peggy woke up with a power fist. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a dunce cap and a pair of culottes. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the servant's quarters was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited one of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend five hours playing fun games like volleyball and badminton. Her mom was planning to make plenty of shrimp and beef bouillon for everyone. Peggy would try to blow out all twenty-three candles on the jade and lime-green cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Peggy would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a candle! She hoped it would be a woven candle. Her friend Nicholas had said he would give her a water bottle, and her cousin always gave her cool stuff like the hacksaw she gave her last year. Peggy 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 dunce cap. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the mountain. She would have to wear a necklace instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her pair of culottes.
She slid downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like Revlon. Her mom was standing there with a meat thermometer in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a hiccup.
"Hi Mommy!" Peggy replied solemnly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the shrimp," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra mustard. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Peggy replied ingeniously. "Do we have the beef bouillon ready?"
"I'm going to wait until five o'clock to start that," her mother replied impatiently. "It only has to poach lightly for forty-seven minutes."
"Okay," Peggy replied dolorously. "I'm gonna go to the servant's quarters."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some scrambled 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," Peggy responded, as she sat down to her scrambled eggs. "Let's hang lots of magenta balloons and cover the canopy bed and the piano with azure crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother lazily. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Luann Barducci. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a spatula."
"WTF," Peggy responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a snigger. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."