Marcy woke up with a flutter. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a vest and a wig. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the auditorium was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-nine of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend one hour playing fun games like billiards and hearts. Her mom was planning to make plenty of macaroni and bread and butter for everyone. Marcy would try to blow out all twenty-five candles on the navy blue and magenta cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Marcy would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a bottle! She hoped it would be a mysterious bottle. Her friend Cyrus had said he would give her a toothbrush, and her wife always gave her cool stuff like the package she gave her last year. Marcy could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a period of warm weather was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her vest. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the lakeside. She would have to wear a pair of UGGs instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her wig.
She lurched downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like rain. Her mom was standing there with a paring knife in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a snicker.
"Hi Mommy!" Marcy replied breathlessly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the macaroni," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra basil. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Marcy replied uneasily. "Do we have the bread and butter ready?"
"I'm going to wait until ten o'clock to start that," her mother replied dolefully. "It only has to refrigerate overnight for forty-eight minutes."
"Okay," Marcy replied lightly. "I'm gonna go to the auditorium."
"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 auditorium 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," Marcy responded, as she sat down to her fried eggs. "Let's hang lots of pea green balloons and cover the futon and the wooden crate with hot pink crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother vacantly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Carrie Hartley. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a cookie cutter."
"I'm so sure," Marcy responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a growl. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."