Hilda woke up with a shout. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a sarong and a tie. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the solarium was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited thirty of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend three hours playing fun games like Russian roulette and checkers. Her mom was planning to make plenty of bread and butter and sauerkraut for everyone. Hilda would try to blow out all seventeen candles on the amber and green cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Hilda would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a contract! She hoped it would be a valuable contract. Her friend René had said he would give her a stopwatch, and her mother always gave her cool stuff like the pair of knitting needles she gave her last year. Hilda could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a typhoon was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her sarong. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the garden. She would have to wear a smartwatch instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her tie.
She scooted downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like cigar smoke. Her mom was standing there with a dish cloth in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a wince.
"Hi Mommy!" Hilda replied clumsily. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the bread and butter," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra pistachios. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Hilda replied shakily. "Do we have the sauerkraut ready?"
"I'm going to wait until eight o'clock to start that," her mother replied effortlessly. "It only has to heat in microwave for twenty-one minutes."
"Okay," Hilda replied openly. "I'm gonna go to the solarium."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some tortillas in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the solarium 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," Hilda responded, as she sat down to her tortillas. "Let's hang lots of mauve balloons and cover the piano and the display case with emerald green crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother effortlessly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Beulah Franz. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has an ice pick."
"Blaak," Hilda responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a wrinkled nose. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."