Marjorie woke up with a wink. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a tarboosh and a hoodie. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the kitchen was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-one of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend one hour playing fun games like follow the leader and red rover. Her mom was planning to make plenty of succotash and cornbread for everyone. Marjorie would try to blow out all thirteen candles on the peach and grey cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Marjorie would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a muffin! She hoped it would be a multicolored muffin. Her friend Anders had said he would give her a candy bar, and her cousin always gave her cool stuff like the toilet plunger she gave her last year. Marjorie could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a sandstorm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her tarboosh. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the hillside. She would have to wear a pair of handcuffs instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her hoodie.
She capered downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like cookies. Her mom was standing there with a candy thermometer in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a flush.
"Hi Mommy!" Marjorie replied vigorously. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the succotash," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra vegetable broth. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Marjorie replied immediately. "Do we have the cornbread ready?"
"I'm going to wait until ten o'clock to start that," her mother replied speedily. "It only has to smoke for seventy-six minutes."
"Okay," Marjorie replied menacingly. "I'm gonna go to the kitchen."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some Swiss cheese in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the kitchen 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," Marjorie responded, as she sat down to her Swiss cheese. "Let's hang lots of salmon balloons and cover the wooden crate and the futon with camouflage crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother testily. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Betsy Benson. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has an electric paint mixer."
"Zap," Marjorie responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a laugh. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."