Edie woke up with a wag of the finger. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a raincoat and a fez. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the dining room was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited one of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend four hours playing fun games like trivia and Monopoly. Her mom was planning to make plenty of applesauce and tuna casserole for everyone. Edie would try to blow out all thirty-three candles on the jade and beige cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Edie would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a pack of gum! She hoped it would be a damaged pack of gum. Her friend Allan had said he would give her a candy cane, and her sister-in-law always gave her cool stuff like the baseball bat she gave her last year. Edie could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a windstorm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her raincoat. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the veld. She would have to wear a dog collar instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her fez.
She breezed downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like vanilla. Her mom was standing there with a basting brush in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a grin.
"Hi Mommy!" Edie replied tenderly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the applesauce," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra shrimp. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Edie replied unabashedly. "Do we have the tuna casserole ready?"
"I'm going to wait until two o'clock to start that," her mother replied sheepishly. "It only has to sear outside for nine minutes."
"Okay," Edie replied nicely. "I'm gonna go to the dining room."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some Froot Loops in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the dining room 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," Edie responded, as she sat down to her Froot Loops. "Let's hang lots of ivory balloons and cover the pool table and the stairway with silver crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother suddenly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Roberta Boodler. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a turkey baster."
"Ssss," Edie responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a snuffle. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."