Pearl woke up with a snort. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a bomber jacket and a pair of cargo pants. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the auditorium was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited ten of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend seven hours playing fun games like marbles and hide and seek. Her mom was planning to make plenty of lobster bisque and squash blossom soup for everyone. Pearl would try to blow out all twenty-one candles on the navy blue and peach cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Pearl would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a fishhook! She hoped it would be a waxy fishhook. Her friend Jim had said he would give her a toilet seat, and her grandma always gave her cool stuff like the mushroom she gave her last year. Pearl could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a pall of doom was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her bomber jacket. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the jungle. She would have to wear a bedsheet instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her pair of cargo pants.
She sallied forth downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like a locker room. Her mom was standing there with a spoon in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a coo.
"Hi Mommy!" Pearl replied delicately. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the lobster bisque," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra cornmeal. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Pearl replied warmly. "Do we have the squash blossom soup ready?"
"I'm going to wait until seven o'clock to start that," her mother replied languidly. "It only has to heat in microwave for twenty-five minutes."
"Okay," Pearl replied tenderly. "I'm gonna go to the auditorium."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some ceviche 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," Pearl responded, as she sat down to her ceviche. "Let's hang lots of striped balloons and cover the display case and the ping-pong table with purple crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother fondly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Roxie Vidmar. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has an egg cutter."
"Hot dog," Pearl responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a sneeze. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."