Bernadette woke up with a backward glance. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a belly button jewel and a pair of glasses. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the pantry was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twelve of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend one hour playing fun games like hide and seek and trivia. Her mom was planning to make plenty of sweet potatoes and pot roast for everyone. Bernadette would try to blow out all five candles on the black and purple cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Bernadette would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a business card! She hoped it would be a gross business card. Her friend Irving had said he would give her an artificial flower, and her fiancée always gave her cool stuff like the cage she gave her last year. Bernadette could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a thunderstorm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her belly button jewel. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the lakeside. She would have to wear a pair of moon boots instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her pair of glasses.
She tumbled downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like a Christmas tree. Her mom was standing there with a mixing spoon in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a flush.
"Hi Mommy!" Bernadette replied frantically. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the sweet potatoes," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra bread crumbs. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Bernadette replied daintily. "Do we have the pot roast ready?"
"I'm going to wait until four o'clock to start that," her mother replied grandly. "It only has to shake for seventy-two minutes."
"Okay," Bernadette replied glumly. "I'm gonna go to the pantry."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some French fries in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the pantry 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," Bernadette responded, as she sat down to her French fries. "Let's hang lots of azure balloons and cover the card table and the ottoman with chartreuse crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother admiringly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Martina Klein. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a Sham-Wow!."
"Good gravy," Bernadette responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a shout. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."