Ursula woke up with a kiss. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a cummerbund and a G-string. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the solarium was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited five of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend six hours playing fun games like Mother May I and battleship. Her mom was planning to make plenty of pie a la mode and enchiladas for everyone. Ursula would try to blow out all twelve candles on the mauve and olive drab cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Ursula would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a bullet! She hoped it would be a stiff bullet. Her friend Thad had said he would give her a feather duster, and her mom always gave her cool stuff like the firecracker she gave her last year. Ursula could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a blizzard was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her cummerbund. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the forest. She would have to wear a fedora instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her G-string.
She slid downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like rotten eggs. Her mom was standing there with an electric paint mixer in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a snuffle.
"Hi Mommy!" Ursula replied pityingly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the pie a la mode," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra codfish pieces. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Ursula replied temperamentally. "Do we have the enchiladas ready?"
"I'm going to wait until four o'clock to start that," her mother replied nonchalantly. "It only has to broil for seventy minutes."
"Okay," Ursula replied fiercely. "I'm gonna go to the solarium."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some ice cream 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," Ursula responded, as she sat down to her ice cream. "Let's hang lots of scarlet balloons and cover the canopy bed and the stairway with olive green crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother hopelessly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Virginia Simon. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has an ice pick."
"Boohoo," Ursula responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a bow. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."