Pallavi woke up with an air kiss. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a polo shirt and a hat. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the pantry was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited two of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend three hours playing fun games like tag and leapfrog. Her mom was planning to make plenty of cookies and oatmeal for everyone. Pallavi would try to blow out all seven candles on the brown and forest green cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Pallavi would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a feather duster! She hoped it would be an ordinary feather duster. Her friend Herb had said he would give her a diagram, and her girlfriend always gave her cool stuff like the china doll she gave her last year. Pallavi could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a flood was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her polo shirt. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the river. She would have to wear a pair of Crocs instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her hat.
She strode downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like a locker room. Her mom was standing there with a blender in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a face palm.
"Hi Mommy!" Pallavi replied uselessly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the cookies," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra sesame seeds. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Pallavi replied neatly. "Do we have the oatmeal ready?"
"I'm going to wait until two o'clock to start that," her mother replied suavely. "It only has to press for eighty-three minutes."
"Okay," Pallavi replied dubiously. "I'm gonna go to the pantry."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some bonbons 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," Pallavi responded, as she sat down to her bonbons. "Let's hang lots of teal balloons and cover the cupboard and the pillow with rose crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother defiantly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Shannon Jones. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a knife."
"Aarrggh," Pallavi responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a grin. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."