Eve woke up with a beam. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a jerkin and a hearing aid. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the workshop was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-eight of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend four hours playing fun games like doctor and Monopoly. Her mom was planning to make plenty of pecan pie and macaroni for everyone. Eve would try to blow out all twenty candles on the orange and navy blue cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Eve would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a dog biscuit! She hoped it would be a nice dog biscuit. Her friend Garth had said he would give her a soccer ball, and her girlfriend always gave her cool stuff like the rubber stamp she gave her last year. Eve 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 jerkin. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the trail. She would have to wear a pair of pantaloons instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her hearing aid.
She trotted downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like Old Spice. Her mom was standing there with a wooden spoon in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a snicker.
"Hi Mommy!" Eve replied uneasily. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the pecan pie," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra kielbasa. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Eve replied recklessly. "Do we have the macaroni ready?"
"I'm going to wait until three o'clock to start that," her mother replied impatiently. "It only has to fry for thirty-eight minutes."
"Okay," Eve replied proudly. "I'm gonna go to the workshop."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some potatoes and gravy in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the workshop 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," Eve responded, as she sat down to her potatoes and gravy. "Let's hang lots of amber balloons and cover the toilet and the ironing board with purple crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother patiently. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Ada Belle Cole. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a dull knife."
"Easy peasy," Eve responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a grunt. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."