Brook woke up with a wink. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a pair of ear muffs and a pair of moon boots. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the kitchen was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited four of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend seven hours playing fun games like roulette and rummy. Her mom was planning to make plenty of beef bouillon and squash blossom soup for everyone. Brook would try to blow out all twenty-three candles on the chartreuse and peach cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Brook would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a remote control! She hoped it would be a spongy remote control. Her friend David had said he would give her an artificial flower, and her grandfather always gave her cool stuff like the duffel bag she gave her last year. Brook could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a rainbow was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her pair of ear muffs. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the village. She would have to wear a wizard's hat instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her pair of moon boots.
She capered downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like car exhaust. Her mom was standing there with a corkscrew in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a snuffle.
"Hi Mommy!" Brook replied strictly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the beef bouillon," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra ground pork. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Brook replied victoriously. "Do we have the squash blossom soup ready?"
"I'm going to wait until ten o'clock to start that," her mother replied threateningly. "It only has to microwave for seventy-nine minutes."
"Okay," Brook replied woodenly. "I'm gonna go to the kitchen."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some crab rangoon in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the kitchen 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," Brook responded, as she sat down to her crab rangoon. "Let's hang lots of pea green balloons and cover the rocking chair and the washstand with aqua crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother blankly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Esther Beagle. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a corkscrew."
"Blast," Brook responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a caress. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."