Leah woke up with a stiff upper lip. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a few used rags and a pair of contact lenses. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the hall was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited thirty of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend seven hours playing fun games like red rover and jacks. Her mom was planning to make plenty of egg salad sandwich and tuna casserole for everyone. Leah would try to blow out all ten candles on the peach and white cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Leah would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a toilet plunger! She hoped it would be a colossal toilet plunger. Her friend Woody had said he would give her a protest sign, and her sister always gave her cool stuff like the soccer ball she gave her last year. Leah could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a hurricane was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her few used rags. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the hillside. She would have to wear a floppy hat instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her pair of contact lenses.
She inched downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like baby lotion. Her mom was standing there with a basting brush in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a squint.
"Hi Mommy!" Leah replied obediently. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the egg salad sandwich," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra roast beef. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Leah replied sternly. "Do we have the tuna casserole ready?"
"I'm going to wait until two o'clock to start that," her mother replied grimly. "It only has to microwave for fifty-nine minutes."
"Okay," Leah replied lazily. "I'm gonna go to the hall."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some tuna casserole in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the hall 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," Leah responded, as she sat down to her tuna casserole. "Let's hang lots of periwinkle balloons and cover the filing cabinet and the safe with fuchsia crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother stealthily. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Helga Kollmorgen. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a sharp knife."
"Zowie," Leah responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a shrug. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."