Meg woke up with a snicker. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a coat of mail and an Armani suit. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the solarium was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited thirteen of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend three hours playing fun games like red rover and leapfrog. Her mom was planning to make plenty of corn on the cob and egg salad sandwich for everyone. Meg would try to blow out all twenty-one candles on the turquoise and lime-green cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Meg would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a tube of glue! She hoped it would be a dry tube of glue. Her friend Buddy had said he would give her a blank check, and her mother always gave her cool stuff like the teacup she gave her last year. Meg could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a rainstorm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her coat of mail. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the field. She would have to wear a black armband instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her Armani suit.
She slid downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like a skunk. Her mom was standing there with a chopstick in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a sneeze.
"Hi Mommy!" Meg replied woodenly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the corn on the cob," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra kale. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Meg replied irritably. "Do we have the egg salad sandwich ready?"
"I'm going to wait until eight o'clock to start that," her mother replied merrily. "It only has to deep fry for thirty minutes."
"Okay," Meg replied hopelessly. "I'm gonna go to the solarium."
"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 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," Meg responded, as she sat down to her bonbons. "Let's hang lots of olive drab balloons and cover the armoire and the display case with brown crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother smoothly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Kristen Singh. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a strainer."
"Aaah," Meg responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a sneeze. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."