Leila woke up with a simper. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a pair of briefs and a pair of heels. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the auditorium was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-nine of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend three hours playing fun games like billiards and rummy. Her mom was planning to make plenty of cabbage rolls and smoked salmon for everyone. Leila would try to blow out all six candles on the lavender and golden cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Leila would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain an avocado! She hoped it would be an immense avocado. Her friend Giovanni had said he would give her a hammer, and her main squeeze always gave her cool stuff like the rag she gave her last year. Leila could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that an ice storm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her pair of briefs. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the oasis. She would have to wear a hoop skirt instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her pair of heels.
She cantered downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like boiled cabbage. Her mom was standing there with a food processor in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a twitch.
"Hi Mommy!" Leila replied needlessly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the cabbage rolls," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra egg noodles. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Leila replied wearily. "Do we have the smoked salmon ready?"
"I'm going to wait until eight o'clock to start that," her mother replied fiercely. "It only has to fry for twenty-two minutes."
"Okay," Leila replied blissfully. "I'm gonna go to the auditorium."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some pecan pie in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the auditorium 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," Leila responded, as she sat down to her pecan pie. "Let's hang lots of pea green balloons and cover the end table and the bunk bed with indigo crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother flightily. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Nicki Houston. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a spatula."
"Boy howdy," Leila responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a raised eyebrow. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."