Hilda woke up with a glare. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a ribbon and a cape. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the dining room was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited nineteen of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend six hours playing fun games like shuffleboard and poker. Her mom was planning to make plenty of cookies and Froot Loops for everyone. Hilda would try to blow out all six candles on the fuchsia and forest green cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Hilda would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a pail! She hoped it would be a plain pail. Her friend Jimmie Lee had said he would give her a billfold, and her mother always gave her cool stuff like the dictionary she gave her last year. Hilda could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a downpour was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her ribbon. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the grassy knoll. She would have to wear a pair of suspenders instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her cape.
She sallied forth downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like hamburgers. Her mom was standing there with a bare foot in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a smirk.
"Hi Mommy!" Hilda replied shyly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the cookies," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra raspberries. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Hilda replied languidly. "Do we have the Froot Loops ready?"
"I'm going to wait until three o'clock to start that," her mother replied hopefully. "It only has to scramble for thirty minutes."
"Okay," Hilda replied merrily. "I'm gonna go to the dining room."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some applesauce in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the dining room 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," Hilda responded, as she sat down to her applesauce. "Let's hang lots of blue balloons and cover the bookcase and the four-poster bed with navy blue crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother courteously. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Velma Duke. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a bare foot."
"Lo and behold," Hilda responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a wag of the finger. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."