Betsy woke up with a flutter. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a space suit and a beanie. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the guest room was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited thirty of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend five hours playing fun games like battleship and trivia. Her mom was planning to make plenty of chicken chow mein and doughnuts for everyone. Betsy would try to blow out all fourteen candles on the lime-green and pink cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Betsy would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a can of soup! She hoped it would be a flaky can of soup. Her friend Mikey had said he would give her a cactus plant, and her cousin always gave her cool stuff like the air compressor she gave her last year. Betsy could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a hailstorm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her space suit. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the badlands area. She would have to wear a sundress instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her beanie.
She skidded downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like a stable. Her mom was standing there with a mixing spoon in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a simper.
"Hi Mommy!" Betsy replied needlessly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the chicken chow mein," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra lime juice. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Betsy replied irritably. "Do we have the doughnuts ready?"
"I'm going to wait until eleven o'clock to start that," her mother replied silently. "It only has to microwave for sixty-three minutes."
"Okay," Betsy replied rapidly. "I'm gonna go to the guest room."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some catfish stew in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the guest 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," Betsy responded, as she sat down to her catfish stew. "Let's hang lots of brown balloons and cover the mattress and the end table with forest green crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother crossly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Nelly Xing. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a spatula."
"Not so fast," Betsy responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a shiver. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."