Cassie woke up with a beam. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a tie and a fig leaf. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the basement was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twelve of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend seven hours playing fun games like backgammon and tennis. Her mom was planning to make plenty of spaghetti and fondue for everyone. Cassie would try to blow out all twenty-nine candles on the crimson and striped cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Cassie would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a ticket! She hoped it would be a brightly-colored ticket. Her friend Plato had said he would give her a pop bottle, and her sister-in-law always gave her cool stuff like the stuffed owl she gave her last year. Cassie could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a flood was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her tie. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the trail. She would have to wear a bodysuit instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her fig leaf.
She danced downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like Chinese food. Her mom was standing there with a slotted spoon in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a sneer.
"Hi Mommy!" Cassie replied firmly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the spaghetti," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra sweet pickle relish. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Cassie replied oddly. "Do we have the fondue ready?"
"I'm going to wait until three o'clock to start that," her mother replied gleefully. "It only has to fry sagely in old skillet for thirty minutes."
"Okay," Cassie replied courageously. "I'm gonna go to the basement."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some enchiladas in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the basement 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," Cassie responded, as she sat down to her enchiladas. "Let's hang lots of fuchsia balloons and cover the bookshelf and the footstool with lime-green crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother merrily. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Debbie Halperin. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a basting brush."
"My gosh," Cassie responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a jeer. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."