Angie 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 gun belt and a bonnet. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the workshop was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited nine of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend eight hours playing fun games like hopscotch and jacks. Her mom was planning to make plenty of spaghetti and popcorn for everyone. Angie would try to blow out all twenty-five candles on the pea green and lime-green cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Angie would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a fingernail clipper! She hoped it would be a mysterious fingernail clipper. Her friend Chad had said he would give her a mirror, and her mother always gave her cool stuff like the pair of dice she gave her last year. Angie could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a hot day was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her gun belt. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the battlefield. She would have to wear a pair of sandals instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her bonnet.
She dove downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like hairspray. Her mom was standing there with a food processor in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a guffaw.
"Hi Mommy!" Angie replied suavely. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the spaghetti," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra poppy seeds. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Angie replied dolefully. "Do we have the popcorn ready?"
"I'm going to wait until eight o'clock to start that," her mother replied threateningly. "It only has to fry courteously in wooden skillet for ninety minutes."
"Okay," Angie replied madly. "I'm gonna go to the workshop."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some cotton candy in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the workshop 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," Angie responded, as she sat down to her cotton candy. "Let's hang lots of azure balloons and cover the counter and the card table with rose crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother unabashedly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Ruth Gomez. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a bare foot."
"Yummy," Angie responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a crow. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."