Jennifer woke up with a snigger. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a parka and a hoop skirt. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the kitchen was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited two of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend one hour playing fun games like hearts and solitaire. Her mom was planning to make plenty of tofu and pie a la mode for everyone. Jennifer would try to blow out all twenty-five candles on the khaki and jade cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Jennifer would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a pail! She hoped it would be an art deco pail. Her friend Dan had said he would give her a book, and her aunt always gave her cool stuff like the screwdriver she gave her last year. Jennifer could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a drought was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her parka. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the hillside. She would have to wear a pair of UGGs instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her hoop skirt.
She flew downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like a compost pile. Her mom was standing there with a sharp knife in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a bow.
"Hi Mommy!" Jennifer replied openly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the tofu," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra white wine. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Jennifer replied sagely. "Do we have the pie a la mode ready?"
"I'm going to wait until four o'clock to start that," her mother replied woodenly. "It only has to blanch for seventy minutes."
"Okay," Jennifer replied impatiently. "I'm gonna go to the kitchen."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some refried beans in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the kitchen 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," Jennifer responded, as she sat down to her refried beans. "Let's hang lots of brown balloons and cover the catbird seat and the canopy bed with maroon crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother nervously. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Angela Schaffer. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a basting brush."
"Woops," Jennifer responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a pucker. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."