Margaret woke up with a guffaw. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a loincloth and an earring. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the boiler room was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited fifteen of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend one hour playing fun games like cribbage and volleyball. Her mom was planning to make plenty of beef bouillon and egg drop soup for everyone. Margaret would try to blow out all three candles on the sea green and brown cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Margaret would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a cork! She hoped it would be a new cork. Her friend Gilmo had said he would give her a bicycle, and her grandfather always gave her cool stuff like the piece of paper she gave her last year. Margaret could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a hurricane was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her loincloth. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the country meadow. She would have to wear a pair of false eyelashes instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her earring.
She capered downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like ammonia. Her mom was standing there with a strainer in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a wrinkled nose.
"Hi Mommy!" Margaret replied unabashedly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the beef bouillon," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra egg yolks. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Margaret replied sourly. "Do we have the egg drop soup ready?"
"I'm going to wait until four o'clock to start that," her mother replied quickly. "It only has to scramble for twenty-eight minutes."
"Okay," Margaret replied glibly. "I'm gonna go to the boiler room."
"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 boiler 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," Margaret responded, as she sat down to her refried beans. "Let's hang lots of striped balloons and cover the catbird seat and the floor with ivory crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother kindly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Elsie Mittal. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a pair of tongs."
"Crikey," Margaret responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a shrug. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."