Martha woke up with an evil eye. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a bow tie and a fur coat. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the doghouse was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-four of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend seven hours playing fun games like baseball and hide and seek. Her mom was planning to make plenty of cabbage and chicken soup for everyone. Martha would try to blow out all twenty candles on the metallic red and black cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Martha would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a pair of knitting needles! She hoped it would be a puzzling pair of knitting needles. Her friend Abe had said he would give her a hair dryer, and her mother-in-law always gave her cool stuff like the remote control she gave her last year. Martha could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a lightning storm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her bow tie. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the cliff. She would have to wear a tailcoat instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her fur coat.
She skittered downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like greasepaint. Her mom was standing there with a foot in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a wink.
"Hi Mommy!" Martha replied arrogantly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the cabbage," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra vinegar. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Martha replied gently. "Do we have the chicken soup ready?"
"I'm going to wait until five o'clock to start that," her mother replied coldly. "It only has to press for eight minutes."
"Okay," Martha replied charmingly. "I'm gonna go to the doghouse."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some chicken chow mein in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the doghouse 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," Martha responded, as she sat down to her chicken chow mein. "Let's hang lots of salmon balloons and cover the washing machine and the water bed with terra cotta crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother warmly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Toni Jacobs. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a spoon."
"Boohoo," Martha responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a snuffle. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."