Bridget woke up with a pound of the chest. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a tinfoil hat and a toga. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the pantry was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited five of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend four hours playing fun games like golf and musical chairs. Her mom was planning to make plenty of succotash and dry toast for everyone. Bridget would try to blow out all twenty-five candles on the grey and grey cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Bridget would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a peace pipe! She hoped it would be a burned peace pipe. Her friend Lucky had said he would give her a pepper grinder, and her aunt always gave her cool stuff like the mirror she gave her last year. Bridget could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a period of warm weather was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her tinfoil hat. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the river. She would have to wear a set of camo fatigues instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her toga.
She bounded downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like success. Her mom was standing there with a ladle in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a dope slap.
"Hi Mommy!" Bridget replied confidently. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the succotash," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra yeast. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Bridget replied testily. "Do we have the dry toast ready?"
"I'm going to wait until ten o'clock to start that," her mother replied steadily. "It only has to blanch for nine minutes."
"Okay," Bridget replied later. "I'm gonna go to the pantry."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some lamb curry in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the pantry 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," Bridget responded, as she sat down to her lamb curry. "Let's hang lots of fuchsia balloons and cover the end table and the footstool with aqua crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother admiringly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Leslie Nicholas. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a ladle."
"The joke's on you," Bridget responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a flush. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."