Seema woke up with a shout. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a watch and a surgical mask. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the billiard room was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-three of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend eight hours playing fun games like trivia and Simon Says. Her mom was planning to make plenty of chicken chow mein and pie a la mode for everyone. Seema would try to blow out all twenty-five candles on the red and lime-green cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Seema would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a smart phone! She hoped it would be a hard smart phone. Her friend Norman had said he would give her a coin, and her mother always gave her cool stuff like the cowbell she gave her last year. Seema could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a blizzard was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her watch. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the crime scene. She would have to wear a babushka instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her surgical mask.
She inched downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like eucalyptus. Her mom was standing there with an electric paint mixer in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a flutter.
"Hi Mommy!" Seema replied uneasily. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the chicken chow mein," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra diced pineapple. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Seema replied firmly. "Do we have the pie a la mode ready?"
"I'm going to wait until one o'clock to start that," her mother replied zestily. "It only has to sauté for sixty-five minutes."
"Okay," Seema replied deftly. "I'm gonna go to the billiard room."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some Froot Loops in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the billiard 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," Seema responded, as she sat down to her Froot Loops. "Let's hang lots of khaki balloons and cover the coat rack and the armoire with white crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother cunningly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Brianna Cleveland. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a cheesecloth."
"Outstanding," Seema responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a smirk. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."