Maybie woke up with a kiss. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a bandana and a visor. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the outhouse was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited two of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend five hours playing fun games like musical chairs and hopscotch. Her mom was planning to make plenty of chicken chow mein and pie a la mode for everyone. Maybie would try to blow out all five candles on the crimson and violet cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Maybie would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a stamp! She hoped it would be a striped stamp. Her friend Scott had said he would give her a pop bottle, and her mom always gave her cool stuff like the plaque she gave her last year. Maybie could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a snowstorm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her bandana. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the badlands area. She would have to wear a cape instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her visor.
She skipped downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like chocolate cake. Her mom was standing there with a candy thermometer in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a hug.
"Hi Mommy!" Maybie replied cunningly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the chicken chow mein," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra capers. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Maybie replied ingeniously. "Do we have the pie a la mode ready?"
"I'm going to wait until seven o'clock to start that," her mother replied flightily. "It only has to arrange for thirty-two minutes."
"Okay," Maybie replied kindly. "I'm gonna go to the outhouse."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some shrimp in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the outhouse 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," Maybie responded, as she sat down to her shrimp. "Let's hang lots of golden balloons and cover the TV and the workbench with crimson crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother madly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Ophelia Snyder. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a potato peeler."
"Diddly bunk," Maybie responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a snigger. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."