Winifred woke up with a belly laugh. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a miniskirt and a black armband. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the rec room was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited four of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend four hours playing fun games like rummy and croquet. Her mom was planning to make plenty of tacos and jambalaya for everyone. Winifred would try to blow out all thirty-four candles on the tan and fuchsia cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Winifred would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a pencil! She hoped it would be a musty pencil. Her friend Rocket had said he would give her a toilet plunger, and her friend always gave her cool stuff like the baton she gave her last year. Winifred could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a rainbow was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her miniskirt. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the range. She would have to wear a hoop skirt instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her black armband.
She tumbled downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like a bakery. Her mom was standing there with a pair of chopsticks in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a backward glance.
"Hi Mommy!" Winifred replied fearlessly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the tacos," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra canned milk. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Winifred replied daringly. "Do we have the jambalaya ready?"
"I'm going to wait until four o'clock to start that," her mother replied grimly. "It only has to sear outside for eighty-six minutes."
"Okay," Winifred replied ingeniously. "I'm gonna go to the rec room."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some cabbage in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the rec 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," Winifred responded, as she sat down to her cabbage. "Let's hang lots of golden balloons and cover the computer and the stairway with navy blue crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother impatiently. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Valentina Barrymore. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a Sham-Wow!."
"For cryin' out loud," Winifred responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a coo. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."