Brooke woke up with a honk. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a sport coat and a beehive. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the pantry was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited three of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend eight hours playing fun games like backgammon and hide and seek. Her mom was planning to make plenty of prune pudding and burritos for everyone. Brooke would try to blow out all three candles on the ivory and periwinkle cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Brooke would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a cardboard box! She hoped it would be a nice cardboard box. Her friend Brandon had said he would give her a coloring book, and her friend always gave her cool stuff like the cane she gave her last year. Brooke could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a downpour was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her sport coat. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the countryside. She would have to wear a mask instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her beehive.
She dashed downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like wood. Her mom was standing there with a pair of tongs in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a power fist.
"Hi Mommy!" Brooke replied sharply. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the prune pudding," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra habañero peppers. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Brooke replied openly. "Do we have the burritos ready?"
"I'm going to wait until five o'clock to start that," her mother replied numbly. "It only has to freeze for twelve minutes."
"Okay," Brooke replied victoriously. "I'm gonna go to the pantry."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some French fries 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," Brooke responded, as she sat down to her French fries. "Let's hang lots of khaki balloons and cover the sofa and the workbench with grey crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother curiously. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Cassandra Yastremski. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a bare foot."
"Alleluia," Brooke responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a kiss. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."