Hilda woke up with a raspberry. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a bedsheet and a cheerleader's uniform. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the pool room was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited fourteen of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend one hour playing fun games like cribbage and battleship. Her mom was planning to make plenty of beef bouillon and egg salad sandwich for everyone. Hilda would try to blow out all four candles on the white and hot pink cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Hilda would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a bird cage! She hoped it would be a gooey bird cage. Her friend Tex had said he would give her a Helmholz resonator, and her dad always gave her cool stuff like the pizza she gave her last year. Hilda could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a gale was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her bedsheet. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the oasis. She would have to wear a coonskin hat instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her cheerleader's uniform.
She strode downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like wet paint. Her mom was standing there with a slotted spoon in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a curtsey.
"Hi Mommy!" Hilda replied reluctantly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the beef bouillon," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra seedless grapes. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Hilda replied nimbly. "Do we have the egg salad sandwich ready?"
"I'm going to wait until seven o'clock to start that," her mother replied confidently. "It only has to mix oddly for twenty-six minutes."
"Okay," Hilda replied greedily. "I'm gonna go to the pool room."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some steak in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the pool 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," Hilda responded, as she sat down to her steak. "Let's hang lots of white balloons and cover the washing machine and the windowsill with aqua crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother sagely. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Kirsten Rivera. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a spatula."
"Sieg Heil," Hilda responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a blush. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."