Wilma woke up with a snuffle. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a burqa and a diamond necklace. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the study was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited nineteen of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend six hours playing fun games like charades and checkers. Her mom was planning to make plenty of fondue and fried okra for everyone. Wilma would try to blow out all five candles on the navy blue and peach cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Wilma would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a chair! She hoped it would be an authentic chair. Her friend Michaelangelo had said he would give her a piece of chalk, and her mentor always gave her cool stuff like the calling card she gave her last year. Wilma could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a hurricane was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her burqa. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the dump. She would have to wear a bib instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her diamond necklace.
She slid downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like road kill. Her mom was standing there with a garlic press in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a crow.
"Hi Mommy!" Wilma replied sympathetically. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the fondue," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra anchovy. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Wilma replied grudgingly. "Do we have the fried okra ready?"
"I'm going to wait until four o'clock to start that," her mother replied wearily. "It only has to deep fry for forty-nine minutes."
"Okay," Wilma replied madly. "I'm gonna go to the study."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some refried beans in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the study 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," Wilma responded, as she sat down to her refried beans. "Let's hang lots of carrot-orange balloons and cover the footstool and the catbird seat with striped crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother effortlessly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Ana Bowers. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a Sham-Wow!."
"Boom," Wilma responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a frown. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."