Merna woke up with a snicker. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a bolo tie and a flour sack. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the front porch was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend six hours playing fun games like treasure hunt and doctor. Her mom was planning to make plenty of burritos and pumpkin pie for everyone. Merna would try to blow out all twenty candles on the metallic red and salmon cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Merna would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a box of Kleenex! She hoped it would be a cardboard box of Kleenex. Her friend Nathan had said he would give her a kite, and her aunt always gave her cool stuff like the brochure she gave her last year. Merna could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a dust storm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her bolo tie. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the path. She would have to wear a pair of booties instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her flour sack.
She pranced downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like rum. Her mom was standing there with a spoon in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a wag of the finger.
"Hi Mommy!" Merna replied calmly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the burritos," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra kiwis, peeled and sliced. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Merna replied victoriously. "Do we have the pumpkin pie ready?"
"I'm going to wait until four o'clock to start that," her mother replied temperamentally. "It only has to arrange for eighty-five minutes."
"Okay," Merna replied nicely. "I'm gonna go to the front porch."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some clam chowder in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the front porch 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," Merna responded, as she sat down to her clam chowder. "Let's hang lots of salmon balloons and cover the rocking chair and the cash register with tan crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother dubiously. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Laurie Klein. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a candy thermometer."
"Okay," Merna responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a raspberry. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."