Samina woke up with a sniffle. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a robe and a gold medal. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the linen closet was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-four of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend seven hours playing fun games like pool and tag. Her mom was planning to make plenty of fried eggs and waffles for everyone. Samina would try to blow out all sixteen candles on the emerald green and white cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Samina would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a rag! She hoped it would be a fresh rag. Her friend Thad had said he would give her a statue, and her wife always gave her cool stuff like the wrench she gave her last year. Samina could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a sandstorm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her robe. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the neighborhood. She would have to wear a gas mask instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her gold medal.
She slumped downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like Pla-Doh. Her mom was standing there with an electric paint mixer in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a bow.
"Hi Mommy!" Samina replied menacingly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the fried eggs," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra Velveeta cheese. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Samina replied gleefully. "Do we have the waffles ready?"
"I'm going to wait until twelve o'clock to start that," her mother replied fervently. "It only has to fry for fifty-three minutes."
"Okay," Samina replied immediately. "I'm gonna go to the linen closet."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some macaroni and cheese in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the linen closet 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," Samina responded, as she sat down to her macaroni and cheese. "Let's hang lots of khaki balloons and cover the computer and the bunk bed with fuchsia crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother properly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Theresa McCracken. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a foot."
"Blast," Samina responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a cringe. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."