Lilya woke up with a pout. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a pair of cowboy boots and a pair of tights. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the family room was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-five of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend eight hours playing fun games like rummy and volleyball. Her mom was planning to make plenty of prune pudding and pancakes for everyone. Lilya would try to blow out all fourteen candles on the camouflage and brilliant orange cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Lilya would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a calculator! She hoped it would be a sophisticated calculator. Her friend Alexei had said he would give her a Big Gulp, and her mentor always gave her cool stuff like the contract she gave her last year. Lilya could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a hot day was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her pair of cowboy boots. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the country meadow. She would have to wear a pith helmet instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her pair of tights.
She zoomed downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like asparagus. Her mom was standing there with a pastry blender in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a snarl.
"Hi Mommy!" Lilya replied steadily. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the prune pudding," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra flank steak. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Lilya replied noisily. "Do we have the pancakes ready?"
"I'm going to wait until one o'clock to start that," her mother replied resignedly. "It only has to blanch for thirty-nine minutes."
"Okay," Lilya replied automatically. "I'm gonna go to the family room."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some ceviche in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the family 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," Lilya responded, as she sat down to her ceviche. "Let's hang lots of grey balloons and cover the display case and the rug with hot pink crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother stealthily. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Henrietta Suzuki. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has an ice pick."
"Suffering sassafras," Lilya responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a growl. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."