Paula woke up with a clenched fist. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a bra and a nose ring. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the closet was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-seven of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend two hours playing fun games like crazy eights and Parcheesi. Her mom was planning to make plenty of ramen noodles and pancakes for everyone. Paula would try to blow out all nine candles on the hot pink and teal cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Paula would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a trash can! She hoped it would be a disgusting trash can. Her friend Milo had said he would give her a can of soup, and her aunt always gave her cool stuff like the soccer ball she gave her last year. Paula could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a snowstorm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her bra. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the rainforest. She would have to wear a poncho instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her nose ring.
She tramped downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like old books. Her mom was standing there with a wooden spoon in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with an evil eye.
"Hi Mommy!" Paula replied breathlessly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the ramen noodles," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra sweet potatoes. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Paula replied neatly. "Do we have the pancakes ready?"
"I'm going to wait until seven o'clock to start that," her mother replied roughly. "It only has to spoon into container for thirty minutes."
"Okay," Paula replied brashly. "I'm gonna go to the closet."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some moo goo gai pan in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the 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," Paula responded, as she sat down to her moo goo gai pan. "Let's hang lots of rose balloons and cover the buffet and the pool table with maroon crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother hopelessly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Betsy Downey. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a chopstick."
"Eww," Paula responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a snicker. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."