Gabriela woke up with a grin. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a tank top and a pair of knickerbockers. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the kitchen was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-seven of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend four hours playing fun games like hopscotch and trivia. Her mom was planning to make plenty of ravioli and pot roast for everyone. Gabriela would try to blow out all twenty-nine candles on the periwinkle and amber cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Gabriela would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a banana! She hoped it would be a puzzling banana. Her friend Noah had said he would give her a fish bowl, and her dad always gave her cool stuff like the napkin she gave her last year. Gabriela could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a drizzle was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her tank top. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the treetop. She would have to wear a pair of glasses instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her pair of knickerbockers.
She slithered downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like June roses. Her mom was standing there with a corkscrew in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a cackle.
"Hi Mommy!" Gabriela replied automatically. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the ravioli," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra calamari. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Gabriela replied sourly. "Do we have the pot roast ready?"
"I'm going to wait until five o'clock to start that," her mother replied boisterously. "It only has to sear for thirty minutes."
"Okay," Gabriela replied narrowly. "I'm gonna go to the kitchen."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some pumpkin pie in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the kitchen 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," Gabriela responded, as she sat down to her pumpkin pie. "Let's hang lots of rose balloons and cover the bed and the bookcase with striped crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother majestically. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Claudette Del Genio. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has an electric mixer."
"Boy oh boy," Gabriela responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a bound. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."