Penelope woke up with a gurgle. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a pair of roller skates and a fedora. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the salon was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited fourteen of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend two hours playing fun games like Clue and hide and seek. Her mom was planning to make plenty of hot dogs and chocolate-covered ants for everyone. Penelope would try to blow out all four candles on the aquamarine and white cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Penelope would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a bouquet! She hoped it would be a plastic bouquet. Her friend Sebastian had said he would give her a spool of thread, and her wife always gave her cool stuff like the hockey puck she gave her last year. Penelope could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that an earthquake was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her pair of roller skates. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the bog. She would have to wear a vest instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her fedora.
She ambled downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like marijuana. Her mom was standing there with a knife in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a clenched fist.
"Hi Mommy!" Penelope replied thoughtfully. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the hot dogs," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra fresh basil. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Penelope replied crankily. "Do we have the chocolate-covered ants ready?"
"I'm going to wait until two o'clock to start that," her mother replied gruffly. "It only has to heat in microwave for twenty-seven minutes."
"Okay," Penelope replied testily. "I'm gonna go to the salon."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some cotton candy in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the salon 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," Penelope responded, as she sat down to her cotton candy. "Let's hang lots of green balloons and cover the filing cabinet and the TV with pea green crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother cheerfully. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Shelley Friedman. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a meat thermometer."
"Bingo," Penelope 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."