Harriet woke up with a beam. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a bomber jacket and a pair of Reeboks. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the game room was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited five of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend two hours playing fun games like hearts and battleship. Her mom was planning to make plenty of macaroni and cheese and cabbage for everyone. Harriet would try to blow out all seventeen candles on the red and green cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Harriet would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a pumpkin! She hoped it would be a gaudy pumpkin. Her friend Helmut had said he would give her a rag, and her friend always gave her cool stuff like the diamond she gave her last year. Harriet 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 bomber jacket. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the dumpster. She would have to wear a big grin instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her pair of Reeboks.
She trotted downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like lemons. Her mom was standing there with a wooden spoon in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a roar.
"Hi Mommy!" Harriet replied daringly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the macaroni and cheese," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra cinnamon. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Harriet replied madly. "Do we have the cabbage ready?"
"I'm going to wait until three o'clock to start that," her mother replied menacingly. "It only has to blend for eighty-one minutes."
"Okay," Harriet replied sadly. "I'm gonna go to the game room."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some falafel in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the game 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," Harriet responded, as she sat down to her falafel. "Let's hang lots of hot pink balloons and cover the windowsill and the umbrella stand with pink crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother warily. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Janice Kraft. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a potato peeler."
"Gesundheit," Harriet responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a cackle. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."