Esther woke up with a woof. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a headband and a leotard. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the outhouse was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-three of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend seven hours playing fun games like tennis and badminton. Her mom was planning to make plenty of egg rolls and popcorn for everyone. Esther would try to blow out all thirty-three candles on the striped and aqua cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Esther would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a bucket! She hoped it would be a nice bucket. Her friend Jesus had said he would give her a box of candy, and her mentor always gave her cool stuff like the toilet seat she gave her last year. Esther could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a typhoon was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her headband. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the grassy knoll. She would have to wear a name tag instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her leotard.
She stalked downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like beef stew. Her mom was standing there with a melon baller in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a tear.
"Hi Mommy!" Esther replied deliberately. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the egg rolls," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra roquefort cheese. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Esther replied rapidly. "Do we have the popcorn ready?"
"I'm going to wait until three o'clock to start that," her mother replied wearily. "It only has to marinate for forty-four minutes."
"Okay," Esther replied demurely. "I'm gonna go to the outhouse."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some brownies in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the outhouse 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," Esther responded, as she sat down to her brownies. "Let's hang lots of golden balloons and cover the hamper and the ottoman with forest green crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother ignobly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Camille Charles. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a turkey baster."
"Ulp," Esther responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a kiss. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."