Mary woke up with a squint. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a corsage and a parka. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the den was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-one of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend six hours playing fun games like jump rope and croquet. Her mom was planning to make plenty of beans and fish and chips for everyone. Mary would try to blow out all sixteen candles on the yellow and purple cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Mary would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a baseball! She hoped it would be a delicate baseball. Her friend Baldwin had said he would give her a rubber chicken, and her fiancée always gave her cool stuff like the pop bottle she gave her last year. Mary could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a rainbow was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her corsage. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the pond. She would have to wear a pair of pantaloons instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her parka.
She sashayed downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like toothpaste. Her mom was standing there with a melon baller in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a grunt.
"Hi Mommy!" Mary replied stealthily. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the beans," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra egg noodles. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Mary replied nervously. "Do we have the fish and chips ready?"
"I'm going to wait until ten o'clock to start that," her mother replied perkily. "It only has to allow to rise in warm place for several hours for twelve minutes."
"Okay," Mary replied lovingly. "I'm gonna go to the den."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some apple pie in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the den 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," Mary responded, as she sat down to her apple pie. "Let's hang lots of pink balloons and cover the recliner and the workbench with olive drab crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother fondly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Holly Sokoloff. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a turkey baster."
"Durn," Mary responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with an air kiss. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."