Mildred woke up with a sigh. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a turtleneck and a nose ring. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the bedroom was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-nine of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend five hours playing fun games like Candy Land and pool. Her mom was planning to make plenty of succotash and ice cream for everyone. Mildred would try to blow out all twenty-four candles on the sea green and pea green cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Mildred would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a bouquet! She hoped it would be a torn bouquet. Her friend Jeremy had said he would give her a calling card, and her sister-in-law always gave her cool stuff like the fishing rod she gave her last year. Mildred 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 turtleneck. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the oasis. She would have to wear a jogging suit instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her nose ring.
She sneaked downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like a skunk. Her mom was standing there with a dish cloth in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a yawn.
"Hi Mommy!" Mildred replied unabashedly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the succotash," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra cream cheese. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Mildred replied blindly. "Do we have the ice cream ready?"
"I'm going to wait until six o'clock to start that," her mother replied softly. "It only has to marinate for fifty-four minutes."
"Okay," Mildred replied slowly. "I'm gonna go to the bedroom."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some duck a l'orange in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the bedroom 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," Mildred responded, as she sat down to her duck a l'orange. "Let's hang lots of green balloons and cover the casket and the end table with white crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother wearily. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Mopsy Kafka. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a blender."
"Gadzooks," Mildred responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a tear. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."