Lilya woke up with a kiss. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a pair of khakis and a pair of jeans. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the cage was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-four of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend six hours playing fun games like Cootie and solitaire. Her mom was planning to make plenty of lobster and roast turkey for everyone. Lilya would try to blow out all five candles on the pink and sea green cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Lilya would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a pail! She hoped it would be a modern pail. Her friend Marvin had said he would give her a hair brush, and her sister-in-law always gave her cool stuff like the pencil sharpener she gave her last year. Lilya could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a downpour was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her pair of khakis. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the peninsula. She would have to wear a space suit instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her pair of jeans.
She tramped downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like rotten fish. Her mom was standing there with a pastry blender in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a raspberry.
"Hi Mommy!" Lilya replied craftily. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the lobster," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra pepper. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Lilya replied fearlessly. "Do we have the roast turkey ready?"
"I'm going to wait until five o'clock to start that," her mother replied crazily. "It only has to arrange for four minutes."
"Okay," Lilya replied breathlessly. "I'm gonna go to the cage."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some spaghetti in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the cage 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," Lilya responded, as she sat down to her spaghetti. "Let's hang lots of khaki balloons and cover the ironing board and the catbird seat with golden crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother automatically. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Mim Baggins. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a turkey baster."
"Scurvy dog," Lilya responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a glare. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."