Veronica woke up with a gurgle. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a mask and a maxi skirt. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the pantry was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited thirty of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend three hours playing fun games like roulette and dodge ball. Her mom was planning to make plenty of sauerkraut and pretzels for everyone. Veronica would try to blow out all twenty-one candles on the navy blue and green cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Veronica would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a cell phone! She hoped it would be a fabulous cell phone. Her friend Kirby had said he would give her a pizza, and her mother-in-law always gave her cool stuff like the Egyptian mummy she gave her last year. Veronica could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a sleet storm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her mask. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the mountaintop. She would have to wear a floppy hat instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her maxi skirt.
She sneaked downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like Pine-Sol. Her mom was standing there with a mixing spoon in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a honk.
"Hi Mommy!" Veronica replied suddenly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the sauerkraut," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra apples. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Veronica replied lazily. "Do we have the pretzels ready?"
"I'm going to wait until six o'clock to start that," her mother replied arrogantly. "It only has to marinate for six minutes."
"Okay," Veronica replied quietly. "I'm gonna go to the pantry."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some wienerschnitzel in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the pantry 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," Veronica responded, as she sat down to her wienerschnitzel. "Let's hang lots of lavender balloons and cover the ironing board and the chair with black crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother dubiously. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Lucy MacIntire. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a blender."
"Eek," Veronica responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a frown. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."