Leila woke up with a bow. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a pair of shin guards and a bib. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the outhouse was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twelve of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend eight hours playing fun games like shuffleboard and hearts. Her mom was planning to make plenty of egg rolls and crab rangoon for everyone. Leila would try to blow out all nineteen candles on the jade and beige cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Leila would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a magnet! She hoped it would be a hand-carved magnet. Her friend Travis had said he would give her a feather duster, and her grandma always gave her cool stuff like the spoon she gave her last year. Leila could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a rainstorm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her pair of shin guards. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the garden. She would have to wear a beach towel instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her bib.
She sallied forth downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like rubbing alcohol. Her mom was standing there with a slotted spoon in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a wince.
"Hi Mommy!" Leila replied sagely. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the egg rolls," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra soy sauce. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Leila replied sourly. "Do we have the crab rangoon ready?"
"I'm going to wait until three o'clock to start that," her mother replied perkily. "It only has to scramble for twenty minutes."
"Okay," Leila replied strangely. "I'm gonna go to the outhouse."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some ramen noodles 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," Leila responded, as she sat down to her ramen noodles. "Let's hang lots of terra cotta balloons and cover the card table and the washing machine with chartreuse crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother suspiciously. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Tawny Burner. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has an oven mitt."
"Uh," Leila responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a chuckle. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."