Zoe woke up with a blush. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a pair of boxing gloves and a dirndl. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the kitchen 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 chess and red rover. Her mom was planning to make plenty of chocolate-covered ants and chicken pot pie for everyone. Zoe would try to blow out all thirty-two candles on the aquamarine and azure cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Zoe would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a thumb drive! She hoped it would be a plastic thumb drive. Her friend Charlie had said he would give her a fountain pen, and her mother-in-law always gave her cool stuff like the duffel bag she gave her last year. Zoe could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that an earthquake was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her pair of boxing gloves. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the prairie. She would have to wear a polo shirt instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her dirndl.
She galloped downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like pepper. Her mom was standing there with an ice pick in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a pound of the chest.
"Hi Mommy!" Zoe replied fearfully. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the chocolate-covered ants," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra wasabi powder. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Zoe replied pitifully. "Do we have the chicken pot pie ready?"
"I'm going to wait until one o'clock to start that," her mother replied irritably. "It only has to sear outside for fifty-nine minutes."
"Okay," Zoe replied excitedly. "I'm gonna go to the kitchen."
"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 kitchen 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," Zoe responded, as she sat down to her apple pie. "Let's hang lots of olive green balloons and cover the mattress and the nightstand with aquamarine crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother thankfully. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Marisa Cheetham. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a piece of cheesecloth."
"Uh-oh," Zoe responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a gasp. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."