Christabel woke up with a twitch. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a pair of sweatpants and an Armani suit. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the foyer was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited fifteen of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend two hours playing fun games like Scrabble and duck duck goose. Her mom was planning to make plenty of ramen noodles and lobster bisque for everyone. Christabel would try to blow out all nineteen candles on the fuchsia and emerald green cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Christabel would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a muffin! She hoped it would be a curved muffin. Her friend Kelly had said he would give her a billfold, and her sister-in-law always gave her cool stuff like the crate she gave her last year. Christabel could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a windstorm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her pair of sweatpants. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the country meadow. She would have to wear a diaper instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her Armani suit.
She hobbled downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like autumn leaves. Her mom was standing there with a cookie cutter in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a wink.
"Hi Mommy!" Christabel replied briskly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the ramen noodles," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra hot water. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Christabel replied hungrily. "Do we have the lobster bisque ready?"
"I'm going to wait until four o'clock to start that," her mother replied sourly. "It only has to melt for four minutes."
"Okay," Christabel replied briskly. "I'm gonna go to the foyer."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some prime rib in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the foyer 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," Christabel responded, as she sat down to her prime rib. "Let's hang lots of beige balloons and cover the piano and the chest of drawers with blue crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother dreamily. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Cinderella Knotts. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a meat tenderizer."
"Castor and Pollux! Blow me to Bermuda," Christabel responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a clenched fist. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."