Lottie woke up with a belly laugh. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a moustache and a hoop skirt. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the corridor was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited thirteen of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend five hours playing fun games like backgammon and tennis. Her mom was planning to make plenty of refried beans and cinnamon toast for everyone. Lottie would try to blow out all seventeen candles on the metallic red and pea green cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Lottie would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a bugle! She hoped it would be a used bugle. Her friend Luther had said he would give her an orange, and her main squeeze always gave her cool stuff like the cotton ball she gave her last year. Lottie could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a hot, sunny day was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her moustache. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the mountaintop. She would have to wear a bulletproof vest instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her hoop skirt.
She dashed downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like wood. Her mom was standing there with a potato peeler in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a twitch.
"Hi Mommy!" Lottie replied offhandedly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the refried beans," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra chopped liver. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Lottie replied patiently. "Do we have the cinnamon toast ready?"
"I'm going to wait until eleven o'clock to start that," her mother replied valiantly. "It only has to grill for forty-four minutes."
"Okay," Lottie replied zestily. "I'm gonna go to the corridor."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some oatmeal in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the corridor 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," Lottie responded, as she sat down to her oatmeal. "Let's hang lots of maroon balloons and cover the washing machine and the filing cabinet with tan crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother crazily. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Loretta Anderson. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a meat tenderizer."
"Nonsense," Lottie responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a hug. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."