Roxanne woke up with a roar. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a bolo tie and a sarong. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the closet was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited eleven of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend two hours playing fun games like jump rope and follow the leader. Her mom was planning to make plenty of dirty rice and chicken gumbo for everyone. Roxanne would try to blow out all fifteen candles on the peach and carrot-orange cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Roxanne would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a bugle! She hoped it would be an art deco bugle. Her friend Jordan had said he would give her a cane, and her cousin always gave her cool stuff like the cookbook she gave her last year. Roxanne could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a sandstorm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her bolo tie. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the canyon. She would have to wear a belt buckle instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her sarong.
She trekked downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like a feed lot. Her mom was standing there with a spoon in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a belch.
"Hi Mommy!" Roxanne replied frenetically. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the dirty rice," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra apple cider. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Roxanne replied proudly. "Do we have the chicken gumbo ready?"
"I'm going to wait until nine o'clock to start that," her mother replied furiously. "It only has to refrigerate overnight for fifty-seven minutes."
"Okay," Roxanne replied gingerly. "I'm gonna go to the closet."
"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 closet 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," Roxanne responded, as she sat down to her ramen noodles. "Let's hang lots of azure balloons and cover the bookcase and the workbench with ivory crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother deliberately. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Shannon Craft. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a meat thermometer."
"Eek," Roxanne responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a growl. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."