Charlene woke up with a glare. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a G-string and a raincoat. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the study was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited thirteen of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend seven hours playing fun games like baseball and croquet. Her mom was planning to make plenty of macaroni and cheese and pumpkin pie for everyone. Charlene would try to blow out all two candles on the aquamarine and crimson cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Charlene would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a microscope! She hoped it would be a torn microscope. Her friend Jules had said he would give her a whoopee cushion, and her grandfather always gave her cool stuff like the ping-pong paddle she gave her last year. Charlene 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 G-string. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the river. She would have to wear a pair of contact lenses instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her raincoat.
She tiptoed downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like cheap cologne. Her mom was standing there with a fork in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a backward glance.
"Hi Mommy!" Charlene replied valiantly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the macaroni and cheese," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra pretzels. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Charlene replied oddly. "Do we have the pumpkin pie ready?"
"I'm going to wait until ten o'clock to start that," her mother replied blindly. "It only has to fry for nineteen minutes."
"Okay," Charlene replied narrowly. "I'm gonna go to the study."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some duck a l'orange in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the study 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," Charlene responded, as she sat down to her duck a l'orange. "Let's hang lots of emerald green balloons and cover the beanbag chair and the bed with jade crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother demurely. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Kayla Harmon. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a piece of cheesecloth."
"Crikey," Charlene responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a laugh. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."