Mackenzie woke up with a snort. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a smartwatch and an Armani suit. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the bedroom was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-three of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend six hours playing fun games like Parcheesi and Monopoly. Her mom was planning to make plenty of French fries and chicken pot pie for everyone. Mackenzie would try to blow out all eight candles on the rose and purple cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Mackenzie would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a mushroom! She hoped it would be a rusty mushroom. Her friend Ahmed had said he would give her a mirror, and her main squeeze always gave her cool stuff like the vase she gave her last year. Mackenzie could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a blanket of mist was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her smartwatch. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the rainforest. She would have to wear a pair of Bermuda shorts instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her Armani suit.
She crept downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like black pepper. Her mom was standing there with a meat thermometer in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a finger gun.
"Hi Mommy!" Mackenzie replied sheepishly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the French fries," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra Dijon mustard. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Mackenzie replied gently. "Do we have the chicken pot pie ready?"
"I'm going to wait until six o'clock to start that," her mother replied ingeniously. "It only has to place on serving dish for eighty-one minutes."
"Okay," Mackenzie replied blindly. "I'm gonna go to the bedroom."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some cookies in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the bedroom 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," Mackenzie responded, as she sat down to her cookies. "Let's hang lots of maroon balloons and cover the toilet and the bench with golden crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother woodenly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Tonya Snyder. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a wooden spoon."
"Cock-a-doodle-doo," Mackenzie responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a power fist. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."