Norma Jean woke up with a cackle. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a corset and a sarong. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the pantry was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-two of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend five hours playing fun games like poker and roulette. Her mom was planning to make plenty of jambalaya and brownies for everyone. Norma Jean would try to blow out all twenty-eight candles on the teal and magenta cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Norma Jean would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a bird feeder! She hoped it would be a flexible bird feeder. Her friend Howard had said he would give her a fish, and her mentor always gave her cool stuff like the football she gave her last year. Norma Jean could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a dense fog was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her corset. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the island. She would have to wear a gorilla suit instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her sarong.
She galloped downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like dill pickles. Her mom was standing there with an electric paint mixer in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a backward glance.
"Hi Mommy!" Norma Jean replied offhandedly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the jambalaya," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra dark beer. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Norma Jean replied lovingly. "Do we have the brownies ready?"
"I'm going to wait until two o'clock to start that," her mother replied quickly. "It only has to deep fry for eighty-three minutes."
"Okay," Norma Jean replied neatly. "I'm gonna go to the pantry."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some pot roast in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the pantry 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," Norma Jean responded, as she sat down to her pot roast. "Let's hang lots of lime-green balloons and cover the pedestal and the bath mat with forest green crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother majestically. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Stella Vigil. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a pair of tongs."
"I'll drink to that," Norma Jean responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a smack. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."