Diane woke up with a furrowed brow. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a hood and a maxi skirt. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the den was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited fifteen of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend two hours playing fun games like seven-up and chess. Her mom was planning to make plenty of oyster on the half-shell and ramen noodles for everyone. Diane would try to blow out all eighteen candles on the salmon and periwinkle cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Diane would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a jar of olives! She hoped it would be a thick jar of olives. Her friend Benjamin had said he would give her an air compressor, and her cousin always gave her cool stuff like the telephone book she gave her last year. Diane could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a rainbow was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her hood. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the rainforest. She would have to wear a shirt instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her maxi skirt.
She slunk downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like formaldehyde. Her mom was standing there with a dull knife in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a snigger.
"Hi Mommy!" Diane replied demurely. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the oyster on the half-shell," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra limburger cheese. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Diane replied impatiently. "Do we have the ramen noodles ready?"
"I'm going to wait until two o'clock to start that," her mother replied slyly. "It only has to poach lightly for six minutes."
"Okay," Diane replied wearily. "I'm gonna go to the den."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some chicken gumbo in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the den 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," Diane responded, as she sat down to her chicken gumbo. "Let's hang lots of magenta balloons and cover the card table and the bathtub with navy blue crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother glumly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Winnie Brown. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a cookie cutter."
"Bullpuckey," Diane responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a wink. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."