Kim woke up with a guffaw. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a miniskirt and a scarf. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the ballroom was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited seventeen of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend three hours playing fun games like Clue and croquet. Her mom was planning to make plenty of Swiss cheese and duck a l'orange for everyone. Kim would try to blow out all three candles on the grey and blue cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Kim would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a telephone! She hoped it would be a prickly telephone. Her friend Brad had said he would give her a cactus plant, and her grandma always gave her cool stuff like the pacifier she gave her last year. Kim could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a period of warm weather was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her miniskirt. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the butte. She would have to wear a garland instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her scarf.
She slipped downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like turpentine. Her mom was standing there with a meat thermometer in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a glare.
"Hi Mommy!" Kim replied proudly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the Swiss cheese," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra maple syrup. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Kim replied frenetically. "Do we have the duck a l'orange ready?"
"I'm going to wait until seven o'clock to start that," her mother replied admiringly. "It only has to sear for sixty minutes."
"Okay," Kim replied deftly. "I'm gonna go to the ballroom."
"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 ballroom 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," Kim responded, as she sat down to her pot roast. "Let's hang lots of rose balloons and cover the bunk bed and the ping-pong table with indigo crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother humbly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Abbie Simon. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a Sham-Wow!."
"OMG," Kim responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a shout. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."