Cherise woke up with a power fist. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a pair of khakis and a sundress. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the closet was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited five of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend six hours playing fun games like hopscotch and poker. Her mom was planning to make plenty of burritos and steak for everyone. Cherise would try to blow out all twenty-seven candles on the hot pink and lime-green cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Cherise would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a doll! She hoped it would be a ruined doll. Her friend Elijah had said he would give her a doll, and her mentor always gave her cool stuff like the saw she gave her last year. Cherise 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 pair of khakis. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the cesspool. She would have to wear a miniskirt instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her sundress.
She inched downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like cheese. Her mom was standing there with an electric paint mixer in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a twitch.
"Hi Mommy!" Cherise replied firmly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the burritos," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra rice noodles. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Cherise replied menacingly. "Do we have the steak ready?"
"I'm going to wait until five o'clock to start that," her mother replied oddly. "It only has to freeze for sixty-five minutes."
"Okay," Cherise replied vacantly. "I'm gonna go to the closet."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some bread and butter in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the closet 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," Cherise responded, as she sat down to her bread and butter. "Let's hang lots of lime-green balloons and cover the catbird seat and the bed with maroon crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother sagely. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Jan Sludge. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a ladle."
"Oh my," Cherise responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a woof. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."