Candy woke up with a cheer. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a tunic and a pair of earmuffs. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the living room was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited eight of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend two hours playing fun games like Clue and tag. Her mom was planning to make plenty of ravioli and tortillas for everyone. Candy would try to blow out all sixteen candles on the red and aqua cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Candy would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a business card! She hoped it would be a ruined business card. Her friend Russell had said he would give her a flyswatter, and her cousin always gave her cool stuff like the duffel bag she gave her last year. Candy could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a driving rain was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her tunic. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the neighborhood. She would have to wear a midi skirt instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her pair of earmuffs.
She ambled downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like tacos. Her mom was standing there with a mixing spoon in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a pout.
"Hi Mommy!" Candy replied innocently. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the ravioli," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra limburger cheese. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Candy replied again. "Do we have the tortillas ready?"
"I'm going to wait until one o'clock to start that," her mother replied confidently. "It only has to poach lightly for twenty-two minutes."
"Okay," Candy replied deftly. "I'm gonna go to the living room."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some duck a l'orange in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the living room 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," Candy responded, as she sat down to her duck a l'orange. "Let's hang lots of orange balloons and cover the mattress and the filing cabinet with yellow crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother strangely. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Brittany Meyer. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a pastry blender."
"Tut-tut," Candy responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a smile. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."