Sierra woke up with a sigh. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a pair of bell-bottoms and a bulletproof vest. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the cage was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-four of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend eight hours playing fun games like poker and Rummy. Her mom was planning to make plenty of falafel and lamb curry for everyone. Sierra would try to blow out all eleven candles on the aqua and jet black cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Sierra would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a box of Kleenex! She hoped it would be a chic box of Kleenex. Her friend Quinn had said he would give her a doll, and her friend always gave her cool stuff like the chair she gave her last year. Sierra could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that an earthquake was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her pair of bell-bottoms. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the oasis. She would have to wear a wedding dress instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her bulletproof vest.
She lurched downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like sour milk. Her mom was standing there with a strainer in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a yawn.
"Hi Mommy!" Sierra replied breathlessly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the falafel," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra sugar. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Sierra replied stealthily. "Do we have the lamb curry ready?"
"I'm going to wait until five o'clock to start that," her mother replied busily. "It only has to refrigerate overnight for sixty-two minutes."
"Okay," Sierra replied oddly. "I'm gonna go to the cage."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some mulligan stew in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the cage 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," Sierra responded, as she sat down to her mulligan stew. "Let's hang lots of rose balloons and cover the bathtub and the file cabinet with camouflage crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother breathlessly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Rebecca Sims. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a potato masher."
"Banzai," Sierra responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a glare. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."