Louise woke up with a cackle. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a pair of sweatpants and a dress. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the patio was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend eight hours playing fun games like pool and Monopoly. Her mom was planning to make plenty of popcorn and tortillas for everyone. Louise would try to blow out all thirty-three candles on the metallic red and fuchsia cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Louise would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a paper clip! She hoped it would be an ornate paper clip. Her friend Doug had said he would give her a towel, and her fiancée always gave her cool stuff like the iPod she gave her last year. Louise could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a pall of doom was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her pair of sweatpants. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the stream. She would have to wear a bicycle helmet instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her dress.
She trekked downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like pumpkin pie. Her mom was standing there with a pair of chopsticks in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a smile.
"Hi Mommy!" Louise replied crossly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the popcorn," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra fresh mushrooms. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Louise replied languidly. "Do we have the tortillas ready?"
"I'm going to wait until twelve o'clock to start that," her mother replied madly. "It only has to poach lightly for twenty-seven minutes."
"Okay," Louise replied fondly. "I'm gonna go to the patio."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some cabbage in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the patio 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," Louise responded, as she sat down to her cabbage. "Let's hang lots of striped balloons and cover the bunk bed and the footstool with orange crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother dolefully. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Celia McGrath. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a strainer."
"Exaltations," Louise responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a furrowed brow. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."