Jen woke up with a sneer. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a beach towel and a pair of nylons. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the outhouse 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 red rover and backgammon. Her mom was planning to make plenty of steak and doughnuts for everyone. Jen would try to blow out all eight candles on the peach and purple cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Jen would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain an acorn! She hoped it would be a flaky acorn. Her friend Willard had said he would give her a key ring, and her mom always gave her cool stuff like the diamond she gave her last year. Jen could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a thunderstorm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her beach towel. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the desert. She would have to wear a tailcoat instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her pair of nylons.
She hopped downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like a bakery. Her mom was standing there with a ladle in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a pout.
"Hi Mommy!" Jen replied lovingly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the steak," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra beef broth. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Jen replied languidly. "Do we have the doughnuts ready?"
"I'm going to wait until six o'clock to start that," her mother replied daintily. "It only has to deep fry for fifty-two minutes."
"Okay," Jen replied dolorously. "I'm gonna go to the outhouse."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some chicken pot pie in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the outhouse 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," Jen responded, as she sat down to her chicken pot pie. "Let's hang lots of polka dotted balloons and cover the bed and the cushion with terra cotta crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother shakily. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Yvonne Keefe. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a strainer."
"Hot dog," Jen 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."