Diane woke up with an air kiss. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a toga and a bracelet. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the closet was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited seven of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend one hour playing fun games like dodge ball and bridge. Her mom was planning to make plenty of chocolate-covered ants and corn on the cob for everyone. Diane would try to blow out all twenty-six candles on the black and pea green cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Diane would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a feather duster! She hoped it would be a primitive feather duster. Her friend Gunther had said he would give her a mousetrap, and her mentor always gave her cool stuff like the duffel bag she gave her last year. Diane could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a lightning storm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her toga. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the forest. She would have to wear a set of camo fatigues instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her bracelet.
She waded downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like lilacs. Her mom was standing there with an egg cutter in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a sneer.
"Hi Mommy!" Diane replied sorrowfully. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the chocolate-covered ants," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra bean sprouts. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Diane replied suspiciously. "Do we have the corn on the cob ready?"
"I'm going to wait until five o'clock to start that," her mother replied lamely. "It only has to sauté for eighteen minutes."
"Okay," Diane replied suddenly. "I'm gonna go to the closet."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some mushroom quiche 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," Diane responded, as she sat down to her mushroom quiche. "Let's hang lots of green balloons and cover the coat rack and the umbrella stand with periwinkle crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother patiently. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Beth Woodruff. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a dull knife."
"Jeez," Diane responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a twitch. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."