Marina woke up with a wrinkled nose. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in an Armani suit and a tattoo. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the tool shed was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited nine of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend one hour playing fun games like bridge and leapfrog. Her mom was planning to make plenty of refried beans and sushi for everyone. Marina would try to blow out all six candles on the aqua and black cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Marina would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a pair of fuzzy dice! She hoped it would be a damaged pair of fuzzy dice. Her friend Scott had said he would give her an avocado, and her sister-in-law always gave her cool stuff like the bag of popcorn she gave her last year. Marina could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a dust storm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her Armani suit. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the lakeside. She would have to wear a necklace instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her tattoo.
She ambled downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like hairspray. Her mom was standing there with a cookie cutter in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a shiver.
"Hi Mommy!" Marina replied wearily. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the refried beans," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra cream cheese. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Marina replied shyly. "Do we have the sushi ready?"
"I'm going to wait until five o'clock to start that," her mother replied repeatedly. "It only has to blanch for thirty-one minutes."
"Okay," Marina replied effortlessly. "I'm gonna go to the tool shed."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some falafel in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the tool shed 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," Marina responded, as she sat down to her falafel. "Let's hang lots of brown balloons and cover the table and the floor with pink crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother truculently. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Stella Owens. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a potato peeler."
"OMG," Marina responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a pout. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."