Doris woke up with a frown. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a pair of bloomers and a pair of knickers. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the servant's quarters was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-seven of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend six hours playing fun games like marbles and treasure hunt. Her mom was planning to make plenty of lobster and popcorn for everyone. Doris would try to blow out all twenty-eight candles on the salmon and chartreuse cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Doris would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a deck of cards! She hoped it would be a striking deck of cards. Her friend Herbert had said he would give her a box, and her friend always gave her cool stuff like the firecracker she gave her last year. Doris 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 pair of bloomers. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the park. She would have to wear a big smile instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her pair of knickers.
She ambled downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like a swamp. Her mom was standing there with a slotted spoon in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a grimace.
"Hi Mommy!" Doris replied caustically. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the lobster," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra extra virgin olive oil. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Doris replied lightly. "Do we have the popcorn ready?"
"I'm going to wait until eight o'clock to start that," her mother replied uneasily. "It only has to refrigerate overnight for seventy-four minutes."
"Okay," Doris replied breathlessly. "I'm gonna go to the servant's quarters."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some succotash in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the servant's quarters 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," Doris responded, as she sat down to her succotash. "Let's hang lots of ivory balloons and cover the dishwasher and the bar stool with sparkly crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother merrily. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Kitten Dodd. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a potato masher."
"My word," Doris responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a smack. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."