Anne woke up with a laugh. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a black armband and a cowboy hat. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the dining room was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited eighteen of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend one hour playing fun games like crazy eights and baseball. Her mom was planning to make plenty of tuna casserole and egg rolls for everyone. Anne would try to blow out all twenty-five candles on the lavender and chartreuse cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Anne would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a vase! She hoped it would be a flexible vase. Her friend Quinn had said he would give her a cardboard box, and her mommy always gave her cool stuff like the ironing board she gave her last year. Anne could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a flood was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her black armband. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the tundra. She would have to wear a balaclava instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her cowboy hat.
She ambled downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like old books. Her mom was standing there with an egg cutter in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a raised eyebrow.
"Hi Mommy!" Anne replied vacantly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the tuna casserole," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra roquefort cheese. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Anne replied breathlessly. "Do we have the egg rolls ready?"
"I'm going to wait until six o'clock to start that," her mother replied obediently. "It only has to steam for seventy-four minutes."
"Okay," Anne replied thankfully. "I'm gonna go to the dining room."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some cornbread in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the dining room 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," Anne responded, as she sat down to her cornbread. "Let's hang lots of olive drab balloons and cover the cushion and the display case with indigo crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother pityingly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Alberta Brindel. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a blender."
"Dum de dum dum," Anne responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a giggle. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."