Ellen woke up with a sniff. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a fez and a sundress. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the porch was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-four of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend six hours playing fun games like bridge and Parcheesi. Her mom was planning to make plenty of cotton candy and fondue for everyone. Ellen would try to blow out all six candles on the chartreuse and hot pink cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Ellen would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a rag! She hoped it would be an odd rag. Her friend Elijah had said he would give her a cardboard box, and her mom always gave her cool stuff like the tote bag she gave her last year. Ellen 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 fez. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the country meadow. She would have to wear a miniskirt instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her sundress.
She bounded downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like success. Her mom was standing there with a cheesecloth in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a clenched fist.
"Hi Mommy!" Ellen replied accidentally. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the cotton candy," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra baker's chocolate. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Ellen replied irritably. "Do we have the fondue ready?"
"I'm going to wait until four o'clock to start that," her mother replied tearfully. "It only has to bake at 450 degrees F for fifty-four minutes."
"Okay," Ellen replied resignedly. "I'm gonna go to the porch."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some scrambled eggs in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the porch 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," Ellen responded, as she sat down to her scrambled eggs. "Let's hang lots of azure balloons and cover the mattress and the footstool with hot pink crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother caustically. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Cherise Dietrich. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a Sham-Wow!."
"Marvelous," Ellen responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a snarl. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."