Kate woke up with a glare. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a birthday suit and a toga. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the dungeon was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited thirteen of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend two hours playing fun games like Rummy and Clue. Her mom was planning to make plenty of tacos and Cheerios for everyone. Kate would try to blow out all thirty-three candles on the camouflage and blue cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Kate would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a cork! She hoped it would be a ridged cork. Her friend Francisco had said he would give her a padlock, and her fiancée always gave her cool stuff like the skull she gave her last year. Kate 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 birthday suit. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the beach. She would have to wear a pair of handcuffs instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her toga.
She sped downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like apple pie. Her mom was standing there with a knife in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a finger gun.
"Hi Mommy!" Kate replied sorrowfully. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the tacos," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra pepper. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Kate replied fearfully. "Do we have the Cheerios ready?"
"I'm going to wait until four o'clock to start that," her mother replied later. "It only has to scramble for twenty-one minutes."
"Okay," Kate replied carelessly. "I'm gonna go to the dungeon."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some tortillas in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the dungeon 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," Kate responded, as she sat down to her tortillas. "Let's hang lots of terra cotta balloons and cover the canopy bed and the chest of drawers with magenta crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother threateningly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Crystal Hayashida. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a food processor."
"Shiver me timbers," Kate responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a kiss. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."