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The Birthday Party

Jean woke up with a flutter. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a pair of roller skates and a pair of jeans. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the bathroom was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-two of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend eight hours playing fun games like Cootie and dominos. Her mom was planning to make plenty of tacos and roast turkey for everyone. Jean would try to blow out all seventeen candles on the olive green and burgundy cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Jean would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a handkerchief! She hoped it would be a delicate handkerchief. Her friend Norman had said he would give her a potato, and her grandmother always gave her cool stuff like the lemon she gave her last year. Jean could hardly wait!

She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a period of warm weather was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her pair of roller skates. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the stream. She would have to wear a trench coat instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her pair of jeans.

She barrelled downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like barbeque. Her mom was standing there with a strainer in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a caress.

"Hi Mommy!" Jean replied demurely. "What are you doing?"

"I'm making the tacos," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra codfish pieces. Hope that's okay with you."

"I guess so," Jean replied violently. "Do we have the roast turkey ready?"

"I'm going to wait until eight o'clock to start that," her mother replied uselessly. "It only has to sear outside for eighty-one minutes."

"Okay," Jean replied nonchalantly. "I'm gonna go to the bathroom."

"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some hot dogs in the skillet for you."

"Can't I just take a peek at the bathroom 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," Jean responded, as she sat down to her hot dogs. "Let's hang lots of turquoise balloons and cover the file cabinet and the pedestal with indigo crepe paper."

"That's fine," said her mother fiercely. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Ida Baldwin. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a napkin."

"Incredible," Jean responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"

"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a face palm. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."