Vivian 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 turtleneck and a set of camo fatigues. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the garage was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited thirteen of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend five hours playing fun games like Monopoly and solitaire. Her mom was planning to make plenty of roast turkey and applesauce for everyone. Vivian would try to blow out all twenty-nine candles on the pea green and metallic red cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Vivian would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a pair of dice! She hoped it would be a hand-carved pair of dice. Her friend Ahmed had said he would give her a book, and her mentor always gave her cool stuff like the magazine she gave her last year. Vivian could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a hot day was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her turtleneck. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the forest. She would have to wear a veil instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her set of camo fatigues.
She slunk downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like marijuana. Her mom was standing there with a bare foot in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a wag of the finger.
"Hi Mommy!" Vivian replied sternly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the roast turkey," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra Brussels sprouts. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Vivian replied sympathetically. "Do we have the applesauce ready?"
"I'm going to wait until six o'clock to start that," her mother replied humbly. "It only has to press for eighty-one minutes."
"Okay," Vivian replied brightly. "I'm gonna go to the garage."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some wienerschnitzel in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the garage 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," Vivian responded, as she sat down to her wienerschnitzel. "Let's hang lots of black balloons and cover the bench and the bath mat with striped crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother quietly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Joanie Wilhelm. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has an electric paint mixer."
"Hey," Vivian responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a power fist. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."