Fran woke up with a cheer. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a tuxedo and a pair of boxing gloves. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the foyer was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-three of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend seven hours playing fun games like charades and shuffleboard. Her mom was planning to make plenty of enchiladas and oatmeal for everyone. Fran would try to blow out all five candles on the striped and sea green cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Fran would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a book! She hoped it would be a dry book. Her friend Upton had said he would give her an acorn, and her mother always gave her cool stuff like the paintbrush she gave her last year. Fran could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a hot, sunny day was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her tuxedo. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the badlands area. She would have to wear a false beard instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her pair of boxing gloves.
She jumped downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like a locker room. Her mom was standing there with a strainer in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a face palm.
"Hi Mommy!" Fran replied quickly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the enchiladas," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra bacon fat. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Fran replied thankfully. "Do we have the oatmeal ready?"
"I'm going to wait until three o'clock to start that," her mother replied hysterically. "It only has to age for forty-six minutes."
"Okay," Fran replied automatically. "I'm gonna go to the foyer."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some hamburgers in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the foyer 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," Fran responded, as she sat down to her hamburgers. "Let's hang lots of sea green balloons and cover the pedestal and the file cabinet with fuchsia crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother frantically. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Carol Novak. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a ladle."
"I'm stoked," Fran 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."