Joan woke up with a raspberry. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a pair of glasses and a robe. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the hall was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited fifteen of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend one hour playing fun games like marbles and rummy. Her mom was planning to make plenty of pumpkin pie and bread and butter for everyone. Joan would try to blow out all twenty-four candles on the periwinkle and olive drab cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Joan would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a dead dragon! She hoped it would be a hand-painted dead dragon. Her friend Demetrius had said he would give her a notepad, and her mentor always gave her cool stuff like the mushroom she gave her last year. Joan could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a hailstorm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her pair of glasses. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the badlands area. She would have to wear a pair of moccasins instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her robe.
She slumped downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like orange spice. Her mom was standing there with a meat tenderizer in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a growl.
"Hi Mommy!" Joan replied breathlessly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the pumpkin pie," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra honey. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Joan replied shakily. "Do we have the bread and butter ready?"
"I'm going to wait until seven o'clock to start that," her mother replied intensely. "It only has to place on serving dish for twenty-nine minutes."
"Okay," Joan replied nonchalantly. "I'm gonna go to the hall."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some corn on the cob in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the hall 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," Joan responded, as she sat down to her corn on the cob. "Let's hang lots of hot pink balloons and cover the billiard table and the piano with magenta crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother dolorously. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Beth Bluestein. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a cheesecloth."
"Fudge," Joan responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a snigger. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."