Mackenzie 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 leotard and a Panama hat. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the dining room was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited two of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend three hours playing fun games like dodge ball and Snakes and Ladders. Her mom was planning to make plenty of mashed potatoes and lobster for everyone. Mackenzie would try to blow out all twenty-nine candles on the sea green and teal cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Mackenzie would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain an antenna! She hoped it would be an odd antenna. Her friend Seth had said he would give her an accordion, and her mother always gave her cool stuff like the model airplane she gave her last year. Mackenzie could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a blanket of mist was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her leotard. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the badlands area. She would have to wear a straitjacket instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her Panama hat.
She staggered downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like rotten potatoes. Her mom was standing there with a spoon in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a hiccup.
"Hi Mommy!" Mackenzie replied gleefully. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the mashed potatoes," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra capers. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Mackenzie replied quickly. "Do we have the lobster ready?"
"I'm going to wait until ten o'clock to start that," her mother replied hopefully. "It only has to fry gleefully in purple skillet for fifty-one minutes."
"Okay," Mackenzie replied patiently. "I'm gonna go to the dining room."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some dirty rice in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the dining room 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," Mackenzie responded, as she sat down to her dirty rice. "Let's hang lots of jade balloons and cover the bed and the rug with lime-green crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother shyly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Gina Fujimoto. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a pair of tongs."
"Goodness," Mackenzie responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a belly laugh. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."