Brianna woke up with a roar. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a bandana and a pair of bloomers. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the front porch was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited three of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend two hours playing fun games like checkers and checkers. Her mom was planning to make plenty of lasagna and jambalaya for everyone. Brianna would try to blow out all twenty-nine candles on the red and grey cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Brianna would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a pair of pliers! She hoped it would be a musty pair of pliers. Her friend Jim Bob had said he would give her a bowling ball, and her grandma always gave her cool stuff like the rock she gave her last year. Brianna could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a dust storm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her bandana. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the circus tent. She would have to wear a surgical mask instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her pair of bloomers.
She hobbled downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like a dusty attic. Her mom was standing there with a potato masher in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a snarl.
"Hi Mommy!" Brianna replied sternly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the lasagna," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra cayenne pepper. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Brianna replied haughtily. "Do we have the jambalaya ready?"
"I'm going to wait until five o'clock to start that," her mother replied suspiciously. "It only has to blanch for twenty-three minutes."
"Okay," Brianna replied humbly. "I'm gonna go to the front porch."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some falafel in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the front porch 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," Brianna responded, as she sat down to her falafel. "Let's hang lots of salmon balloons and cover the settee and the bath mat with beige crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother brightly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Dusty Nesbitt. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a Sham-Wow!."
"Barf," Brianna responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a sniffle. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."