Camella woke up with a chuckle. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a space suit and a set of camo fatigues. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the corridor was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited nine of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend four hours playing fun games like Mother May I and blackjack. Her mom was planning to make plenty of burritos and steak for everyone. Camella would try to blow out all thirty-two candles on the sea green and peach cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Camella would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a piece of chalk! She hoped it would be an odd piece of chalk. Her friend Tommy had said he would give her a bicycle, and her girlfriend always gave her cool stuff like the paintbrush she gave her last year. Camella could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a rainstorm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her space suit. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the mountain. She would have to wear a jumpsuit instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her set of camo fatigues.
She hobbled downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like apple pie. Her mom was standing there with a cookie cutter in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a curtsey.
"Hi Mommy!" Camella replied charmingly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the burritos," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra bacon. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Camella replied daintily. "Do we have the steak ready?"
"I'm going to wait until nine o'clock to start that," her mother replied obediently. "It only has to steam for eighty-three minutes."
"Okay," Camella replied stupidly. "I'm gonna go to the corridor."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some roast turkey in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the corridor 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," Camella responded, as she sat down to her roast turkey. "Let's hang lots of black balloons and cover the wine rack and the credenza with terra cotta crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother doubtfully. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Lois Berkshire. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a garlic press."
"Just a minute," Camella responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a woof. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."