Kay woke up with a bow. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a necklace and a locket. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the conservatory was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited six of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend seven hours playing fun games like hopscotch and Snakes and Ladders. Her mom was planning to make plenty of cotton candy and moo goo gai pan for everyone. Kay would try to blow out all nineteen candles on the pink and aqua cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Kay would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain an iPad! She hoped it would be a crusty iPad. Her friend Kellen had said he would give her a hat, and her girlfriend always gave her cool stuff like the snail she gave her last year. Kay could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a period of warm weather was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her necklace. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the cliff. She would have to wear a burqa instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her locket.
She made a beeline downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like trouble. Her mom was standing there with a meat tenderizer in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a kiss.
"Hi Mommy!" Kay replied nicely. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the cotton candy," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra salmon filets. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Kay replied curiously. "Do we have the moo goo gai pan ready?"
"I'm going to wait until eleven o'clock to start that," her mother replied elatedly. "It only has to marinate for seventy-eight minutes."
"Okay," Kay replied firmly. "I'm gonna go to the conservatory."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some waffles in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the conservatory 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," Kay responded, as she sat down to her waffles. "Let's hang lots of pea green balloons and cover the wooden crate and the fainting couch with black crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother ingeniously. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Camille Buckley. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a sharp knife."
"Hot dog," Kay responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a fist bump. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."