Michaela woke up with a beam. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a jumper and a pair of Groucho glasses. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the parlor 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 volleyball and badminton. Her mom was planning to make plenty of roast Cornish game hen and pancakes for everyone. Michaela would try to blow out all twenty candles on the purple and azure cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Michaela would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a cigarette lighter! She hoped it would be a gruesome cigarette lighter. Her friend Devon had said he would give her a calculator, and her dad always gave her cool stuff like the blank check she gave her last year. Michaela could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a flood was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her jumper. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the mesa. She would have to wear a bustier instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her pair of Groucho glasses.
She sashayed downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like asparagus. Her mom was standing there with a spoon in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a giggle.
"Hi Mommy!" Michaela replied stealthily. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the roast Cornish game hen," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra liver. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Michaela replied gratefully. "Do we have the pancakes ready?"
"I'm going to wait until two o'clock to start that," her mother replied neatly. "It only has to age for forty-two minutes."
"Okay," Michaela replied defiantly. "I'm gonna go to the parlor."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some fried eggs in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the parlor 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," Michaela responded, as she sat down to her fried eggs. "Let's hang lots of amber balloons and cover the bunk bed and the bookshelf with hot pink crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother sheepishly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Pamela McAllister. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a spoon."
"Whoa," Michaela responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with an evil eye. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."