Trixie woke up with a finger gun. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in an evening gown and a corset. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the foyer was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-four of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend eight hours playing fun games like hearts and trivia. Her mom was planning to make plenty of dry toast and lobster for everyone. Trixie would try to blow out all two candles on the periwinkle and burgundy cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Trixie would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a sack of potatoes! She hoped it would be a delicate sack of potatoes. Her friend Xavier had said he would give her a garbage can, and her grandma always gave her cool stuff like the avocado she gave her last year. Trixie 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 evening gown. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the butte. She would have to wear a military uniform instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her corset.
She proceeded downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like smoke. Her mom was standing there with an electric mixer in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a cringe.
"Hi Mommy!" Trixie replied carelessly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the dry toast," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra asparagus. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Trixie replied thankfully. "Do we have the lobster ready?"
"I'm going to wait until one o'clock to start that," her mother replied needlessly. "It only has to braise for forty-one minutes."
"Okay," Trixie replied peevishly. "I'm gonna go to the foyer."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some bonbons in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the foyer 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," Trixie responded, as she sat down to her bonbons. "Let's hang lots of navy blue balloons and cover the pool table and the table with ivory crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother pitifully. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Penelope Khatchaturian. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has an electric mixer."
"Gadzooks," Trixie responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a kiss. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."