Karen woke up with a hoot. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a jumpsuit and a toupee. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the corridor was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-two of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend three hours playing fun games like dodge ball and leapfrog. Her mom was planning to make plenty of cabbage rolls and enchiladas for everyone. Karen would try to blow out all fourteen candles on the tan and amber cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Karen would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a spider! She hoped it would be a used spider. Her friend Brandon had said he would give her a handkerchief, and her mentor always gave her cool stuff like the camera she gave her last year. Karen could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a bit of precipitation was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her jumpsuit. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the cave. She would have to wear a necktie instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her toupee.
She sauntered downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like Chanel. Her mom was standing there with a wooden spoon in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a wrinkled nose.
"Hi Mommy!" Karen replied perkily. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the cabbage rolls," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra ground mustard. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Karen replied firmly. "Do we have the enchiladas ready?"
"I'm going to wait until twelve o'clock to start that," her mother replied coldly. "It only has to fry for thirty-six minutes."
"Okay," Karen replied brightly. "I'm gonna go to the corridor."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some country glazed ham 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," Karen responded, as she sat down to her country glazed ham. "Let's hang lots of chocolate brown balloons and cover the carpet and the floor with striped crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother rapidly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Mopsy Cosak. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a cookie cutter."
"Horse feathers," Karen responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a flinch. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."