Wendy woke up with a grin. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a bandana and a pair of briefs. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the workshop was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited thirty of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend seven hours playing fun games like poker and battleship. Her mom was planning to make plenty of strawberry shortcake and cornbread for everyone. Wendy would try to blow out all twenty candles on the fuchsia and aqua cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Wendy would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a rope! She hoped it would be a disgusting rope. Her friend Lear had said he would give her an arrowhead, and her grandmother always gave her cool stuff like the can of soup she gave her last year. Wendy could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a dust storm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her bandana. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the peninsula. She would have to wear a pair of tights instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her pair of briefs.
She swaggered downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like freshly cut grass. Her mom was standing there with an electric mixer in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a smirk.
"Hi Mommy!" Wendy replied hysterically. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the strawberry shortcake," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra milk. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Wendy replied patiently. "Do we have the cornbread ready?"
"I'm going to wait until ten o'clock to start that," her mother replied neatly. "It only has to toast for eighteen minutes."
"Okay," Wendy replied hastily. "I'm gonna go to the workshop."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some duck a l'orange in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the workshop 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," Wendy responded, as she sat down to her duck a l'orange. "Let's hang lots of orange balloons and cover the billiard table and the chest of drawers with striped crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother grimly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Mim Beasley. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a strainer."
"Darn," Wendy responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a shiver. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."