Drew woke up with a cringe. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a poodle skirt and a dog collar. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the den was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited two of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend four hours playing fun games like cribbage and crazy eights. Her mom was planning to make plenty of fried eggs and dry toast for everyone. Drew would try to blow out all sixteen candles on the indigo and hot pink cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Drew would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a battery! She hoped it would be a large battery. Her friend Mookie had said he would give her a towel, and her dad always gave her cool stuff like the tablet computer she gave her last year. Drew could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that an earthquake was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her poodle skirt. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the path. She would have to wear a sport coat instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her dog collar.
She zipped downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like moldy leftovers. Her mom was standing there with a basting brush in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a cringe.
"Hi Mommy!" Drew replied softly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the fried eggs," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra walrus meat. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Drew replied elatedly. "Do we have the dry toast ready?"
"I'm going to wait until twelve o'clock to start that," her mother replied elatedly. "It only has to simmer for seventy-one minutes."
"Okay," Drew replied flightily. "I'm gonna go to the den."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some oyster on the half-shell in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the den 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," Drew responded, as she sat down to her oyster on the half-shell. "Let's hang lots of burgundy balloons and cover the hamper and the couch with turquoise crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother softly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Sandra Barber. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a potato peeler."
"For heaven's sake," Drew responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a raspberry. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."