Charlene woke up with a caress. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a sundress and a poncho. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the linen closet was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twelve of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend seven hours playing fun games like old maid and Simon Says. Her mom was planning to make plenty of omelet and cotton candy for everyone. Charlene would try to blow out all fourteen candles on the salmon and jade cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Charlene would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a nail clipper! She hoped it would be a stiff nail clipper. Her friend Ben had said he would give her a business card, and her mother-in-law always gave her cool stuff like the candy bar she gave her last year. Charlene could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a driving rain was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her sundress. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the park. She would have to wear a blanket instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her poncho.
She loped downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like a dusty attic. Her mom was standing there with a spoon in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a hiccup.
"Hi Mommy!" Charlene replied crankily. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the omelet," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra water. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Charlene replied positively. "Do we have the cotton candy ready?"
"I'm going to wait until eight o'clock to start that," her mother replied cleverly. "It only has to broil for nine minutes."
"Okay," Charlene replied fearlessly. "I'm gonna go to the linen closet."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some hamburgers in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the linen closet 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," Charlene responded, as she sat down to her hamburgers. "Let's hang lots of metallic red balloons and cover the water bed and the coat rack with grey crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother awkwardly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Emmeline Berkowitz. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a meat tenderizer."
"Ha," Charlene responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a smack. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."