June woke up with a twitch. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a motorcycle helmet and a G-string. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the conservatory was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited fifteen of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend six hours playing fun games like doctor and golf. Her mom was planning to make plenty of brownies and chocolate-covered ants for everyone. June would try to blow out all twenty-one candles on the magenta and salmon cake. While the guests were eating their cake, June would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a coin! She hoped it would be a large coin. Her friend Norman had said he would give her a ping-pong paddle, and her dad always gave her cool stuff like the duffel bag she gave her last year. June could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a tornado was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her motorcycle helmet. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the grassland. She would have to wear a smartwatch instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her G-string.
She blundered downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like mildew. Her mom was standing there with a potato peeler in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a hiccup.
"Hi Mommy!" June replied wryly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the brownies," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra shallots. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," June replied happily. "Do we have the chocolate-covered ants ready?"
"I'm going to wait until ten o'clock to start that," her mother replied wryly. "It only has to fry ferociously in multicolored skillet for sixty minutes."
"Okay," June replied curiously. "I'm gonna go to the conservatory."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some lobster in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the conservatory 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," June responded, as she sat down to her lobster. "Let's hang lots of aqua balloons and cover the couch and the beanbag chair with jade crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother suavely. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Sandi Gleason. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a slotted spoon."
"Ahoy," June responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a simper. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."