Anna woke up with a wink. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a coat and a hoop skirt. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the cage was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited seventeen of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend three hours playing fun games like old maid and ring around the rosie. Her mom was planning to make plenty of duck a l'orange and country glazed ham for everyone. Anna would try to blow out all sixteen candles on the yellow and aqua cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Anna would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain an iPod! She hoped it would be a flexible iPod. Her friend Jeffrey had said he would give her a toolbox, and her wife always gave her cool stuff like the knitting needle she gave her last year. Anna could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a pelting rainstorm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her coat. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the mesa. She would have to wear a parka instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her hoop skirt.
She trotted downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like wood. Her mom was standing there with a food processor in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a squint.
"Hi Mommy!" Anna replied roughly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the duck a l'orange," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra chopped celery. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Anna replied patiently. "Do we have the country glazed ham ready?"
"I'm going to wait until one o'clock to start that," her mother replied sarcastically. "It only has to marinate for thirty-one minutes."
"Okay," Anna replied solemnly. "I'm gonna go to the cage."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some ravioli in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the cage 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," Anna responded, as she sat down to her ravioli. "Let's hang lots of ivory balloons and cover the washing machine and the carpet with periwinkle crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother humbly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Wilma South. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a Sham-Wow!."
"I'll drink to that," Anna responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a furrowed brow. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."